Posts: 493
Joined: 5/31/2007 From: Sunny Side of Louisville Status: offline
As you can see in my sig, I have an 07 vert and I just have a couple of quick questions to those of you who have something similar (my questions may be applicaible to pre-S197s as well; I just don't know).
1) When you lower your top, do you put the latch handles back into their locked position before completely lowering it, or do you leave them in the down, and unlocked position? The instruction manual is vague on whether you should or should not do this. I relatch (lock) mine because I figure that way there is less chance of them rubbing against the top as it is stowed, but I'm thinking of getting a one-touch mod from WebEletric (as soon as it's made available) which would obviously make me want to leave them unlatched.
2) Second, is the driver's side latch really tight on anyone else's? Is this something that I should expect to loosen up with time (my car is still quite new)? The passenger side I have no problems with, but the driver's side (which you are supposed to latch first) is a PITA.
Thanks guys, gals!
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2007 GT/CS "Iron ore may think itself senselessly tortured in the furnace, but when the tempered blade of finest steel looks back it knows better."
I leave my latches unlocked when I lower the top. On my '99 vert you needed the latches closed when the top was in the down position, but in the '05 it is not an issue.
When I put ithe top up, I bring it as far as it can go with the button then stop. I reach up and grab the center handle, give the button one more pulse, and while holding the top as close as possible, swing the latch, then close shut. You want it to be tight. If you have trouble with one side, close that one first.
I always relatch the handles before putting the top all the way down - the handles can get caught on the headliner and strech it out. If they are tucked in, then they don't catch.
My passenger side latch is way harder than the driver side - since I also have a problem with the headliner getting caught on the back of the rear seats, I'm getting a new top in a couple weeks under warrenty - they are supposed to fix the hard latch at that time too.
< Message edited by rhein -- 7/19/2007 11:31:54 PM >
I put mine down figuring if they are stowed away locked then less of a chance to dig into something. My latches are about the same tightness on both sides.
Posts: 158
Joined: 11/20/2007 From: Calgary, AB Status: offline
I remember when we rented the V6 vert last year, one side was much harder to latch than the other. I haven't had the top down on my GT yet so I can't tell if there are any issues (I hope there won't be).
BTW, thanks for the tip, jmk3, that's good to know.
Not sure whether it matters or not, but on mine I noticed that if the handles were left hanging they were putting some pressure on the cloth top. I thought it could possibly damage the top or maybe eventually the handles would break. So, now I always put mine back to the latched position before continuing to lower the top.
I re-latch mine. I had a 90 GT vert yrs ago and sometimes it would take me like 15min to get the damn thing latched. My 05 seems to work much better. You could always take it to the dealer and ask if it feels normal or maybe they can adjust it.
Ditto on the relatch. Guess I better read the manual again...I didn't know you were suppose to latch the drivers side first...thanks. My passenger side is harder to latch than the driver's side.
I had no idea the driver's side was supposed to be latched first, glad that's the way I do it anyway! lol When I am putting the top back up the driver's side definitely requires a bit more elbow grease than the passenger's side. I'm kind of glad I saw this thread, I was about to start a new one with a question I have. I've had my 05' Mustang for about 5 months now and only in the past month has it been warm enough to put the top down. Well I was putting it back up tonight and I actually had a little trouble with it. It made me panic for a few seconds there lol. I have never had any trouble before but for some reason the top seemed to be just a little bit farther away than normal and I had to pull down on the handle and twist the lock really hard to close it, passenger side closed fine and everything looked good once it was closed. Still I will be keeping an eye on it from now on and I will try the method Margarita Girl mentioned above. I hope I'm just making a big deal about nothing!
Depends if its cloudy or sunny. If its cloudy I leave them unlatched, that way if it starts to sprinkle or pour all od a sudden It's faster to close up the top. on sunny days I relatch them.
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-- 94' GT Vert -- BBK cold air intake,255FP, Springs, Rear C/A & 65TB MSD blaster tfi coil, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor Autolite plugs Flow Master Cat Back
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Two 2005+ Convertible Questions - 
