Topic: Hole in the convertible top I can put my finger into!

[Sly Bob]

Noticed yesterday when I put up the top that there is a hole worn right through it. The hole is order the trunk lid and it looks as though the trunk lid slices through the top when I close it. The trunk lid sits nice and flush once it is closed but I think it might be going past flush and cutting into the top before it rebounds.

All I have done at this point is take pictures and stew about it. Tomorrow I'll dive in and see what the hell is going on. There is a place in town that does soft top repairs and once I figure this out I'll be going there to see what they can do.

Anyone seen this before? Actually looks like ir's getting cut from the back side as well.

[Sol Asylum]

Can't say I've seen this before, thanks for the heads up. 

Don't feel too bad about it Bob it could be in a lot worse locations and how old is the top now?  Unfortunately with convertibles this kind of thing happens.  I would think this should be repairable.

[Gentleman Jack]

Can you take a pic from further away? I can't figure where in the trunk that is.

[Sly Bob]

Top is original so it's a little over eight years old now but only about 35k miles on the car.

Hole is here Steven just to the left of where the elastic is fastened to the top. I'll know more tonight but looks to me that the sliding stop on that side (seen to the right of the arrow) has been beaten down when I slam the trunk lid. To close it I normally open the flap on the tulip and slam the lid. Thinking that the top is getting pinched between the corner on the trunk lid and the sharp edge of the steel drip tray underneath when the lid overtravels.
Not sure now that closing it like that is the best practice.

Picture below is not from my car but one I found in a Google search. At work at the moment...

[Sly Bob]

Found what was going on. The lid was, as I thought, going to far down when I slammed it and was pinching the fabric between the lid and the triangular metal drain tray below. Using Playdoh I determined that after setting the sliding stop on that side I was able to prevent the over travel but I still have the trunk lid contacting the top, not pinching it as before but still making contact.

My son Chris borrowed my air compressor and air nailer some time ago and waiting for him to bring it back in an hour or so. I'm firing up the die grinder to trim the bracket on the back of the trunk lid to give a little more clearance on that side.

Why it isn't an issue on the driver side is beyond me but with the Playdoh I was able to determine that there is no contact there at all.

[Sly Bob]

So far I found the hole, adjusted the stops for the trunk lid all the way to the top so there is now no deflection past the point that it sits flush and tonight I ground the corner of the trunk lid with a die grinder to get more clearance.

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Wasn't pinching any longer with the the lid adjusted but there was still contact. Not any more!   

Now have to figure out how to get the lid a little higher on the drivers side not to mention the trip next week to the repair shop to get the hole sewn up. No issues on the drivers side but it is a little low and the stop is all the way to the top on that side.   

No one else has ever had this issue? Have never seen it posted anywhere that I remember. Just my luck...   

[DeepBlueGXP]

At the plant, they placed a pillow under the side that was too low and draped it over the side of the car, then pressed down on the opposite side to flex the lid and then it was aligned.  There is also a stop adjustment on the side that you can loosen and move up to help

[Sly Bob]

Thanks Joe. Adjusting those did help but according to the Solstice and Sky panel adjusting PDF that was posted some time ago those adjustments are to center the deck lid in the opening. I DID find that when raising the stop on the right side it prevented the lid from going down so far but also drove the lid to the drivers side as stated in the instructions. Had to find a place that the lid was centered and it didn't go down too far.

You know what they say, "Always read the instructions". I tend to try to figure it out first and read the instructions later.   

I thought about raising the other side of the lid by bending, or finessing it as the instructions say, but the surface by the right rear light is high by about the same amount. Has been actually since the car was new actually and didn't worry about it.

I want to lower the trunk lid on the right rear corner so the left front will come up but I can't get at that darn rear bolt on the right hand hinge! I've tried all the wrenches in my box that look like they might work so if I want to take this farther I might have to take the rear bumper cover off.

Or just live with it...

[elff]

Stop fingering your top you perv.

[Sly Bob]

Wrong finger...   

Got a wrench in there with the help of a big ass screwdriver and adjusted the trunk lid as far as it would go. It's still a little high along the back edge but at least it's even now. It's also even on the edge at the rear glass, a little low but the same on both side none the less. Should get in there and raise the latch a bit.

Maybe after I cut the grass...