Trouble closing rear trunk

[dgraves]

Does anyone else out there have trouble closing the rear trunk easily when the targa roof is stored? I can see wear marks on the roof where the trunk underside support beams are touching. I can't see why this is happening. Could it be that when the previous owner installed the Bilstein struts and the sway bar between the two strut posts create a high spot near the struts preventing the trunk from closing easily near the latch?

[Amfab]

I have a similar problem. Are the wear marks on the rear or front of the roof?

-Andrew

[Tobra]

More likely the roof is not completely secured in the rubber latch doo dads that secure it in the trunk.

[dgraves]

The wear marks are on the rear of the roof...nearest the trunk latch. The roof is secured in the rubber storage brackets.

[Amfab]

I have to wiggle the top to get it to sit better before it clips.
I found that leaving the bolts for the rubber clip things a little loose helps—the front clips too.

In my case, I am wondering if the body sealer stuff (on in the inside of the trunk pan) on one side up by the shock tower is a little thick. It seems like the top's passenger side rubber moulding touches there so it doesn’t sit down far enough.

I think this causes the front edge on the passenger side to ride a little high and this in turn doesn't let the top go as far forward as it should into the plastic clips. It's very slight, but this means the back edge sits a back a bit too far. I have to mess with it every time to get the corner to sit right in the recess in the tail light housing.

I put my phone in the trunk and videoed what happens when it closes and the rubber clips seem to get kicked back a little—the little tabs on the tops of the clips hit the trunk lid. As they get hit, the rubber clips tilt back. So I think the bottom of the groove in the rubber clips pushes up on the top a little—toward the trunk lid. It is hard to tell because I couldn't have the top in when I video.

Unfortunately, the previous owner moved the battery into the trunk and ran the cables though the handle cups which interferes with the handles, so that may contribute to this. My next step is to relocate the battery and then I will look further into this.

-Andrew

[dgraves]

You know, Andrew, I've noticed the same thing with my body sealer stuff as well. Also, I put on new side rubber moulding on the targa top and now the top barely fits side to side in the back. I'll try loosening the bolts a bit. Many thanks for the comments.

Dan

[Amfab]

Mine is a 74 as well, maybe the trunk guy was a little sealer happy that year.

I am going to pull the battery out of the trunk, and when I do I have to cut out some 1x1 angle iron from which the P.O. made a battery tray. I will take a shot at repainting the trunk after that so I will mess with the sealer issue then and see if it fixes it. This is multiple projects and weekends down the road however.

-Andrew

[HarveyH]

When I first bought my car (1993/94) it had (I believe) original door / window seals on the roof panel and I had no problem storing the roof in the trunk. They were in pretty sad shape so I got a replacement set from AA. They were noticeably harder and thicker rubber than the originals and made it difficult to close the rear trunk when storing the roof. The original seals tore getting them off so I couldn't go back. A while later I knuckled under and bought another set from GPR and they were much softer and thinner rubber than the AA set. It's still a pain to store the roof, but better than it was. They were OEM seals rather than Porsche so I don't know if the factory seals are a still better fit

[dgraves]

My replacement AA seals are harder. They fit good on my window and door, but it does make it tough to fit in the trunk. Thanks for the note.

Originally Posted by HarveyH

When I first bought my car (1993/94) it had (I believe) original door / window seals on the roof panel and I had no problem storing the roof in the trunk. They were in pretty sad shape so I got a replacement set from AA. They were noticeably harder and thicker rubber than the originals and made it difficult to close the rear trunk when storing the roof. The original seals tore getting them off so I couldn't go back. A while later I knuckled under and bought another set from GPR and they were much softer and thinner rubber than the AA set. It's still a pain to store the roof, but better than it was. They were OEM seals rather than Porsche so I don't know if the factory seals are a still better fit

[91417nut]

Originally Posted by dgraves

Does anyone else out there have trouble closing the rear trunk easily when the targa roof is stored? I can see wear marks on the roof where the trunk underside support beams are touching. I can't see why this is happening. Could it be that when the previous owner installed the Bilstein struts and the sway bar between the two strut posts create a high spot near the struts preventing the trunk from closing easily near the latch?

I find it is usually due to the front latches not going into the holes or flopping forward as if released. If it flops forward, it will prevent the roof from being pushed all the way forward into the clips, and the trunk lid from closing. It is hard to see from the rear of the vehicle. Sometimes I have to go tot the side and look underneath. It is amazing how little of an interference will prevent it from closing.