Can't latch top.

Just before leaving for the airport, I decided to put up the Miata's top. I
couldn't get the latches to latch. It was as if they didn't extend far
enough. I tried adjusting them (turning the adjusting nut to extend the
latches as far as possible, but that didn't work. It was as though
something were preventing the top from going up all the way. Any ideas?

just a guess...i've heard this problem but from reverse. check the
trunk...make sure it's closed.

--
Jim Becker
Virginia Beach Backyard Weather
http://members.cox.net/jbecker31
"Frank Berger" > wrote in message
...
> Just before leaving for the airport, I decided to put up the Miata's top.
> I
> couldn't get the latches to latch. It was as if they didn't extend far
> enough. I tried adjusting them (turning the adjusting nut to extend the
> latches as far as possible, but that didn't work. It was as though
> something were preventing the top from going up all the way. Any ideas?
>

Frank Berger wrote:
> Just before leaving for the airport, I decided to put up the Miata's top. I
> couldn't get the latches to latch. It was as if they didn't extend far
> enough. I tried adjusting them (turning the adjusting nut to extend the
> latches as far as possible, but that didn't work. It was as though
> something were preventing the top from going up all the way. Any ideas?
>
>

Every time I experienced that with my NA it was because the top had been
down for a long time and had taken a set in the folded shape. This left the
fabric too short to easily stretch far enough to allow the latches to
catch. This was even worse if the temperature was low which made the fabric
stiffer. I always managed to stretch it far enough to get the latch
"dimples" matched up and get a purchase but it was enough to work up a real
sweat sometimes. Thankfully the NC seems to have no such problem whether
because of newness or improved design.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

On 2008-10-12, Jim Becker > wrote:

> just a guess...i've heard this problem but from reverse. check the
> trunk...make sure it's closed.

Huh? Why would hat matter?

--
Grant

huh.....it was being dicussed in the miata forum.....only it was not being
able to put the top down

--
Jim Becker
Virginia Beach Backyard Weather
http://members.cox.net/jbecker31
"Grant Edwards" > wrote in message
ernet...
> On 2008-10-12, Jim Becker > wrote:
>
>> just a guess...i've heard this problem but from reverse. check the
>> trunk...make sure it's closed.
>
> Huh? Why would hat matter?
>
> --
> Grant
>

Grant Edwards > wrote:

> On 2008-10-12, Jim Becker > wrote:
>
>> just a guess...i've heard this problem but from reverse. check the
>> trunk...make sure it's closed.
>
> Huh? Why would that matter?

Because someone could steal your spare while you're struggling with the
top?

Seriously, put the top back down and then raise it again. Repeat once
and then try pulling very hard to get the latches to engage. I had
this when my top was new, I struggled to get it within about 3" of the
windshield frame so I lowered the top and raised it again, this time it
was within 1/2"! Pulling hard got it to latch, I don't know why it
didn't want to come up the first time?????

Hope this helps?


--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project:
http://improve-usenet.org

On 2008-10-13, Jim Becker > wrote:

> huh.....it was being dicussed in the miata forum.....only it
> was not being able to put the top down

Again, why would the trunk being closed make any difference in
the ability to eith latch the top or to put the top down?

--
Grant

Grant Edwards wrote:
> On 2008-10-13, Jim Becker > wrote:
>
>> huh.....it was being dicussed in the miata forum.....only it
>> was not being able to put the top down
>
> Again, why would the trunk being closed make any difference in
> the ability to eith latch the top or to put the top down?

If that doesn't turn out to be the problem, I'll check the oil. Oh wait, I
do have a power steering fluid leak. Maybe that's it.

John McGaw wrote:
> Frank Berger wrote:
>> Just before leaving for the airport, I decided to put up the Miata's
>> top. I couldn't get the latches to latch. It was as if they didn't
>> extend far enough. I tried adjusting them (turning the adjusting
>> nut to extend the latches as far as possible, but that didn't work. It
>> was as though something were preventing the top from going up all
>> the way. Any ideas?
>
> Every time I experienced that with my NA it was because the top had
> been down for a long time and had taken a set in the folded shape.
> This left the fabric too short to easily stretch far enough to allow
> the latches to catch. This was even worse if the temperature was low
> which made the fabric stiffer. I always managed to stretch it far
> enough to get the latch "dimples" matched up and get a purchase but
> it was enough to work up a real sweat sometimes. Thankfully the NC
> seems to have no such problem whether because of newness or improved
> design.

Thanks for the replies. At least I'm not the only one to have had the
problem.

On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:15:53 -0500, "Frank Berger"
> wrote:

>Just before leaving for the airport, I decided to put up the Miata's top. I
>couldn't get the latches to latch. It was as if they didn't extend far
>enough. I tried adjusting them (turning the adjusting nut to extend the
>latches as far as possible, but that didn't work. It was as though
>something were preventing the top from going up all the way. Any ideas?
>

Wind the windows down or open the doors first




OzOne of the three twins

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