Eugenio Rivera

I've been dealing with this issue for the past year or so. (rain, wind, snow)

2004 Mustang GT Convertible

I'm finally taking my car down to california this coming school year for college, and its going to be a long drive from washington so I figured I fix this now. I've tried fixing this on my own but no luck. I want to fix this issue without going into the shop and paying an arm and leg for simple repair. I'm very technical, so I'm up for the job.

So, about two years ago, I just finished putting down the convertible on the driver side and my friend was in charge of the passenger side. I speed up to freeway speeds and the convertible popped up on the passenger side. Quickly, I pulled over to put it down. However I noticed that the left side was slightly loose. I screwed the latch all the way down hoping that this would fix the problem but it was only semi helpful. I also put material in between the latch and the part where it hooks to alleviate the problem but over time it would loosen up more.

The way the latch behaves (which I believe is the main issue) is that as you are about to shut the latch, it gives away some of the pull and becomes loose, where as the right side tightens well.

I've found a couple of replacement latches but I don't want to purchase them until I know that's the problem and that I can fix it myself without needing a machine to resow it, or doing a bad job that I risk future leaking or convertible problems.

I'm trying to write this well enough so that anyone else who runs into this problem will have something to reference to, I've been searching the web with only minimal help. So I decided to join a forum to get some help, hope you all welcome me here! Cheers

Vertigo_GT

Welcome Eugenio! I've been lucky and have not had to repair my convertible top so far. Your diagnosis of the problem and solution sounds right to me. Hopefully a member with convertible top repair experience will be able to give you some helpful advice.

Eugenio Rivera

Luckily, I found a 99-04 mustang convertible wrecked at the junk yard. I had the chance to tear it apart the convertible and check out how it looks inside, as well as seeing how difficult it would be to put back together.

I found several small staples after removing the long sheet metal panel (held by many T10 (I believe) torx screws). They staples were stapled into a tack strip that broke off easily, due to corrosion I believe (hopefully this doesn't happen to mine when I do it!). I removed 3 screws to remove the weather stripping, I had to remove one large rivet that held a metal wire thats runs throughout the entire convertible. I also had to remove three other rivets that hold on to this cloth band that runs through the convertible.

once I removed all these, I saw that mechanics of the latch. There is a square white plastic washer, that I believe could be broken on mine.

Does anyone know if this could cause the problem, also are the rivets easily replaceable? What are the requirements of the rivet gun? I don't want to put weak ones to find my convertible later on malfunctioning.

I also don't want to take it apart to find out this is problem and do a crap job at putting it back together only to have not fixed the problem.

I know I don't have much rep on these boards, but I want to add value to this website if I receive help. (If I do end up fixing this problem, I'll try to post pictures and create a mini guide for anyone who may run into this problem down the road.)

Thanks

FlamingoGT

I have read several things on replacing the top. It doesn't sound hard, but is very meticulous. Check out the convertible section for more information too:
https://mustangforums.com/forum/convertible-tech-78/

Eugenio Rivera

Today, I had the motivation to fix this
It wasn't too hard at all, just have some patience and everything will go smooth. Be careful with the parts, and it was a good job.

The convertible shuts well now

Anyone want me to post a guide on this? Or post some pictures?

califas_1987

I'd love to see some pics of this process. It hasn't happened to me, but you never know, especially being that convertible tops are in a constant state of detorriation.

FlamingoGT

What top did you go with, and where did you get it?

Vertigo_GT

Yes, please do. It would be a big help to anyone else who has the latch failure issue.

wcgman

Please post a guide!

Eugenio Rivera

Alright,

So I was lucky to find a totaled mustang at the junk yard, from there I took apart the convertible to assess how difficult the job would be. It was held down by a panel, and staples on a tack strip, after that we need to remove a rivet to peel back the cover after removing the weather strip. I saw that there was a plastic washer that allowed the latch to slide back and forth, this made sense why mine would give out since it was allow slack. I knew that I had to replace this, so I took apart the latch and took the assembly with me in case I need any extra parts.







This picture shows the lack of the rectangle square washer, from here your going to have to unscrew the latch and remove the spring. Then remove it, as well as the bolt to replace the washer.

By now you should only need to remove one rivet, which is the one above. You can get past the cloth band by working around it.

I used 6mm, thin staples to replace it, I think 4mm might work better on the tack strip.

Btw, don't remove all the staples if you're only working on one side, or else you might lose where it was at before. I marked it with some chalk, not necessary but its nice to have.

I also replace the Jhook, since it still showed some slack even after I replaced the washer and it looked slightly bent. (This is from the old assembly) I re adjusted the thread length of the J hooks on both sides of the convertible. (Look up pictures on ebay of the convertible latch assembly to see all the parts)

If you have any questions, just ask. I know this isn't a true guide, but this should help you figure out whats going on.