I own a 2001 NB 1.8L MK2.5 and a few months ago I bought an used hardtop. It has been a little complicated to get everything in order, paint it, adjust all the windows rubber seals to eliminate the wind noise and now it is almost ok, but in rough roads the soft top, that is folded in the back, makes a lot of noise. It seems that it bounces and I think that the problem could be because the “arms” that push down the soft top, pressing the latches down, are short… and I read that the earlier NA hardtop had that problem… Maybe I have a NA hardtop in my NB, so I might need “longer arms” to replace the NA ones. I copy a photo from the net where we can see the same problem that I have. Anyone knows if Mazda sells the parts the I need and their the part number? I tried to find it but without success
A question you need to ask yourself - Without the hard top (apparently a recent acquisition) were you bothered about the soft top bouncing up and down? - Mine never did. Yes, I did have it down before (and since) keeping the hardtop on permanently, but if it was a common problem, then we’d hear a lot more about it.
The Mk1 hardtop AFAIK also fits the Mk2/2.5, so I’m not aware of any difference between the two. Also not aware of any ‘extension arms’ that can be fitted, but I’m not into all the parts that Mazda can supply.
That doesn’t look like a standard Mazda hardtop - the heater wiring and connection is different to most I’ve seen.
The problem is not the bouncing but the noise the latchs make hiting the rear “arms” os the hardtop.
There is a difference in the size of that “arm”, not the arm itself but an extension made of rubber or else, that attach under the arm and stays between the arm and the latch. The NB latchs of the soft top, when open, remain a little more to the front of the car than the NA model
The photo isn’t from my NB, I found it on the net and it has a home made wiring
For what I read, the latchs of the softop of NB model, when folded down, stay a little more to the front than the NA latchs, so when we use a NA hardtop in a NB car, we have that problem , so I am seaching for those parts to replace.
Here a photo of the “extended” arm, as you see it has a more prominent support. The bouncing isn’t very large, maybe only half a centimeter, but makes noise in rough roads
I think that the parts you require are NC10-R1-832 and NC10-R1-833. Available from Mazda dealers. Those part numbers are for an August 2002 onwards production car.
