soft top questions

[Joe]

I took my hardtop off yesterday, for the first time. I was surprised at how light it is. A friend and I had no trouble lifting it and putting it in my pickup. There was no danger of it scraping the trunk lid, something I feared.

When I exposed the soft top, I found lots of mouse droppings as well as a large mouse nest. This car sat in storage for the last ten years. I think what attracted the mice was about 3 pounds of dry dog food that had been poured on top of the vinyl window. This was probably to act as a desicant, but surely was an attraction to the mice.

After cleaning out the mice residue and kibble, I unfolded the top and attemped to attach it. It only comes about 18 inches from the front, in spite of my heroic efforts. It seems very dry. Should I wet it with some water and attempt to stretch it, or just bite another bullet and get a new top? Eighteen inches seems like a long way to stretch.

This car is starting to remind me of a boat: you know, "a hole in the water into which you pour money". I'm starting to appreciate the idea of making a few fixes and improvements each year, rather than all at once.

Joe

[Douglas]

From the 7/87 issue of "The Star":

"When I bought my 280 SL in 1982, the soft top had been in the well for at least six years. I couldn't even straighten the top section, let alone latch it at the windshield or at the rear.

To cure this, I removed the entire top assembly and made a rack to gradually stretch it back into shape. Materials indluded 2 x 4's, a U-clamp. 25 ft. of single strand wire, 3 turnbuckles, 2 pieces of 1/4 x 1 x 3" flat steel, 4 6 x 50-mm bolts and 3 4" eye-bolts.

After you've built the rig and mounted your top on it, measure a good soft top across the top center from the windshield to the rear. Every day or two, make a few turns on the turnbuckle, and you'll eventually stretch the top back into shape. This took about six weeks for me, but it works, and I've had no problems since."

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
#018260

[Joe]

Well, thanks, Doug. That's interesting, but I don't think I want to go to all that trouble. Is there a "best" place to get a new top?
Joe
Joe

[Douglas]

Joe, I ordered mine from Caliber Motors in Anaheim, but there are many, many aftermarket alternatives that cost far less than the OEM top. Electron Top is one vendor here in NY that seems to be a popular source.  

Is the top in the car an original? What kind of logo does the rear window have in the corner? Did the mice chew it up or is it still decent looking?

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
#018260

[n/a]

You're fortunate that it's summer. Reason 1 is, who needs a top! ;-). Other reason is you could wet the canvas and put it in the hot sun with some sort of weight or bungee or something to try to apply a good streach. Who knows, might loosen up enough to close. Can you latch the back section? My top is very tight. A real problem when the weather gets cool. I find I can usually get either the back or front latched. I've found it easier to latch the back section first and pull like crazy to get the front closed. Quite a pain, but it looks great when it's finally closed. I don't have a hard top anymore, it was lost by my father (don't ask). I've been keeping my eye out for a decent salvage top. My car budget is tight so I've chosen other priorities. About the money hole, anything 30 years old will that sat will need lots of TLC. Before I had my SL, I had a 30 year old Swedish boat. Ya wanna talk about a hole in the water! What I've found is you go after one problem and you find 15 others in the process. My favorite metaphore is it's like pulling a string on a sweater. Well, when the sun is out and the car is running well and you get those looks as you drive buy, it's all worth it. It's also easier to find your car in the parking lot than if you drove a new Boxter or Z3.

[n/a]

I must say....the dog food is usually not placed in areas like this by a person looking for a desiccant, typically, the dog food is brought in by an animal (I dunno if a mouse can get its teeth around a piece of dog food---guess it depends if big crunchy bites, or the small variety)...usually the squirrels bring in the food and store it up for winter...

all the more reason to keep the critters far away from the old cars....oh, and don't store any type of edibles in the garage.

-Lewis

'66 230 sl 113042-10-016238
67 saab sonett II #43 of 258
99 saab 9-5
00 saab 9-3 viggen conv

[n/a]

dear joe, i just purchased a mohair soft top for my W113 from http://www.prestigeautotrim.com/ it cost around 474 stg inc of vat
I have not yet put this soft top on the car, but the hood seems to be very well made according to factory specs. This is garanteed by the factory. This company offers a cheaper option than the mohair soft top which is quite useful. Re wetting the hood to stretch works but if the hood is in a very bad state stretching the hood might worsen the condition.
goodluck
job

john j borg

[Shvegel]

Joe,
 Welcome to the world of the long stored 113. My 113 was in storage for 23 years and from experience your car will need alot more before you are done. My car was missing the entire soft top frame and I was going to put off buying it until next year but I decided to spend the $1,300 for a used frame and $350 for the canvas from Hirsch Auto and I am so glad I did. It really opens up how you use the car when you don't have to worry about geting caught out in the rain. Besides just changing out the entire brake system it is the best thing I have done to the car.
 From experience mice can carry dog food. I once bought an old stove that was stored in a barn and it was filled with at least 10 pounds of the stuff.

[Longtooth]

Seems like a no brainer.... wet the top (soak it) and try streching it.... if if works, great... if it doesn't or it tears you need a new top anyway.  What's to lose?  I left mine untouched (in garage) from '85 to '01, so 16 years (but I left the dogfood where it belonged). I wet mine good and put some weights (~50 lbs) on a board laying over the the front edge --- to try to pull it down over a couple of days... I increased the weight to ~75 lbs after 24 hrs, wetting it about 2x a day.  It came down with some of my added pulling on it after about 3 days.  My problem was getting the back part down to latch.... that took a lot longer since there's no place to put any weights ... but I replaced the top anyway (it was the original '67 top... working and essentially water tight, but very faded brown, with several worn spots (where it rubs in the well when down); window in back was yellowed and crinkled considerably.

I replaced it with Original Happiche Grade, at $900 USD installed.

Longtooth
67 250SL US #113-043-10-002163
95 SL500

[Sphe]

You are not alone with your long-stored 113! We just recently took our 230sl out of the garage after 8 years, and frankly, I think you're lucky. Ours has shrunk as well, but even if we could stretch it out, there's 3 large holes in it! Looks like our critters have a tough bite.

[Ben]

I bought the mohair one from Prestige Auto trim too. Comprehensive instructions, I fitted it muself in about 6 hours !

Looks great !

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.

[Tom]

Joe,

If your top is original to the car, it would be nice to take some pictures for others to see what an original top looks like.

My experience in owning 2 of these cars is that, when in doubt, retain the original part.  New parts may not match (fit and finish) the part you are replacing.  An exception is the soft top, as this deteriorates over time.  If installed correctly, the replacement top will look good as new.

Best,

Tom

[Cees Klumper]

Might I remind everyone of two soft-top tips?

(1) To keep the rear corners from folding up (persistent problem for many): fold them down when you put the top down into the well

(2) To close a tight-fitting top without much effort: after latching the top in the front, "swing" the rear back down with a swift motion (the "Sargeant closing method"). If this does not do the trick, only partially latch the front, then swing the rear closed, then fully latch the front with the handles.

[Joe]

I took the advice of two list members (Thanks!) and ordered a top from Prestige Auto. This is a concern in Merry Olde England, strangely enough. The top arrived today, shipped air to me in Colorado. It looks splendid, and I started the installation this afternoon.

It was so hot outside, I took my time and didn't quite finish. The instructions, as someone mentioned, are comprehensive, and well written. Certainly not like those from Taiwan or China. I got the back and front glued on, but not the sides. It took about 45 minutes to take off the old top and another hour or so to clean off the dried glue on the frame members. I used a razor blade to scrape the old glue off, and then went over all of the metal pieces with a rag and lacquer thinner to get the last of the glue off.

Installation was scary work as I'd never done this before, and I felt quite incompetent when I started. However, the results are great, so far. I replaced a black top with a tan one, and am glad I did (the car is white).

I took the soft top to a paint store and got a match on a nice paint for the hard top. It is currently white, but the paint is flaking off, so I wanted to have it painted. The tan color I selected is Ford, but I like it, and its my car!

I do have two questions on the remaining work. First, how tight should the top be? It is now tight as a drum, but closes, with a firm push on the back. I'm guessing that is OK, and that it will relax somewhat.

Second, are the cross bows glued to the cloth, or is the cloth wrapped around the bows and then the two halves of the cloth glued to each other? Mine was glued to the metal, but it seems sensible to me to simply glue the cloth together and make a sleeve in which the metal can rotate.

I took some pictures of my old top, as Douglas asked, but doubt it is an original.

The top from Prestige is very nice, as I said, and the cost is only 319 dollars plus 20 for postage.  Prestige's web site lists their products and prices in dollars.

Joe, feeling competent for awhile.

[ja17]

Hello Joe,
Congratulations, on your installation,this is a fairly complex job, especially for a first timer. The top will loosen up. A little too tight to start with usually works out fine. I have installed many soft tops but have never seen a set of instructions. These instructions would be a nice item to archive. I would like to have a set also. I would gladly pay for a copy.
Also that was a very good price. Is that $319.00 US dollars? Was this top the original German canvaas with the original  tan textured backside?
Concerning the glueing of the bows; I usually glued the cloth to the bows and to each other. If you are brushing the glue on be carefull not to use too much it will soak through and discolor the material on the inside. I like to use 3M  90 contact spray adhesive for these rather than brush applied contact cement. However either will work fine. Be sure to mask surrounding areas if using spray adhesives.



Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio

[Ben]

I have the instructions somewhere. I look for them and scan them and put them up here for people to save.

BTW those strips of cloth should be glued both to the bars and glued together. The thing is to glue the strip nearest the front of the car to the bar, then wrap the other peice which stems nearest the rear around that first part.

This means that the seam that is left cant be seen from the drivers seat when you look up at it.

Am I making this clear ?   Hope so !

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.

[Joe]

I received permission today from Prestige Auto to post their soft top installation instructions. They're not copywrited, but I thought it might be best to inquire first. I'd like to add a few notes of my own, so will post all this as a message before it goes to the list knowledge base. Perhaps other list members would like to add to it or modify it, too.
In answer to Joe Alexander's questions, I checked the underside and compared the pattern to my old top (which is probably not original), and the pattern is the same, an odd array of oblique marks. The cost was 319 US dollars. On Monday, I received email from the rep at the business in England informing me the top had been shipped on Friday, and I answered to tell him I had received it on Saturday morning (the next day) and installed it Sat. afternoon!
Joe

[n/a]

Joe,
Did the top come complete with rear window and all material (excepting adhesive) necessary for installation?
Can you post some pictures of the installed top?
Your success story has given me confidence in tackling this job myself.
Thanks.

Regards,
Stan

[Joe]

Yes, it is complete. It even has the wires inserted in the sides which maintain stiffness (I guess) over the doors.
I still have to glue on the sides, but have been distracted by some other elements of life. Once the sides are on, I'll post a picture.
Joe