Top Replacement

Har har, only if the car is less than five years old.

I've had good luck with gorilla snot (3M #8001/#8011 weatherstrip adhesive). Apply a thin layer to each clean surface, let dry for 10 minutes, press together. Any auto parts store will have it.

Yes, there is no doubt about that. If you have a cloth now and put in a vinyl, your cat will not look at you for two months. Or maybe a lot more.

Actually, the side windows crinkle even if you do unzip it, I understand from a long-ago poster. But he said they straighten out again nicely in the sun.

And they may not look any weirder than the SUV stuck in the right rear fender.

That is a tough one. Do they torture a lot in this factory? Pull more than one or two nails? Apply more than 24 volts to the delicate parts? If so, it may be worthwhile to do it yourself during a few nights, since it will be a learning experience. Doing it at 96 degrees will however not allow you time to benefit from that experience.

Personally, I would definitely remove the frame.

*Do not* attach the top to the rain rail in any way. The delicate rain rail is already bad enough to deal with without a massive heavy top attached. Professional shops do not attach them. The bolts will hold them together.

If you are paranoid, you can seal the rivet holes with electrical tape. At least one professional shop does not, and it does not leak, but I did since the Mazda Workshop manual says to do it. And if you seal them, it does not leak either.

I think you can do it yourself, but we were with two.

Your answer does not clarify the answer to everything. Including whether 42 is in base 13.

Leon :)

No question, you'll do what the cat wants or else! That's just part of being owned by a cat..... unless you have a killer tortoise to defend you..

Heh, my Sulcata is getting large enough that those cats would be in trouble, she is maybe 2 to 2 1/2 times the size of that mean one, but she has no aggression at all.

I have still only seen one cat in the yard here, a huge Tom that looked feral to me. He stayed off of my top, but that may be because I mark it with my own scent each night.....

The coyotes get quite a few of them, and we had a mountain lion munching on the local pet population in a town just a few miles down the road last year. That got everyone's attention.

Pat

Actually I'll put a cat bed on top for her (That would be Daisy.) Maya

has a custom made booster seat so she can see out, but hasn't really adjusted to the wind from behind. She has sat patiently during an oil change and tire rotation in Bambi while supervising waiting for that jaunt to Petsmart. Between the two of them Bambi is safe at home. Sharing your Miata with the ones you love! Isn't it great? Ephar

Actually my greatest concern IS how it looks (or you can see) from the inside. When it's raining; really cold ( > no

Thanks Leon, Excellent article. Pictures are good!

But 4 is still 4 and a trilogy is still a trilogy in base 13, isn't it (or aren't they?) The correct answer (or more rightly; the right question) would be who died in the crosswalks?

Thanks Leon, You're great. Ephar, Bambi & Maya

Unless it's only the part about Trillian.

miker

I just replaced my top with a Robbins no-zip glass window top. However the glass has strted to come away from the vinyl and I am going to have to re-glue it this weekend. So beware of this model top.

I would contact the company and complain about the quality. You obviously can't just send it back in for a new one, (which would probably fail again anyway), but they may do something for you.

They do not want people talking about how their products perform poorly in a miata discussion forum.

This worked with me and Jackson Racing Products when they refused to replace my catalytic converter without the receipt that I could not find. I told them that having a policy of requiring the receipt was fine on their part, but having their company referred to as "Jackson Breaking Products" every time I talked about them would be my policy, mentioning their horribly-designed CAI while I was at it. They sent me a new catalytic converter fast, with no proof that I had ever purchased one.

Greasy wheel and all that.... :-)

Pat

Robbins will probably do somethign for me and usually their products are good, but in my particualr circumstance it is better for me to just fix it myself.

Reasonable enough, but you did say to "beware" the Robbins tops.

That is horrible advertising for them, especially since your comment and several other complaints that I have heard in the past will come to mind if I buy an aftermarket top. I will probably go with another brand.

If my business ever gets large enough to have people talking about it, I sure don't want them saying to beware of buying from Pat.... :-)

Pat

I said to beware of that particular model top. I still say the same thing. Yes, Robbins might replace the top, but you will still be stuck with the labor costs.

True, you did say that particular top, not the entire company. I am quite willing to admit my mistake.

I checked and the '91 Silverstone that I am working on has the same top. The rear window is ok, but the center bow became unglued after less than

2 years. The company seems to have some adhesion issues, and the rear window seal does seem to be of less quality than the OEM unit, having yellowed more in 2 years than the OEM unit did in double that time. To make it worse, the car with the Robbins top was covered most of the time where the OEM top sat out in the blazing sunshine summer after summer.

I used a OEM top from a 1999 model on my 1996 miata for over 4 years and it looked better than the Robbins top after only 2 years, as well as having no problems at all. This is an OEM top that I bought used to begin with.

Or in my case, lost time. Still, I think that I would chalk it up, send the top back, and install a different model, probably a factory one with the frame modification again, or the entire 1999-2005 frame/top setup if I could afford it.

I can definitely understand not wanting to deal with the time or money. Are you tackling it today?

Pat

I am going to try to find some similar material as the top is made of. I plan to glue the glass to some of the material and then the rest of the material to the edge of the top. I hope to eliminate the pressure that i think caused the glass to cvome away from the edge. Will keep you posted on the results. I might get pics as well.

i have had good experiences with kwiktops.com and aabestco.com tops. the fabric definitely looks better than the stock vinyl but it requires more maintenance (annual waterproofing). personally i don't like the look of the three window model and three plastic windows sounds like three times the trouble to me. i would not get anything other than glass. both kwiktops.com and aabestco.com sell glass window versions that fold without unzipping the window, but this requires a simple modification of adding straps between the rear two bows. it may have some impact with your roll bar so you should talk to them about it. i can't stress enough the value of a real glass window. it is just so much safer having a good clear view out of your rear window.

The opposing viewpoint from my local shop (Mike's Place) is that the glass is too heavy for the Miata top, maybe because the window is so large?

Whatever the reason may be, he showed me some where the fabric around the window had totally rotted away due to sun damage and now my Kwiktop is doing the same thing after only 2 1/2 years which is just about what Mike said would happen. The rest of the top is in perfect condition and shows no wear or sun damage, only the fabric surrounding the window.

I agree the glass window has many advantages but if you want the top to last it's something to think about...

i never heard of that problem before. my top is now two years old and looks like new. my top is not robbins. never heard of this as a problem with the one piece factory glass tops. mine is a two piece glass top. looks like the original na zip window style top but the rear two bows are not attached and strap between those bows (that prevents you from actually dropping the zippered window) allows for folding the top without unzipping the window. perhaps it is the one piece tops that have the separation problem that you are talking about and not the two piece tops? who knows. but i hope i have more than just sixth months of life left in my top...

You don't live in a warm climate I guess?

Two piece.

I just replaced my OEM top with a QuikTops.com zippered glass window that folds without unzipping. (Is that what yours is?)

They gave me a velcro-ed cover for the middle rib that has to float under the top to allow the glass to lower. That velco cover ripped one of the seams near the window. I took the cover off and the metal rib slides against the top much better now. Glued the seam that was ripped.

If you have a similar setup, try removing the rib cover when you repair the seam.