Quote from: Petrus on December 16, 2019, 20:47

Quote from: Joesson on December 16, 2019, 20:43

Quote from: Petrus on December 16, 2019, 13:56

Quote from: thetyrant on December 16, 2019, 11:39Fuchs Titan Pro . 

On a side note: does anyone know under which brand it is marketed here in Spain?

Fuchs are I understand a German Company, below is a link to their operation in Spain

https://www.fuchs.com/es/es/

Thanks, I looked at their listings and the same one is not listed.

Silkolene?

Quote from: shnazzle on December 16, 2019, 21:01Silkolene?

That brand name was superseded by Fuchs´ own.

But let´s stop the highjacking of Jan´s thread.

Thanks Petrus!

Anywho... quick question on hardtops.. is there a specific order in which to tighten the latches down so as to prevent/minimize them popping open.

On the drive to work today for some obscure reason the drivers side one (just behind the seat) kept popping open. Bit annoying! I'll have to adjust the tension but was wondering if doing them up in a specific order would lend itself to them staying shut?

Quote from: jvanzyl on December 17, 2019, 08:57On the drive to work today for some obscure reason the drivers side one (just behind the seat) kept popping open. Bit annoying! I'll have to adjust the tension but was wondering if doing them up in a specific order would lend itself to them staying shut?

Adjusting is not likely to help as it puts more tension on the lever to pop open whereas the issue seems to be that the ´over the top´ bit gets too much play. I looked at it and when mine gets too bad an easy if less elegant solution is to cut a piece of bicycle inner tube as elastic band.

Quote from: Petrus on December 17, 2019, 09:43

Quote from: jvanzyl on December 17, 2019, 08:57On the drive to work today for some obscure reason the drivers side one (just behind the seat) kept popping open. Bit annoying! I'll have to adjust the tension but was wondering if doing them up in a specific order would lend itself to them staying shut?

Adjusting is not likely to help as it puts more tension on the lever to pop open whereas the issue seems to be that the ´over the top´ bit gets too much play. I looked at it and when mine gets too bad an easy if less elegant solution is to cut a piece of bicycle inner tube as elastic band.

You might try unclipping them all, lift the front, give it a waggle and clip it back down.  Sometimes it's a subtle alignment issue.

Quote from: Carolyn on December 17, 2019, 10:14You might try unclipping them all, lift the front, give it a waggle and clip it back down.  Sometimes it's a subtle alignment issue.

That is for certain. If the fittings are not seated properly, the ´over the top´ cán not engage properly; stays on the uphill bit and will thus unclip.
Thanks for pointing this out.

Quote from: Carolyn on December 17, 2019, 10:14

Quote from: Petrus on December 17, 2019, 09:43

Quote from: jvanzyl on December 17, 2019, 08:57On the drive to work today for some obscure reason the drivers side one (just behind the seat) kept popping open. Bit annoying! I'll have to adjust the tension but was wondering if doing them up in a specific order would lend itself to them staying shut?

Adjusting is not likely to help as it puts more tension on the lever to pop open whereas the issue seems to be that the ´over the top´ bit gets too much play. I looked at it and when mine gets too bad an easy if less elegant solution is to cut a piece of bicycle inner tube as elastic band.

You might try unclipping them all, lift the front, give it a waggle and clip it back down.  Sometimes it's a subtle alignment issue.

Thanks both! I'll try lift and waggle followed by the elastic band effort if the former doesn't work!

I got my hardtop a few months back, and no amount of adjusting the tension would get the middle clips to hold. In the end just put the tension half-way and used some strong zip ties.

Quote from: househead on December 17, 2019, 11:16I got my hardtop a few months back, and no amount of adjusting the tension would get the middle clips to hold. In the end just put the tension half-way and used some strong zip ties.

Yeah I was hoping to avoid those... It was just weird this morning because it's not happened before. Must be a combination of temp and moisture level cos nothing else has changed!

Quote from: jvanzyl on December 17, 2019, 13:33

Quote from: househead on December 17, 2019, 11:16I got my hardtop a few months back, and no amount of adjusting the tension would get the middle clips to hold. In the end just put the tension half-way and used some strong zip ties.

Yeah I was hoping to avoid those... It was just weird this morning because it's not happened before. Must be a combination of temp and moisture level cos nothing else has changed!

Vibrations too? Especially if you have extra bracing. I reckon over time that will wear away at the plastic clips at the top that should be retaining the bigger clip.

I retro-fitted a good condition, but well used hardtop to my sable and that required a cable-tie threaded through the centre of the clip to keep it in place - it was secure for several months like that. No matter how much tension adjustment was done and even though the clip appeared to lock completely, it would always pop up within a few minutes. I assume it is just something internal to the clasp that means it doesn't lock as securely as it could.

I sold the hardtop on and it required the same setup on the next car.

The cable tie solution is very secure and the cable tie is under no real pressure, so even a really thin, simple one should suffice.

My 2nd MR2 "came" with a hardtop - but that was also retrofitted - it never required any cable ties at all, so I think it is just wear and tear.

Cheers Chris - the drivers one has started behaving as of the other week. The passenger side might occasionally pop still.. I'll dig out my bag O'zip ties.. tempted to take the top off at some point but I'm probably going to take it off after the snow is done..

So time for an update.
I've acquired new front and rear bumpers to replace the old scratched, cracked and scuffed ones. Stoked about this as the car looks so much better now. @Oddshoes thanks so much!

The other thing I've done is get some garage matts in. @Oddshoes had some in his garage and I was amazed how much better the world is when your don't have crawl over rippled cold concrete.
You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.

Aww bless and glad I inspired you, such a great investment. It's recycled plastics so doing my bit for the environment as well as making my life better too, it was relaivitly cheap to do as well on my 36sqm workshop

So where to begin- clearly having a car with no cracked bumpers and any obvious signs of damage was not to be allowed. Addison Lee was therefore assigned to ensure this was corrected.

You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.

So Dave to the rescue again, with the supply of doors and fenders.. I had no idea the doors weighed so much!!!!

Oh bum

Well that sucks... but fortuitous that Dave had the breaker.

Thats not the kind of arch rolling you want!

Dear oh dear.

Thats pants

Cheers guys- part of me thinks I should have taken the whole car and just swapped over the suspension, engine, and interior!

So work has commenced on fixing up Addison Lee's mess.

Did some initial work with the dremel - not really a fan of the wire wheel attachment as I was pulling metal bits from the wheel out of my clothing afterwards.
You cannot view this attachment.
Then changed to old faithful angle grinder with wire wheel... much better result and then did spirits wipe followed by kurust.
You cannot view this attachment.

Found a spare few minutes in the evening to start on the outside of the panel to touch up a few marks..

sanded using 600 wet first
You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

then masked up
You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

then did a couple of applications of simonz grey primer. This isn't a high build one so we'll see how it works out.

I did a second layer of kurust on the inside, I'll use some zinc primer on that this evening if I can, and then probably finish if off with some hammered silver for good measure
You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

If I get a chance tonight I'll try and sand it back again and see how it shapes up.
Then if all is well I'll attempt to spay on the halfords mix of 1D0 which by all historical accounts is probably the equivalent of spraying orange onto purple... but we'll see.

Ok so this evening's update:
Sanded back the grey primer- middle section ok but front section will need building.
You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

Did another pass with the high build.
You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.
Then did the inside rusted bit with zinc primer.

Then gave it pride of place in the lounge- Valentine's DayIs coming after all...

Pics from earlier thread
You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.

More sanding and priming again (3x layers of the grey stuff).. I've been using 600 wondering if I need to go up to more..
And needless to say it's back in its place in the lounge to dry over night.
You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.

Oh and I did a layer of hammered silver on the old rust spot.