Brush for use on ND soft top?

I bought these for the hood and bodywork too. Large and soak up the water. Do wash them a couple of times before use as they don’t seem to work very well straight off.

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You really should not have water “seeping through” the cloth hood material unless you have a serious problem. The middle layer is rubber and under normal circumstances will not let water penetrate. The acrylic outer layer is to make it look nice and to act as a protector for the rubber layer in case of abrasive damage. If you have water inside then it is more than likely to be condensation due to either water leaks soaking the carpet or underlay or because the atmosphere is damp and the water has condensed onto the cooler roof interior.

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Really interesting to know how the hood is constructed. I didn’t know the middle layer was rubber, and to be honest not surprised this is the case. It needs to be fairly substantial as many of use don’t have garage space. If I have condensation in mine on a day I’m not going out in it, I just drop the hood for a while and it soon goes… :slight_smile:

The early ND could suffer water patches seeping thru the roof where they rub on the roll bars. Mazda replaced my roll bars and hood free of charge (under warrantee) with a later spec set. It’s about 10mm taller at the rear than early cars and no longer rubs. Apparently they have replaced quite a few according to the dealer. Cars built after something like mid 2017 all have a taller roof as standard and that’s the one my car now has, I am unsure of the dates I they swapped exactly.

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Nope, not so I’m afraid and no serious problems here either.

I had (until recently) one of the first ND’s and the hood never rubbed on the roll bars, a lot of the rubbing was caused by owners not ensuring there was adequate clearance whilst lowering/stowing/raising the hood.

It was just what the main dealer told me. :man_shrugging:
I have a new roof anyway and it was done free of charge and no longer rubs so I’m happy. It’s unquestionably taller than it was too I have more ‘hair room’.

For interest the original Mazda MX5 Soft Top Hood material is Haartz Stayfast C, a 3 layer material. This consists of an Acrylic square weave solution dyed outer material, a Butyl Rubber intermediate layer ( for water proofing) and a PET Drill weave inner layer. Any damage to either the outer or inner Fabric layers will leave the softer rubber intermediate layer vulnerable to damage. Bearing in mind that the total material thickness is only 1mm then slight damage will almost certainly breach the rubber layer quite quickly. The material is normally tested for abrasion resistance against itself, specifically outer layer to outer layer and should survive for many '000s of hours. However constant abrasion against metal will fairly quickly wear through the interior PET and start to damage the rubber inter layer resulting in thin areas which will allow water to seep through. Better soft tops have an additional inner lining much like a standard roof lining but these are expensive and add weight both of which are a no no for the MX5. Hope that helps!

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This thread has turned out to be more interesting than expected, and in a very good way… You can never know too much!! I I removed the dust etc by using a lint -free-roller, then using warm water with a microfibre cloth - Looks like new again - So thanks to all for the advise… :slight_smile:
Rob