leaking roof

I had a top with a small tear, and used a piece cut from the old top to use as a patch, which I simply glued on, and then also glued a piece of fabric onto the underside to reinforce it.

This held up well for over 5 years, and was still holding when I sold the top. It was not easy to notice the repair, but this was down near the frame of the car. A patch located higher on the top will probably stand out more.

If you don't have an old top to cut a piece from, you should be able to match up a small piece of vinyl from something else for a repair, especially if it is black.

Good luck!

Pat

what type of a glue did you use? don't wanna put something on that'll "eat" trough the vinyl/fabric

yup, it's on top, I'll post a pic later

well the fabric under the vinyl is torn, so the vinyl is holding the tear together. the hole on vinyl is no bigger than a matchstick head

tnx

We are going back about 8 years now, that really is taxing my memory. I think it was some version of the "gorilla snot" glue that is recommended frequently for attaching a loose top to the frame bow.

It has a few trade names, I think, but what I used did specifically mention being good for vinyl.

That hole will get bigger in a very fast way, I would guess. Some type of fabric patch is definitely in order. I would glue both the fabric to the bottom and the vinyl to the top.

If anyone else has any additional/better suggestions, please post them, but this was my experience with a top that was in very good condition except for one very small tear.

Good luck!

Pat

this is what i have learned... use contact cement.

is not water soluble like many glues and can stand the heat that the top is exposed to without drying out.apply to both surfaces, let dry, then assemble. you can not move it once applied so be sure to align it correctly.if it is a stayfast canvas (fabric) top then the best way to repair it is to stitch the hole closed using upholsters thread and then glue a patch on the underside.if it is a cabrio vinyl top then the best way to repair it is to glue a patch from the underside and then use vinyl filler on the top side to waterproof the hole. permatex and other make vinyl filler.apply a patch to the underside of the top only. consider if the location of the patch may interact with parts that move when folding the top... the crossbows can catch on a patch and peel it off from normal operation... in some cases using a larger/oversized patch can eliminate this problem.

nice pointers. I'll do a bit of google, get the stuff, photo-document it, then post here

tnx

I must say actually making a hole in the roof in order to created a subject for posting is going above and beyond duty :-)

I have a small tear in mine located pretty much dead center of the driver door and maybe an inch from the edge. The tear is maybe a centimeter long (half an inch) and being that the view to it from the inside is pretty much obscured by the skeleton of the roof I decided to do an experiment. I got my my self a bit of gaffa tape, used the tape to hold the tear together like you might do with a cut on a finger and it has worked out perfect.

It is maybe six month since I did the repair, the tear is pretty much invisible unless you know where to look and the fix took two miniutes and cost basic nothing. If you're hole is not because the roof material is missing but because of something pointy I would think you can use the same fix as me.

I'm not sure what gaffa tape is called elsewhere but it is the sort of tape used by musicians to hold cables to the floor at concerts. It's the same grey/black colour as a standard roof and the material is sort of a fabric, perhaps a strong weave of cotton.

Regards Bruno

PS. I hope I managed to explain my fix if not let me know and I shall try again - with a dictionary.

hehe

duct tape? "If it doesn't move, and it should, use WD40. If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct (duck) tape."

that but black?

Duct tape is polyethyline. Gaffa, or Gaffer, tape is cloth is the previous poster said.

Oops. Meant to say, "as" the previous poster said. I can look things up too.

I wasn't far off :)

:-)

I was not the sure the name I knew was in common use but it turns out it is. The Wiki Frank found describes what I have used.

I bought mine at a place that sells tools and materials for DIY home improvement and I think it is commonly available in such places.

Very good point Chris, he needs to see if this patch is going to come in (sliding) contact with rails and your over-sized patch (if need be) is also a good one!

cd

99BBB

My old (original, I think) top came apart at a couple seams before I got it. I cleaned the areas real good with alcohol and adhered them both with permatex high temperature black silicone and it has done a great job. One of the has been holding for ~6yrs now and the other one had to be redone after

4~5 yrs (never leaked but I could see it was starting to open back up) and has held great since. The contact cement sounds like a great idea too for repairing a clean cut hole.

Chris

99BBB

"Bruno, Copenhagen - Denmark" >>

DEDICATION baby, that's what that is ;-)

Thanks Domagoj! Keepin it going! lol

Chris

99BBB

here's from inside:

outside:

gonna get that cement this week (it's too sunny outside to worry about a thing that I ain't using (the rag top))

cheers

That should fix up nicely. The repair on the inside will probably never even be noticed after a day or two, and the one outside should also not be that visible, (especially with the top down!)

Let us know how it goes. I am one who will stretch the last hour of use out of a convertible top.

Good luck!

Pat

is this a nb top? i see the deck seam on the underside but don't recognize the slightly different colored stitched fabric on the underside. looks like the bow rubbing on the underside has created this problem... that is if this is a non-zip folding top like the nb has. if that is the case, that the box moves against the top when folding then despite it being a small hole you may want to use a large patch on the underside that extends from the bow that is attached to the top all the way over and past the box that moves when folding as the rest of that area is probably very thin as well... and i don't think i would touch the top side with that permatex vinyl filler as it is such a small hole an using the vinyl filler on the top side is destined to be noticeable. i was able to find some waterproof fabric at a marine shop that makes for good patch material. or you could try a top repair shop for a scrap piece from tops they are discarding. good luck.

box should read bow...