Miata Mailing List: January 1998, Message #160
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From: 	Don Whiteside <whiteside@tequilaresearch.com>

Subject: Aftermarket hardtop issues

Date: 	Fri, 2 Jan 1998 11:42:49 +0000



	My first action when I bought my Miata a few months ago was to take the

hardtop off and store it on my balcony. (Need a workout? Come lift this

sucker up and down the stairs of my 3rd floor apt.) After using up all my

space for a month I went and got about $20 worth of PCV pipes and fittings

and made myself a rack. Works like a charm (I'll diagram the process for

miata.net one of these days) and a lot cheaper than a $100 rack.



However it meant my top was now sitting on end instead of the on-car

orientation and it seems the only thing holding the glass onto the top is

the winshield sealant, no retaining clips at all. Result? Glass begins to

peel off top. Oops. Maybe wouldn't be a problem in a cooler city than Miami

or if it didn't catch the warming rays of the sun but here that goop

doesn't support any weight.



I'm close to using the 3M 5200 marine sealant/adheshive to reattach it and

maybe put a few small clips on as well, but I'm concerned that it may be

too stiff and not allow for some flex. I could pay $50 to get a winshield

place to reattach it but I don't want a repeat of this (pulling all that

goo off is less than fun) and, well, I'm cheap.



Any suggestions?



---

my parents and my sisters used to ask me what was wrong with me

and i told them "you"

- Billy Taylor