fixing slashed miata convertible top

Were the doors locked? If so, why?

It never rains in San Francisco does it ? Why do you need a top ? . :)

yup, and shouldn't have been. but our local slasher slashes regardless, according to other victims among the at least half-dozen neighborhood miatas that gotta park in the street (garages at a premium here among late-19th century residences). art

ironically, s.f. isn't much of a convertible town (cool and foggy much of the time) but on a perfect day, it's to die for with the top down. the general region, however, especially along the ocean and most other gorgeous areas, is very much convertible and motorcycle country. art

i forgot to mention windy, like all the time. a lot of back yards in some areas are virtually useless due to perpetual and even chilly wind. irish coffee helps. art

I'm here in SF as well. But as to fixing the slash, here's what I learned watching a guy in a top shop.

1. Clean the inner surface as much as possible.

1. Get a piece of matching top material and cut to overlap the slash at least two inches in each direction.

2. Spray the the area inside of the top that will be accepting the repair piece with industrial strength contact cement--not sure what they use but call up a top shop. Spray the shiney side of the repair piece. Wait till it sets up.

1. Apply the piece to the slashed area--shiney side or whatever up. Pull the edges as close to gether as possible. If you've let things tack up correctly, this should be difficult, but not impossible.

2. Use clear silicone to fill in the slash on top after the whole thing dries.

This has held for two years on my top and it's not all that ugly (especially when the top is down!)

If the slash is small enough, just the clear silicone will do fine but you'll need to figure out a way to support the edges.

I've also seen tops stiched and siliconed.

City rules:

Never lock the car.

Never leave anything in the car though now days I leave few cents there so some drug user who opens the door doesn't get pissed and well, piss on things. But only when I leave the windows open.

Leave the windows down when you know it won't be foggy, moist or raining (okay, that's not a lot of the time in SF--depending on your neighborhood.)

If you have a mechanical trunk release, detach the cable. You'll have to remove the center console to do this. I can do it in less than 2 minutes now thanks to a propensity for locking my keys in the trunk. With the mechanical release detached you can leave stuff in the trunk with a fair amount of safety.

It's far easier to disconnect it at the trunk latch. More secure, too.

But the best way is to modify the lock cylinder so 1/4 turn to the left will disable the cable temporarily. Instructions here:

I *th>I can do it in less than 2

What's yer point, Leon? If he does the lock mod, he can disable the cable in less than two seconds.

I think it is easier to get into a locked trunk containing your keys if you have disconnected the console side of the cable. Then you can just take the center console off. If you do it enough times, you will become quite proficient at doing so.

Leon

I think it is easier to get into a locked trunk containing your keys if you have a spare key in your wallet.

How easy do you feel it is to get into a locked truck containing both your keys and your spare key? It is quite easy for people to repeat mistakes in sequence.

Leon

That depends. Are your lockpicks in the trunk as well? If so, can you find a couple paper-clips? [The larger ones work best for auto locks.] In general, auto door (and trunk) locks are rather cheap and badly made -- which makes them fairly easy to pick.

Not as easy as using the spare key when the trunk contains all the tools you'd need to remove the console. Which is much more likely than locking one's wallet in the trunk.

OK, this is getting silly--no more Duvels for Leon tonight. He might lock himself in the trunk.

Actually, I was explaining a post to you that you had trouble comprehending, but anyway.

Leon

My propensity for locking the keys in the trunk is indeed why I disconnected in the passenger compartment. I keep a phlips under the seat. The average thief does not have the time or nerve to hang out in my fairly busy neighborhood long enough to remove all that stuff even if they figured it was easy to reconnect.

JJ