My top is starting to rip on the drivers side. The hole is currently about 2 inches and it just keeps getting bigger.

I called a local upholstery shop in San Diego, Jim's Auto Upholstery, and they said they could patch the top (which is factory) but the patch would cause extra stress in other areas of the top and they would then tear.

I also asked about replacing it with a Hartz Cloth Top and they suggested not doing it because it would cause the motors to wear out faster as the cloth top doesn't stretch like the vinyl top?????

Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Will a cloth top cause the motors to wear out faster? Is the patch just going to cause more stress?

 

Have not heard of Hartz putting stress on the mechanism/motors.Hartz is surely
more expensive and harder to install than vinyl.IMO,there is nothing better in a convert
top than a tight fitting Hartz top.Had one on a Karmann Ghia show car I used to own.
You would swear it was a hardtop.

 

---^^^ +1 I've had a Robbins Cloth top installed to replace my OEM vinyl top. Night and day difference IMO! The cloth top looks a lot better and retains its color, doesn't fade as easily and looks more like a hardtop. I paid the extra 80$ and went with the cloth. The only motor that the top could have a negative effect on would be the bow motor. however... I don't see how that would be possible. I had the shop that installed the cloth top weigh the vinyl and cloth. The cloth top is 9lbs lighter than the vinyl top... I found that interesting.

 

full coverage?

 

I had a cloth replacement done (no idea who made it) last spring and love it.

 

Never heard of a motor going because of the top. Anyway you can pick up motors pretty cheap anyway if they ever need to be replaced.

 

Link?

 

Yes, but ins. co. says they will only replace if due to vandalism.

 

did you call these guys?

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/esd/pts/2866170799.html