Convertible Top Cover (Boot)

I'm a 'tonneau' user, too. I just put the top up yesterday...forecast is
for freezing weather and I wanted to put it up before that hits. Otherwise,
the top is down and the tonneau is on, either as a full cover or a 'boot'
when I have a passenger.
"pws" > wrote in message
...
> Jazz_Azz wrote:
>
>> Anyway back on topic. We live in a very warm climate, except for the
>> colder winter months, here in N. Calif. (Solano County). I keep the top
>> up nearly all the time, helping to keep the dust out, when parked at
>> home, even though the windows are down, since I keep it garaged 100% of
>> the time, here at home. So the underside of the top only gets exposed to
>> the sun, on the few times we are traveling more than say maybe a couple
>> of hours.
>
>
> It takes a very short period of time to turn the underside of the pre-2006
> tops gray in color when exposed to the sun, but how much actual damage is
> happening is hard to judge for certain.
>
> The top on Frank's car is almost 13 years old and it is still keeping out
> the rain and wind despite his not using a boot.
>
> I have seen a top on a Miata where the owner almost always used the boot,
> and it needed replacement for pinhole leaks after 15 years.
>
> Using a boot is probably better for the top's condition, but I wonder to
> what extent since I don't see tops springing leaks from not using the boot
> regularly.
>
> I'll bet that Frank's top underside is gray in color, but if 12+ years of
> being exposed to the Texas sun has not ruined it's usefulness, I think
> that the amount of meaningful damage that has occurred due to not using a
> boot is certainly debatable.
>
> Pat

"pws" > wrote in message
...
> Jazz_Azz wrote:
>
>> Anyway back on topic. We live in a very warm climate, except for the
>> colder winter months, here in N. Calif. (Solano County). I keep the top
>> up nearly all the time, helping to keep the dust out, when parked at
>> home, even though the windows are down, since I keep it garaged 100% of
>> the time, here at home. So the underside of the top only gets exposed to
>> the sun, on the few times we are traveling more than say maybe a couple
>> of hours.
>
>
> It takes a very short period of time to turn the underside of the pre-2006
> tops gray in color when exposed to the sun, but how much actual damage is
> happening is hard to judge for certain.
>
> The top on Frank's car is almost 13 years old and it is still keeping out
> the rain and wind despite his not using a boot.
>
> I have seen a top on a Miata where the owner almost always used the boot,
> and it needed replacement for pinhole leaks after 15 years.
>
> Using a boot is probably better for the top's condition, but I wonder to
> what extent since I don't see tops springing leaks from not using the boot
> regularly.
>
> I'll bet that Frank's top underside is gray in color, but if 12+ years of
> being exposed to the Texas sun has not ruined it's usefulness, I think
> that the amount of meaningful damage that has occurred due to not using a
> boot is certainly debatable.
>
> Pat

Some PPL may not recommend it, but I apply Armour All maybe only twice/yr. I
have used Armour All more at least over 30 yrs. and have always liked it. It
really makes the top and dashboard look awesome upon application. Negatives
or not, I'd rather use it than see some of the sick looking tops that I've
seen :-).

"S K" > wrote in message
...
> iva>>Like I said, except for our trip to the Grand Canyon, and
> maybe
> driving 4 1/2 hrs. to Pismo Beach, I have hardly ever used it.
> And as
> for hearing any rattling, can't say that I ever have. Maybe
> because when
> the top is down, there is too much other niose for me to
> notice. but I
> doubt that those latches could be so poorly designed that them
> rattling
> could cause then to not lock properly.

Well, I took a good look at the latch yesterday and the plastic
cover on the little nub-type end that goes into the plate was
broken. I was able to get the rest of the plastic out of there
(not easily though) so hopefully that might solve the not
latching properly problem.

Looks like I'll be able to test it today - the forecast is not so
nice. Any forecast that includes the four letter word for frozen
precipitation is Not Nice!


Iva & Vixen
2004 Classic Red
No more winkin' Miata

Iva wrote:

> Well, I took a good look at the latch yesterday and the plastic
> cover on the little nub-type end that goes into the plate was
> broken. I was able to get the rest of the plastic out of there
> (not easily though) so hopefully that might solve the not
> latching properly problem.
>
> Looks like I'll be able to test it today - the forecast is not so
> nice. Any forecast that includes the four letter word for frozen
> precipitation is Not Nice!
>
>
> Iva & Vixen
> 2004 Classic Red
> No more winkin' Miata

I think that it has been 4 1/2 years since I have seen snow in person,
but it got down to an unacceptable 43 degrees last night, and it might
freeze tonight just a little north of where I am.
(talking 32 degrees, not exactly a hard freeze)

We should have a high of 73 and sunny today.....This is the time of the
year that makes those blazing hot summers worth it.

October through December are by far my favorite months here.

Pat

Jazz_Azz wrote:
> "pws" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Jazz_Azz wrote:
>>
>>> Anyway back on topic. We live in a very warm climate, except for the
>>> colder winter months, here in N. Calif. (Solano County). I keep the
>>> top up nearly all the time, helping to keep the dust out, when
>>> parked at home, even though the windows are down, since I keep it
>>> garaged 100% of the time, here at home. So the underside of the top
>>> only gets exposed to the sun, on the few times we are traveling
>>> more than say maybe a couple of hours.
>>
>>
>> It takes a very short period of time to turn the underside of the
>> pre-2006 tops gray in color when exposed to the sun, but how much
>> actual damage is happening is hard to judge for certain.
>>
>> The top on Frank's car is almost 13 years old and it is still
>> keeping out the rain and wind despite his not using a boot.
>>
>> I have seen a top on a Miata where the owner almost always used the
>> boot, and it needed replacement for pinhole leaks after 15 years.
>>
>> Using a boot is probably better for the top's condition, but I
>> wonder to what extent since I don't see tops springing leaks from
>> not using the boot regularly.
>>
>> I'll bet that Frank's top underside is gray in color, but if 12+
>> years of being exposed to the Texas sun has not ruined it's
>> usefulness, I think that the amount of meaningful damage that has
>> occurred due to not using a boot is certainly debatable.
>>
>> Pat
>
> Some PPL may not recommend it, but I apply Armour All maybe only
> twice/yr. I have used Armour All more at least over 30 yrs. and have
> always liked it. It really makes the top and dashboard look awesome
> upon application. Negatives or not, I'd rather use it than see some
> of the sick looking tops that I've seen :-).

Over here in the UK you can get something (which I use) called Renovo, it's
a reproofer for vinyl tops, protects against UV etc. Meant to be applied to
the outside though!

Pat wrote:
> Iva wrote:
>
>> Well, I took a good look at the latch yesterday and the
>> plastic cover on the little nub-type end that goes into the
>> plate was broken. I was able to get the rest of the plastic
>> out of there (not easily though) so hopefully that might solve
>> the not latching properly problem.
>>
>> Looks like I'll be able to test it today - the forecast is not
>> so nice. Any forecast that includes the four letter word for
>> frozen precipitation is Not Nice!
>>
> I think that it has been 4 1/2 years since I have seen snow in
> person, but it got down to an unacceptable 43 degrees last
> night, and it might freeze tonight just a little north of where
> I am.
> (talking 32 degrees, not exactly a hard freeze)
>
> We should have a high of 73 and sunny today.....This is the
> time of the year that makes those blazing hot summers worth it.
>
> October through December are by far my favorite months here.

I don't mind the heat in the summer, although I do mind the
humidty, but I really Do Not Like
that-word-for-frozen-precipitation. (Can't say *that* word or it
will hear me!) <G>

And it turned out that the broken plastic piece was the problem
with the latch - it snugged right up like it was supposed to when
I put the top up today. That was not the rattle though. That
little problem turned out to be the passenger side seatbelt guide
tapping against the rollbar. I rotated the guide all the way
toward the back of the car and the rattle stopped. That's fine
when there's no passenger but....

Guess I'll have to stick a piece of foam on there. Or something.

Iva & Vixen
2004 Classic Red
No more winkin' Miata

Iva wrote:

> I don't mind the heat in the summer, although I do mind the
> humidty, but I really Do Not Like
> that-word-for-frozen-precipitation. (Can't say *that* word or it
> will hear me!) <G>
>
> And it turned out that the broken plastic piece was the problem
> with the latch - it snugged right up like it was supposed to when
> I put the top up today. That was not the rattle though. That
> little problem turned out to be the passenger side seatbelt guide
> tapping against the rollbar. I rotated the guide all the way
> toward the back of the car and the rattle stopped. That's fine
> when there's no passenger but....
>
> Guess I'll have to stick a piece of foam on there. Or something.
>
> Iva & Vixen
> 2004 Classic Red
> No more winkin' Miata
>
>

Top was down with boot on most of the summer, even through a couple of
rain storms! Now top is still down, but with the hardtop on! Already
drove through snow flurries on Saturday.

Stuart H.
1991 Eunos Roadster

Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada

Richard Phillips wrote:

> I guess from reading all the posts here, if you live somewhere sunny, you'll
> tend to have the roof down most if not all of the time, so then you'll use
> the cover to protect the roof.
> If however (like me), you live somewhere where the weather is more volatile,
> you'll tend to have the roof up a lot more than you have it down, so then
> when you do drop the roof now and again, using the cover is way too much
> hassle, especially when you might have to raise it again at short notice!
>

Exact-a-mundo. Here in the very center of "fly-over" USA, the top is up
and down daily or hourly or minute-by-minute. I worry more about how
the very smoothly functioning top on our 2006 will endu
a. up-and-down, up-and-down cycles, over and over and over and over...
b. ghastly summer heat/humidity/rain/sun
c: miserable bitter winter cold/ice/snow

So far - 3 years, so good. The top is down most summer days. For the
next 3 or 4 months (November - March), it MAY go down on good weather
days after a decent warm-up. Replacing and removing a cover would be a
major hassle.

BTW: Have you ever watched Saturn Sky or Pontiac Solstice owners folding
the infernal convertible top on one of *those*? It is amusing to see how
many of them rarely have the top down. No wonder...

Richard Phillips wrote:

> Over here in the UK you can get something (which I use) called Renovo, it's
> a reproofer for vinyl tops, protects against UV etc. Meant to be applied to
> the outside though!

Yes, and that is the same for Armor-All. I have never seen anything to
put on the bottom part of the cloth or vinyl tops.

Shortly after the purchase of my first miata, my "helpful" neighbor
dumped about half the bottle of Armor-All onto my top and it took a
while for it to stop dripping onto the paint.

Using it sparingly is probably not going to cause a problem, but there
is another product for protecting vinyl that is made by Meguiars.

I can't remember what it is called, but it is seems less greasy than
Armor-All to me and has never dripped onto the paint even when it rained
almost immediately after applying it.

Pat

pws wrote:
> Richard Phillips wrote:
>
>> Over here in the UK you can get something (which I use) called
>> Renovo, it's a reproofer for vinyl tops, protects against UV etc. Meant
>> to be applied to the outside though!
>
> Yes, and that is the same for Armor-All. I have never seen anything to
> put on the bottom part of the cloth or vinyl tops.
>
> Shortly after the purchase of my first miata, my "helpful" neighbor
> dumped about half the bottle of Armor-All onto my top and it took a
> while for it to stop dripping onto the paint.
>
> Using it sparingly is probably not going to cause a problem, but there
> is another product for protecting vinyl that is made by Meguiars.
>
> I can't remember what it is called, but it is seems less greasy than
> Armor-All to me and has never dripped onto the paint even when it
> rained almost immediately after applying it.
>
> Pat

Renovo isn't greasy at all. In fact you wouldn't know it had been
applied... I assume it is doing something though!

I do use Armor-All, but on the inside plastics etc.