Thanks for the tip Maurice, I will have a look.

"I was saying that with the clam unattached, it's never going to happen due to the way it's hinged"
Never is a very strong word! Logic dictates that it only has to happen once for 'never' to be false!

I guess i just don't understand the point in electric shell/manual top. In this configuration, your transmissions are timed, your motor works...why not just hook up the top pivot rods and be automatic?

As for weight, I'd estimate each transmission at less than 10 lbs, the motor and cables at less than that. Lets call the whole thing 25lbs. Given that you gain about 1 hp/14 lbs, you've added less than a whopping 2hp to a 200 hp car.

I think I'll go on a diet, but keep my power top.

Mind you this is strictly from my perspective only...

Reduced stress on the motor on the amount of material (mass) the transmission is having to move. Yes, some may say there is a negligible amount of force exerted, but nonetheless it is additional force the motor/transmission has to deal with.

That was my engineering side, my personal side likes the freedom of being able to move my top by hand while not having to get out of the car to move the clam shell around. I know that may seem strange, but it goes back to my days with my MG Midget and being able to operate my top that way.

In the end I view this as the type of care I want to give this car in having her last for many years into the future. A little in this area, a little in that area and at the end of the day the cumulative effect is a car that last me for a longer period of time.

Wait till I post up the removable soft back window mod I am doing on the new top I just got...

In theory, anything can happen. Arguably, in theory everything has to happen eventually. In theory, the planet Jupiter will spontaneously transform into a light opera composed in the 1920s. If you wait long enough, quantum theory tells you it will happen.

In practice, it's never go to happen. The same goes for the roof popping open, even if the probability isn't quite as ludicrous.

I hope it doesn't happen to you. Like I said, I drove my car for about 6 weeks with the top in full manual mode. I wasn't really worried but I did hear the clamshell rattle once or twice.

I just can't make a case for leaving the top in manual mode. Parts are inexpensive and easy to fix.

Like I said, it's the way the whole thing is hinged. It ain't gonna happen.