DigitalSynthesis

Okay, sorry for the long title... what I'm interested in knowing is, if the convertible top is put up and down manually instead of using the motors, and subsequently properly locked into place with the front clips, is it any less safe than when the motors are locking it up? In other words, if I flip the car (not that I want to, just IF) with the top MANUALLY UP, is it significantly less safe than flipping the car with the top motorized up? I'm only asking because if the answer is negligible then I'm not going to bother fixing the damn motors that are going crappy on me, I'll just raise and lower it by hand. But if its significant, I'll fix the motors for the extra safety.

Thanks for any info you guys can offer. I'm already assuming that its probably worth fixing the motors for, since they DO augment the seemingly not-very-strong front clips in keeping the roll bar where it ought to be, but I'm looking for a strong point to the contrary which might influence my decision.

Peace to all...

goblues24

our verts have a roll bar in the top frame? i dont want to be out of place here but i dont think anything on the vert tops subframe could support much more than the factory canvas/vinyl stuff....on top of the interior plastic...between the 2 they barely stay together under every day operation...much less if they have to support the rest of the car because of flip over..i think that wide spot may be a vanity plate..

Icemark

The subframe for the 'verts top is more than strong enough to support the car and integrated roll bar. Goblues is incorrect when he says that the subframe is not strong enough. The subframe also helps prevent tha body from crushing in a side impact. It is one of the reasons why the 'vert did pick up so much weight when they built it. They could have done a simple top like the miata, but they wanted and needed something much stronger to help maintain handling and body structure in the event of a impact.

However, yes the motors are needed to lock it in the up position. Disconnecting the motors or not replacing broken ones may have the roof not lock in correctly when the targa section is removed. With the targa section in, it should be an issue though.

DigitalSynthesis

Well, found out the problem... appears to have been a bad switch contact or something in the instrument panel (yeah my switch is there and not in the console... I'd MUCH rather it be in the console... oh well... sigh... another mod for another day).... anyway I had it happen once where the problem was the stupid motor (something was electrically not happy inside the right-hand roof motor) but I hit it with a wrench and it worked fine from then out. Go figure. This time I just needed to unscrew and rescrew the instrument panel trim and *voila!* it worked again. This is my luck with this car. It won't work randomly when I need it to but when I go to fix it nothing in general was wrong with it. At least fixing THAT was free, unlike some other issues...

goblues24

thats why i love this forum cuz of info like what icemark shares...you learn stuff everyday that your own logical thoughts are sometimes...most times wrong when compared to experienced knowledge.

glad you fixed your prob.

RX7_ZRO

My motor went out last summer....haven't fixed the damn thing yet....which reminds me...I really need to do that...

RX7_ZRO

My top's motor went out last summer....haven't fixed the damn thing yet....which reminds me...I really need to do that...

scprandy

How do you get the roof up manually?