Any suggestions on what adhesive to buy to repair the soft top!They are two small rips about 1-2cm each.
a.woodrow,
Sep 1, 4:39am
Go to a camping store and buy a canvas awning repair kit. They have a few different coloured patches plus adhesives
bitsy_boffin,
Sep 1, 4:49am
Canvas or cabriolet vinyl!
I had an MX5 vinyl hood knifed once, I tried a number of different glues to adhere a patch, what I learned was that it is bleedin' difficult to get vinyl to stick to vinyl.
The best I found was "Shoo Goo", which you can buy from shoe shops, like the #1 Shoe Warehouse, it is very strong stuff.
I glued a strip of vinyl down each side of the tear on the underside (which was nearly the full width of the roof) for reinforcing, then stitched it closed (using a speedy stitcher to do a rough zig zag lock stitch to pull it tight), put some slightly thinned silicone sealant across the stitch work, and glued a patch (with the edges rolled and sewn) across the top.
dj74,
Sep 1, 5:14am
Vinyl . On an MR-S.
un_known,
Sep 1, 5:23am
my vinyl mrs came with her own patches
mm12345,
Sep 1, 5:51pm
For vinyl, the best is what they use for assembly and repairs of inflatable boats, which is a (neoprene) contact adhesive cross-linked for heat resistance using a polyurethane catalyst "Desmodur RFE". Once the catalyst is mixed, it's got a pot life of several hours before it turns to jelly.I suggest that you find someone in that business and get them to do the repair, or perhaps they'll give or sell you a small quantity of glue - pre mixed and ready to use.You'd need to clean the surface very carefully with solvent (acetone) to remove any traces of silicone (you should never use silicone armorall type products on glued vinyl in the first place). You can buy the catalyst from specialty glue suppliers, but it's expensive (+$40 for a tiny aluminium jar) and doesn't keep for very long once opened.
kazbanz,
Sep 1, 6:10pm
DJ74--I would get a professional to repair the hood. I'd stitch/glue a patch on the INSIDE of the hood. Im guessing its where the hood supports rub on the hood lining.
dj74,
Sep 1, 8:27pm
Thanks guys.I have been trying to find a business that does this, but so far no luck.The one place I found said they needed to remove the whole roof, it was going to be a big job which seemed a bit OTT.
Had thought about boat repair places, being in Tauranga there are a few!
Yup, the holes are where the roof supports are, already there when we bought the car in 2007 but not a major, but we made them a tiny bit bigger when taking the top down the first couple times while trying to learn how to do it right.Oops!The Mr wants to sell it now, so we figured we should repair it first.
kazbanz,
Sep 1, 8:31pm
Try an marine upholstery place
ema1,
Sep 1, 8:49pm
Wonder if you could get a good top off a wreck the same model as yours. Just a thought!
magoo2,
Sep 2, 1:46am
fold the top part way back so there is no tension on it and you can get to the back of the rips.Get an offcut of soft top vinyl from a friendly motor trimmer. This should have a black backing. Glue the backing on the patches and the back of the hood with ados f2 and let it dry for at least half an hour .If the inside of the hood can be seen you should mask around the area so you only get glue in the spot the patch will be .ONLY use brushable f2. When the f2 is dry, brush another coat of glue on both surfaces and wait 10 minutes or so before sticking the patches on. Close the hood and congratulate yourself on saving a s@#t load of money
quickstitch,
Sep 2, 2:56am
best advive given so far.Thats the way i would do it too. double glue with F2 or bostic (bostic has a better heat range).DO NOT use acetone to clean like another poster said.
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