Help, I broke the top

[_Remi]

Hi friends,

I am quite sad and really unlucky, my convertible top broke after a mere 5 hours of ownership. I picked it up, drove it back home super happy and while operating the top to close it, I did not notice that the left side was a bit stuck. In a split second, I heard a big snap and here's the result:



I was so happy



How bad is it? Is that a piece that is part of top replacements? (like a GAHH top?)

[ian c2]

Quite common .
You I have to make sure the car is on level ground before operating the hood , and on buy9ng a new car I’d check the motors , gearboxes , switches , wire-cables , and visually inspect the cast parts before operating the roof .
There’s too much torque to cause issues if everything isn’t perfect .

Edit , as I was thinking about your misfortune earlier whilst going for beer .
When I say level ground , I mean left to right .
Parked on a slight incline such as a driveway is ok , but parked on a level street with one side of the car up on a kerb is not .
Even if everything is working and the cables are turning freely and have anough length that they won’t pop-out of the gearboxes etc , if you’re parked with one side of the car higher than the other the wieght of the roof and gravity pulls it to one side and you get the dreaded “crack” .

Not much help for you now , but worth remembering in the future .

Also , where did you buy it ?
If it came from a dealer does it have any warranty ?

[group911@aol.co]

Can't tell from the picture which part broke?

[_Remi]

I bought it from a very honest private party and it is overall in great shape. It's really a combination of bad luck and not really knowing how it works.

I found a pretty competent specialist here in the bay area and he is looking at it now. Most likely it will involve tungsten welding and I am also going for a new top since it tore the old one.

It's just money but let me tell you, it's painful!

@group911, it's the top bow, here's another guy with the same issue: Broken Top Bow on 88 Cabriolet

[group911@aol.co]

The top bow is 3 pieces and it's usually the right side that breaks. You can buy each part individually.

[_Remi]

It's fixed now, I replaced the top completely (headliner and window were not in great shape) and I had the top bow tungsten welded.

These are $3000 that I won't see again and now I need to forget about it all ... and operate my top carefully!

[Ralph3.]

Looks great, was wondering what you ended up doing.