anyone upgraded 1st gen to current Miata

On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:02:06 -0500, "Frank Berger" >
wrote:

>> Most people close the latches while the top is down, so they need to
>> open them again before pulling the bow in place.
>
>Don't know about most people, but I do. But I don't unlatch them until
>after I've raised the top. Usually from inside the car. But even if I'm
>outside it's simpler to unlatch them after the top is up and you're back in
>the car, isn't it? After all, you can hardly latch the top without getting
>back in the car.

I guess it all depnds on how loose your top is, and whether or not the latches
bang against the top of the windshield if they're not open. Mine do, so I open
them before raising the top (when I have a soft top on, that is...)

-- Larry

wrote:
> On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:02:06 -0500, "Frank Berger"
> > wrote:
>
>>> Most people close the latches while the top is down, so they need to
>>> open them again before pulling the bow in place.
>>
>> Don't know about most people, but I do. But I don't unlatch them
>> until after I've raised the top. Usually from inside the car. But
>> even if I'm outside it's simpler to unlatch them after the top is up
>> and you're back in the car, isn't it? After all, you can hardly
>> latch the top without getting back in the car.
>
> I guess it all depnds on how loose your top is, and whether or not
> the latches bang against the top of the windshield if they're not
> open.

I don't know about "bang." With how much force do you raise the top? Of
course they do hit the top of the windshield. But so what?

On Jun 18, 5:53*pm, "Iva" > wrote:
> "xyzzy" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> >I have a 1996 Miata that I bought new. *Obviously my wife and I
> >are
> > now 13 years older than when we bought the car and some things
> > are
> > starting to wear on us. *Getting in and out of the car isn't
> > the snap
> > it once was. We moved to a rural area so we spend much more
> > time in
> > our cars than we used to (an hour a day is typical) so the
> > smallness
> > of the cabin gets to be an issue as the end of the commuting
> > day
> > approaches. *Raising the top is getting to be *a hassle because
> > the
> > "twist right, pull top over head, then twist left to grab the
> > zipper
> > and zip it up" dance is getting harder on the less flexible
> > body.
> > Also on a sunny day the all-black interior gets real hot.
>
> > I still love driving the car but over the years some of the
> > ancillary
> > experiences at the beginning and end of the drive *are getting
> > less
> > fun to deal with, so I was thinking about trading it for a
> > current
> > model with the PRHT. *So, especially people who have direct
> > experience
> > with both: *Does the current model have significantly more room
> > than
> > the 1st gen? * Is it easier to get in and out of? *How's the
> > reliability of the PRHT? * Can a PRHT one be obtained with a
> > manual
> > tranny in relatively base trim (only option I'm really
> > interested in
> > is the CD changer)? * Is the current model as much fun to drive
> > as the
> > first? * *Are they dealing on them, I saw that Edmunds pegged
> > the TMV
> > to not much above invoice.
>
> > Thanks!
>
> Don't have a PRHT - just an '04. *However, I quit zipping and
> unzipping the top on my '90 and opted for a noodle instead.

What does this mean? I've never head of this.

http://forum.miata.net/vb/printthread.php?t=286747

On Jun 23, 12:09*pm, "Frank Berger" >
wrote:
> http://forum.miata.net/vb/printthread.php?t=286747

Thanks, interesting idea.

Hmm, according to that you have to be outside the car when putting the
top down because the noodle is pushed in to the crease from the
outside? Then when you put the top back up the noodle will fall onto
the trunk and you'll need to get it and put it back into the car (or
trunk).

It probably is a good way to preserve the zipper, but not sure that's
any more convenient than staying in the car and doing the body twists
required to zip/unzip it from the inside (which is my goal, in 13
years I've had one $200 zipper repair job, I'm wiling to put up with
that).