ok so in the interest of making this group more active. her's my problem.
I have a small (1mmx3mm that's a pin head size for you non metric folk) hole on the roof. what's the best way to fix it without changing the whole thing?
I was thinking maybe to glue a piece of cloth from inside (on the cloth)
maybe put a piece of thin rubber in between?
or I can go to a shop and pay a bunch of money (I wanna DIY and save euros)
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.
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.
this is what i have learned... use contact cement.
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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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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