I no longer chop the top!
 

After leaving the top down all summer & fall and part of winter (w/ the exception of washing the car) I finally went to put the top up and down a few times while shopping. The result of leaving the top down for a several months in a row.....I NO LONGER HAVE TO "CHOP THE TOP"! For some reason the top goes down perfect everytime w/o a crease,weird,but I'm not gonna ask any questions. It's gone up and down perfect for the past three days and hopefully it last. :cheers:

I find it the same....I keep a hardtop on for most of the year, so when the summer eventually arrives in the UK for 2 days (!) the roof is fine..... :dance:

Haven't ever had to do the chop since owning this car (while the outside temp was above 60F) and my window is crystal clear. Just give the top a chance in the begining and it develops a "memory bend".
However the other day when it was about 55F I didn't heat up the cockipt before lowering the top and I got a pinch in the plastic that is sloooowly fading. Doing the chop on cold window can turn into a disaster.

hey

i have a 2002 with a plastic window. i have never done the chop on the back window. my rear plastic window is in pretty good shape.

You guys are lucky. My 2000 S will pinch right in the middle every time, regardless of temperature, if I don't chop it. Annoying, but I've gotten used to it, and with a one touch top button it's no big deal.

have you tried lowering only halfway doing the chop and leaving it there for a few hours? Wait for a sunny/warm day. Might take a few sessions but it should work, the canvas is what needs to bend a certain way, not really the plastic.

Sure. I've left the top down for a couple days at times. Doesn't seem to make any difference.

perfectlap isnt saying to leave it down for afew days, he is saying to leave it halfway down, chop the window and let it sit for some hours in the sun. So that the sun can hit the window and the canvas... if you close the top all th way, the clam shell will shroud the part of the canvas from the sun that needs some bend memory.

Hm. That might work. I guess I'm not really that worried about it. Chopping doesn't add any time to the lowering process, just a bit of extra effort.