leaking roof

ok so in the interest of making this group more active. her's my problem.

I have a small (1mmx3mm that's a pin head size for you non metric folk)
hole on the roof. what's the best way to fix it without changing the
whole thing?

I was thinking maybe to glue a piece of cloth from inside (on the cloth)
+ maybe put a piece of thin rubber in between?

or I can go to a shop and pay a bunch of money (I wanna DIY and save euros)

Domagoj Bagaric wrote:
> ok so in the interest of making this group more active. her's my problem.
>
> I have a small (1mmx3mm that's a pin head size for you non metric folk)
> hole on the roof. what's the best way to fix it without changing the
> whole thing?
>
> I was thinking maybe to glue a piece of cloth from inside (on the cloth)
> + maybe put a piece of thin rubber in between?
>
> or I can go to a shop and pay a bunch of money (I wanna DIY and save euros)

I had a top with a small tear, and used a piece cut from the old top to
use as a patch, which I simply glued on, and then also glued a piece of
fabric onto the underside to reinforce it.

This held up well for over 5 years, and was still holding when I sold
the top. It was not easy to notice the repair, but this was down near
the frame of the car. A patch located higher on the top will probably
stand out more.

If you don't have an old top to cut a piece from, you should be able to
match up a small piece of vinyl from something else for a repair,
especially if it is black.

Good luck!

Pat

On 25.6.2010. 15:04, pws wrote:

> I had a top with a small tear, and used a piece cut from the old top to
> use as a patch, which I simply glued on, and then also glued a piece of
> fabric onto the underside to reinforce it.

what type of a glue did you use? don't wanna put something on that'll
"eat" trough the vinyl/fabric

> the frame of the car. A patch located higher on the top will probably
> stand out more.

yup, it's on top, I'll post a pic later

> If you don't have an old top to cut a piece from, you should be able to
> match up a small piece of vinyl from something else for a repair,
> especially if it is black.

well the fabric under the vinyl is torn, so the vinyl is holding the
tear together. the hole on vinyl is no bigger than a matchstick head

tnx

Domagoj Bagaric wrote:

> what type of a glue did you use? don't wanna put something on that'll
> "eat" trough the vinyl/fabric


We are going back about 8 years now, that really is taxing my memory. I
think it was some version of the "gorilla snot" glue that is recommended
frequently for attaching a loose top to the frame bow.

It has a few trade names, I think, but what I used did specifically
mention being good for vinyl.

> well the fabric under the vinyl is torn, so the vinyl is holding the
> tear together. the hole on vinyl is no bigger than a matchstick head
>
> tnx

That hole will get bigger in a very fast way, I would guess. Some type
of fabric patch is definitely in order. I would glue both the fabric to
the bottom and the vinyl to the top.

If anyone else has any additional/better suggestions, please post them,
but this was my experience with a top that was in very good condition
except for one very small tear.

Good luck!

Pat

Domagoj Bagaric wrote:
> On 25.6.2010. 15:04, pws wrote:
>
>> I had a top with a small tear, and used a piece cut from the old top to
>> use as a patch, which I simply glued on, and then also glued a piece of
>> fabric onto the underside to reinforce it.
>
> what type of a glue did you use? don't wanna put something on that'll
> "eat" trough the vinyl/fabric
>
>> the frame of the car. A patch located higher on the top will probably
>> stand out more.
>
> yup, it's on top, I'll post a pic later
>
>> If you don't have an old top to cut a piece from, you should be able to
>> match up a small piece of vinyl from something else for a repair,
>> especially if it is black.
>
> well the fabric under the vinyl is torn, so the vinyl is holding the
> tear together. the hole on vinyl is no bigger than a matchstick head
>
> tnx

this is what i have learned...
use contact cement.
http://dap.com/product_details.aspx?...=46&SubcatID=8
it is not water soluble like many glues and can stand the heat that the
top is exposed to without drying out.
apply to both surfaces, let dry, then assemble. you can not move it
once applied so be sure to align it correctly.
if it is a stayfast canvas (fabric) top then the best way to repair it
is to stitch the hole closed using upholsters thread and then glue a
patch on the underside.
if it is a cabrio vinyl top then the best way to repair it is to glue a
patch from the underside and then use vinyl filler on the top side to
waterproof the hole. permatex and other make vinyl filler.
apply a patch to the underside of the top only. consider if the
location of the patch may interact with parts that move when folding the
top... the crossbows can catch on a patch and peel it off from normal
operation... in some cases using a larger/oversized patch can eliminate
this problem.

On 25.6.2010. 17:43, Christopher Muto wrote:

> this is what i have learned...
> use contact cement.
> http://dap.com/product_details.aspx?...=46&SubcatID=8
> it is not water soluble like many glues and can stand the heat that the
> top is exposed to without drying out.
> apply to both surfaces, let dry, then assemble. you can not move it once
> applied so be sure to align it correctly.
> if it is a stayfast canvas (fabric) top then the best way to repair it
> is to stitch the hole closed using upholsters thread and then glue a
> patch on the underside.
> if it is a cabrio vinyl top then the best way to repair it is to glue a
> patch from the underside and then use vinyl filler on the top side to
> waterproof the hole. permatex and other make vinyl filler.
> apply a patch to the underside of the top only. consider if the location
> of the patch may interact with parts that move when folding the top...
> the crossbows can catch on a patch and peel it off from normal
> operation... in some cases using a larger/oversized patch can eliminate
> this problem.

nice pointers. I'll do a bit of google, get the stuff, photo-document
it, then post here


tnx

Domagoj Bagaric wrote:
> ok so in the interest of making this group more active. her's my problem.
>
> I have a small (1mmx3mm that's a pin head size for you non metric folk)
> hole on the roof. what's the best way to fix it without changing the
> whole thing?
>
I must say actually making a hole in the roof in order to created a
subject for posting is going above and beyond duty :-)


> I was thinking maybe to glue a piece of cloth from inside (on the cloth)
> + maybe put a piece of thin rubber in between?
>
I have a small tear in mine located pretty much dead center of the
driver door and maybe an inch from the edge. The tear is maybe a
centimeter long (half an inch) and being that the view to it from the
inside is pretty much obscured by the skeleton of the roof I decided to
do an experiment. I got my my self a bit of gaffa tape, used the tape to
hold the tear together like you might do with a cut on a finger and it
has worked out perfect.

It is maybe six month since I did the repair, the tear is pretty much
invisible unless you know where to look and the fix took two miniutes
and cost basic nothing. If you're hole is not because the roof material
is missing but because of something pointy I would think you can use the
same fix as me.

I'm not sure what gaffa tape is called elsewhere but it is the sort of
tape used by musicians to hold cables to the floor at concerts. It's the
same grey/black colour as a standard roof and the material is sort of a
fabric, perhaps a strong weave of cotton.


> or I can go to a shop and pay a bunch of money (I wanna DIY and save euros)

You could.

Regards
Bruno

PS. I hope I managed to explain my fix if not let me know and I shall
try again - with a dictionary.

On 25.6.2010. 20:58, Bruno, Copenhagen - Denmark wrote:

> I must say actually making a hole in the roof in order to created a
> subject for posting is going above and beyond duty :-)

hehe

> I'm not sure what gaffa tape is called elsewhere but it is the sort of
> tape used by musicians to hold cables to the floor at concerts. It's the
> same grey/black colour as a standard roof and the material is sort of a
> fabric, perhaps a strong weave of cotton.


duct tape?
"If it doesn't move, and it should, use WD40. If it moves and it
shouldn't, use duct (duck) tape."

http://swittersb.files.wordpress.com.../duct-tape.jpg
like that but black?

Domagoj Bagaric wrote:
> On 25.6.2010. 20:58, Bruno, Copenhagen - Denmark wrote:
>
>> I must say actually making a hole in the roof in order to created a
>> subject for posting is going above and beyond duty :-)
>
> hehe
>
>> I'm not sure what gaffa tape is called elsewhere but it is the sort
>> of tape used by musicians to hold cables to the floor at concerts.
>> It's the same grey/black colour as a standard roof and the material
>> is sort of a fabric, perhaps a strong weave of cotton.
>
>
> duct tape?
> "If it doesn't move, and it should, use WD40. If it moves and it
> shouldn't, use duct (duck) tape."
>
> http://swittersb.files.wordpress.com.../duct-tape.jpg
> like that but black?

Duct tape is polyethyline. Gaffa, or Gaffer, tape is cloth is the previous
poster said.

Frank Berger wrote:
> Domagoj Bagaric wrote:
>> On 25.6.2010. 20:58, Bruno, Copenhagen - Denmark wrote:
>>
>>> I must say actually making a hole in the roof in order to created a
>>> subject for posting is going above and beyond duty :-)
>>
>> hehe
>>
>>> I'm not sure what gaffa tape is called elsewhere but it is the sort
>>> of tape used by musicians to hold cables to the floor at concerts.
>>> It's the same grey/black colour as a standard roof and the material
>>> is sort of a fabric, perhaps a strong weave of cotton.
>>
>>
>> duct tape?
>> "If it doesn't move, and it should, use WD40. If it moves and it
>> shouldn't, use duct (duck) tape."
>>
>> http://swittersb.files.wordpress.com.../duct-tape.jpg
>> like that but black?
>
> Duct tape is polyethyline. Gaffa, or Gaffer, tape is cloth is the
> previous poster said.

Oops. Meant to say, "as" the previous poster said. I can look things up
too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaffer_tape