Top care

[OzCop]

Guys, this is my first convertible and I'm not sure how to treat the top...
For instance, is it ok to leave the top down for long periods of time while parked in the garage without damaging it? I am getting ready to leave town Saturday for a couple of weeks and was just going to throw the cover over it with the top down. Is that wise?

[Treibenschnell]

I wouldn't think that it would hurt it... I believe the top should be fine. But then again, I'm no expert.

[Miatamaniac92]

Not recomended by the owner's manual.
Definatly not recomended for cloth top. They need to stay taught most nights to avoid premature shrinkage .

I would leave it up.

Chris

[Treibenschnell]

Well, there ya go! Told you I wasn't an expert!

[channelmaniac]

Also be careful when putting the top up & down when it's below 50 degrees out...

Plastic rear windows have been known to split or shatter in the cold and the vinyl tops have been known to split from the cold as well...

Not to mention that they are stiff as heck and sometimes you need to move the back bar on the top by hand to get the NB tops down when they are cold & stiff.

Raymond

[POS Racing]

I always leave the tops up on mine when they are going to be sitting, I also roll up the windows, in my youth I left my TR6 wide open and a moved in and had kittens. It was nasty!

[altiain]

Wow - according to everything posted on this thread, my top ought to have fallen apart a long time ago. I leave it down for long periods of time when parked (used to leave it down for weeks at a time when it wasn't my daily driver), I put it up and down below 50 degrees, I leave it down without a boot on it in the sun, and with over 6 years and 90,000 miles of use, it still looks great. Okay, the inside has faded, but other than that it still looks new.

[Treibenschnell]

That's why I posted what I posted... I figured, after the abuse some folks have doled out on their tops, leaving it down a couple of days wouldn't hurt anything... but, hey, what do I know, eh?!

[OzCop]

Thanks guys. I will probably remove the boot and raise it. I wanted to leave it down since I have the boot installed, and its such a pain to re- install, especially by an old guy who has sporatic arthritic pains in his hands...