I can't close it. I can't push it down far enough to latch. Should I force it? Will I rip the top? ALSO, when I open it I can't get down correctly. Doesn't catch the latches in the down position. I drove it without being able to see behind me through the rear view mirror.
I was able to latch the top closed after I had the headliner and padding installed.
Any troubleshooting techniques?
tia,
Mel,
I just finished replacing my top on by 73 bug, - have yet to cut hole for rear window.
About your question; Assuming you have a vinyl top, these tops have to be stretched a bit - if you are in a colder enviroment ( I am - ~ 50F, here in Pa) the top is even more "shrunk" and "harder" to stretch.
What I did, I had my car in the garage at night, let the top close ( forward toward the latches) as much as it can, then I put weights on the Header bow(? - the bow above the windshield). I took my top about 2 days to slowly stretch down to the windshield. I guess I had about 30 - 40 lb.s on it. I helped the top stretch more so by using a hair drier along the long seams of the top. (When I heated one side of the top, I noticed that it traveled more than the other side - so of course I did the same to the other, - it brought it quickly down about 2 inches. I could not keep doing this as I ran out of time, so I left the weights on ( for wieghts, you can use milk jugs with water.)
Evenly space the jugs. Heat the top Give it time. Then you will be able to latch it, and keep it that way till it sees some hot weather
However, I never had a prob with the top going far enough down (retracting - toward the rear of the car) as to not catch the latches. I still have to stretch the sides behind the rear window to reach the snap area; Hate that part.
Let me know if you have any other questions - hope this helps
Matt S.
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