I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: how to check if hard top fits correctly.
Having thought I wouldn’t, have just decided to fit hardtop that came with car. While first time doing it, it seemed to go on okay but how do I know if it’s sitting right especially at the back? Probably my own imagination but any rattles I hear I wonder whether its because it’s loose.
Lastly bought half cover for soft top which has been used regularly. Does anyone continue to put it in after fitting hardtop?
When you pushed the hardtop forward whilst fitting you should have felt a sturdy thud as the bolts hit the back of the catch. You can’t really misalign them so I suspect you have fitted it correctly. Whenever I refit mine there’s a few creaks and sounds for a couple of drives whilst the seal settles in, though there’s fewer than with the soft top once it settles in.
One thing to check for is that the chrome attachments at the back of the hard top that fit over the Frankenstein bolts are pressed down before being slid forward.
It’s easy to slide the roof forward but the catches can ride over the bolts rather than catching on them.
If it’s caught properly there won’t be much vertical movement at the back at all. If it’s not seated correctly it will rattle.
When you take the cover off and check, make sure both catches snuggle up to the Frankenstein bolts. You can always undo the two nuts, push the “u” bracket up to the bolts and tighten…
There is a really useful PDF document on how to fit, adjust and set up the HT correctly , just search “NB Detachable Hardtop Fitting Instructions.” on the OC website.
Interesting photos, thanks for sharing them. I’ve never seen inside the brackets before so find it fascinating.
It appears that everything fits snugly but is there always that much daylight under the brackets? I confess that I haven’t really paid that much attention to mine.
It’s located in Members Downloads (you need to log in).
It’s dated Feb 2020.
It also comes up if you do a Google search for mx5 hardtop fitting instructions.
Hi, Looked at the document and think, as can be seen by photos, that it’s fitted okay but am still concerned about the gap between the bracket and body. Should it fit flush to body or does it matter. Cheers, Simon
I have just checked mine and there is a gap between the brackets and body, approx 6mm ish.
The key thing is the HT seals around the rear. It took me ages to adjust and reduce wind noise inside. In the end I had to release the soft top catches from their stowed position to allow to HT to seat lower and seal properly.
Yes you will get the gap under the brackets as mentioned. One thing to stop the creaking is to use something like Gummi-fledge or a silicone grease on the rubber that sits on the deck of the bodywork (under the bottom of the window) Mine always creaked for a while until I lubricated the seals. My bolts also got all rusty like yours so ended up replacing them for some new zinc coated ones.
I don’t know if anyone has answered your half-cover question but the design of the rear deck makes it x10 times less likely to leak water into the car when hardtop is fitted, although the window seals can obviously still leak if they are dry or damaged, or if the front catch isn’t adjusted tight enough.
That’s a long way of saying if the only reason you used to use the half cover was because of the drain holes then you don’t need to worry with a hardtop
Ended up getting a half cover from prestige autotrim and was brilliant although ‘rubber’ which fits into gap at rear of door could be better designed. Facing backwards it therefore needs to be angled forwards to trap it.
Hardtop came with car and after some cold days and continuous rain decided to fit it. It seems to be clamped tight all way round and leak free. However the gap as shown on my photos just looked huge compared with others I’ve seen and the one posted by another author. It made me seriously doubt I’d fitted it right. Thought yhe Frankenstein bolts might be too long or sitting too high. Sort of thing that could have been discussed at a meet! Cheers, Simon
