SOFT TOP INSTALL

well, can anyone in the Cleveland area who has done one before come out and help me install a Miata softtop? PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

If not this will be the why i hate the previous owner's stupidity and the slow painful soft top install thread.

Today its 10:30. Pull all the soft top parts from dusty corners and UPS boxes (thanks metalman) tear down top, which the P.O did already and left behind only half the pieces and left me with no clue about how to put it together. Its hot outside.

Two suggestions: 1. Get on Miata.net Forums in the Communities section under Great Lakes and put out a request for someone in your area. 2. Order a copy of Keith Tanner's Mazda Miata MX-5 Performance Projects. Project 38 is all about replacing the soft top. I used it as my instructions when I put a new top on my 97. Not sure how I can help remotely, but if you have general questions, I might be able to send on reasonable answers.

And, one more suggestion: http://www.miata.net/garage/garagetops.html Several articles on installing soft tops on Miatas.

Well. i quit at 6. 90% done.

Thanks for the advice. ive been reading those online articles for about 6 months now :)

It was just a pin not knowing how it was before it went apart.

Thanks

You looks like you have accomplished quite a bit for the first day ever doing this! After the fabric is wrestled over the pillar ends is a great time to take a break. Don't forget to pay attention to the tightening sequence for the rain rail bolts. Note also that they only have to be tightened to 70-95 "inch" pounds, which isn't much. Overtightening can lead to leaks. Keep up the good work.

Progress at about 6:30

Then dinner:)

Finally around 10:30

I forget to attach the tension cables till the end. DOH! dumb mistake.

I never want to install a top again but doing it my self was not too bad. I know i did it and now im gonna worry about everything i could have done wrong

All done and driving.

there is a loose top bracket and the passenger side is funky around the windows. i dont know whats up

"Funky" means ... (a) weatherstripping not meeting window?; or, (b) vinyl top is not drawn tight?; or, (c) something else?

At least you didn't try to install the rain rail upside down. Man is that the difficult way to install it!

Did you glue the front strip before you installed the 5 or so screws? The instructions that came with my Kee top asked that I do that. Others have said to use tape in some places. The Miata.net instructions said neither and I used nothing - but the car is water-tight. Should I take it apart again and glue the front down? What kind of glue should I use?

I've done three tops without gluing anything and I've had no problems. One of those three is the blue 90 in my profile and still no complaints, I installed that top 2 or 3 years ago now.

gmg wrote: "Funky" means ... (a) weatherstripping not meeting window?; or, (b) vinyl top is not drawn tight?; or, (c) something else?

Funky means (b) top not drawn tight around top of windows.

CarKid1989 wrote:

Funky means (b) top not drawn tight around top of windows.

I ran into that problem. Discovered that I had riveted the front end of the side cables flipped 180 degrees. The result was that the cables were not able to put tension on the outside edge of the top and pull it down toward the windows when the top was closed. To fix it, I had to open the top part way (think I used paper towel rolls to prop the frame and "balance" it), take the front edge of the top off the frame and expose the rivets, drill 'em out, and rivet them back in correctly making sure that the cable was to the outside. Since the double sided tape under the top front edge was new, I reused it when putting the front edge of the top back together. Doing all this fixed the problem, though it took the top a few weeks of sun to stretch to its now smooth look above the windows.

gmg wrote:

CarKid1989 wrote:

Funky means (b) top not drawn tight around top of windows.

I ran into that problem. Discovered that I had riveted the front end of the side cables flipped 180 degrees. The result was that the cables were not able to put tension on the outside edge of the top and pull it down toward the windows when the top was closed. To fix it, I had to open the top part way (think I used paper towel rolls to prop the frame and "balance" it), take the front edge of the top off the frame and expose the rivets, drill 'em out, and rivet them back in correctly making sure that the cable was to the outside. Since the double sided tape under the top front edge was new, I reused it when putting the front edge of the top back together. Doing all this fixed the problem, though it took the top a few weeks of sun to stretch to its now smooth look above the windows.

Pic of correct way for the cable to be mounted. i had some headache with the tension cables so this might be it

THanks

For the pic, I opened the top slightly so that the edge could be lifted. Notice that the cable on the riveted tab is to the outside edge of the top. This serves to pull the edge downward when the top is latched closed putting tension on the cable.

Since I had installed it incorrectly with the cable to the inside, the top had already taken a "set" with ripples along the edges. After a couple of weeks of heat cycles in the sun, the ripples disappeared.

GMG, my tensions cables are on like the pic you posted, so thats not it.

What else could it be?

I've noticed that my tension cables usually hang up on the corner of the plastic channel with the rivets instead of falling into that groove like they should. Maybe this is happening to you? So does anyone know of a fix for that problem? The cables are installed in the proper orientation.

Well, I answered this one myself this afternoon. I peeled back the top to look, and the "flags" were able to rotate about 30 degrees in their little depressions. So i straightened them out and bent up the little metal tabs so they couldn't rotate anymore. Problem solved, no more wrinkles.

CarKid1989, did Josh's idea help your situation?