Convertible Top Cover (Boot)

iva>>Like I said, except for our trip to the Grand Canyon, and maybe
driving 4 1/2 hrs. to Pismo Beach, I have hardly ever used it. And as
for hearing any rattling, can't say that I ever have. Maybe because when
the top is down, there is too much other niose for me to notice. but I
doubt that those latches could be so poorly designed that them rattling
could cause then to not lock properly.

P.S. Iva>>Probably hasn't locked in awhile and you just noticed since I
brought it up. I could not even tell you how long mine hasn't, but the
latch still stays snuggly in place.

P.S.S. The material on the underside (Inside) of my top looks excellent.
And I am sure glad that my 2000 Miata came with a real glass window
:-).

Sorry PPL. I can really spell (NOISE)>>LOL.

Just can't type worth beans :-).

I use the top boot every time I put the top down. I don't want the sun
to damage the under side of the top. When I have the hard top on, I
cover the soft top.
I guess it just depends on how much you care about sun damage to the
underside of your soft top. I don't have the kind of money to replace a
cloth soft top like some of you guys have. The sun just kills the
underside of your top!

Bruce Bing '03 LS

Jazz_Azz wrote:
> How many of you actually use that, when making just a short road trip,
> say no more than 2 hrs. say to the coast, as we often do, beach
> bumming here in N. Calif????
>
> I have used it for a longer (4 1/2 hr.) or our LONG trip to the Grand
> Canyon the month after buying our 2000 Miata in June 2000. But I found
> it to be such a pain, that it primarily sits in my garage.

I guess from reading all the posts here, if you live somewhere sunny, you'll
tend to have the roof down most if not all of the time, so then you'll use
the cover to protect the roof.
If however (like me), you live somewhere where the weather is more volatile,
you'll tend to have the roof up a lot more than you have it down, so then
when you do drop the roof now and again, using the cover is way too much
hassle, especially when you might have to raise it again at short notice!

pws wrote:
> Frank Berger wrote:
>
>> As others have said, it's too much of a pain. The rear window on my
>> '96 suddenly turned brown and brittle last winter. Whether using
>> the boot would have extended its life, I couldn't say. The top
>> otherwise seems to be in perfect condition. But I do have to decide
>> whether to find someone to replace just the window or to get a new
>> top. I'm open to advice.
>
>
> If everything else looks good and you are happy with a plastic
> window, I would just have a shop sew in a new piece of plastic.
>
> If you want it to look original inside and out, putting a OEM window
> in will be pretty expensive since the window part alone is over
> $150.00 from the factory.
> I received a quote of about $200.00 to have it done with standard
> plastic window material such as what is used on a boat.
>
> I have seen others here who were able to have it done this way for
> about $100.00.
> The lowest quote that I could find in the Central Texas area was a
> little over $200.00 total, with some quotes going over $400.00.
> This was about 5 or 6 years ago.
>
> I ended up putting a 1999 top on the 1996 frame instead, but have seen
> the results of just replacing the window on another Miata and I was
> pleased with the work done this way.
>
> Pat

Thanks. With the top being in good shape and the car being so old, I can't
see anything other than a new plastic window making sense. Now I just need
to find someone to do it in the Dallas area.

(S K) wrote:

> xs11e>>Isn't the tonneau cover the same thing that I am talking
> about???

No, different critter.

Tonneau cover = http://www.gomiata.com/robheadpocto.html
Boot = http://www.gomiata.com/robsoftopboo.html


--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project:
http://improve-usenet.org

"Richard Phillips" > wrote in message
...
> Jazz_Azz wrote:
>> How many of you actually use that, when making just a short road trip,
>> say no more than 2 hrs. say to the coast, as we often do, beach
>> bumming here in N. Calif????
>>
>> I have used it for a longer (4 1/2 hr.) or our LONG trip to the Grand
>> Canyon the month after buying our 2000 Miata in June 2000. But I found
>> it to be such a pain, that it primarily sits in my garage.
>
> I guess from reading all the posts here, if you live somewhere sunny,
> you'll tend to have the roof down most if not all of the time, so then
> you'll use the cover to protect the roof.
> If however (like me), you live somewhere where the weather is more
> volatile, you'll tend to have the roof up a lot more than you have it
> down, so then when you do drop the roof now and again, using the cover is
> way too much hassle, especially when you might have to raise it again at
> short notice!
>OH Well, Google Grps is still dead in the water. Did a search in the news
>reader that I have set up in OE(news.motzarella.org), and the grp is there,
>even though I could not find it in the grp list yesterday. So hope I can
>post here through Outlook Express, which I really do not care for their
>format (OE, over Google Grps. :-) )).

Anyway back on topic. We live in a very warm climate, except for the colder
winter months, here in N. Calif. (Solano County). I keep the top up nearly
all the time, helping to keep the dust out, when parked at home, even though
the windows are down, since I keep it garaged 100% of the time, here at
home. So the underside of the top only gets exposed to the sun, on the few
times we are traveling more than say maybe a couple of hours.

Jazz_Azz wrote:

> Anyway back on topic. We live in a very warm climate, except for the colder
> winter months, here in N. Calif. (Solano County). I keep the top up nearly
> all the time, helping to keep the dust out, when parked at home, even though
> the windows are down, since I keep it garaged 100% of the time, here at
> home. So the underside of the top only gets exposed to the sun, on the few
> times we are traveling more than say maybe a couple of hours.


It takes a very short period of time to turn the underside of the
pre-2006 tops gray in color when exposed to the sun, but how much actual
damage is happening is hard to judge for certain.

The top on Frank's car is almost 13 years old and it is still keeping
out the rain and wind despite his not using a boot.

I have seen a top on a Miata where the owner almost always used the
boot, and it needed replacement for pinhole leaks after 15 years.

Using a boot is probably better for the top's condition, but I wonder to
what extent since I don't see tops springing leaks from not using the
boot regularly.

I'll bet that Frank's top underside is gray in color, but if 12+ years
of being exposed to the Texas sun has not ruined it's usefulness, I
think that the amount of meaningful damage that has occurred due to not
using a boot is certainly debatable.

Pat