pville piper

You first...
Besides, I'm leaving early to head over to Irving, TX in the morning.

NYNY53

Oh joy, lucky John gets to go to Dall-A$$, better you then me John

mikes rx

Well...great news (sarcastically):

Drove the stang with the top down for a few hours this weekend, went to put the top up, and there were some "marks/indentations" in the top, which is nothing new. So, I figured that I would leave them and they would go away, which is also usual.

well, went to look at them today, and it left a small (~1/8") tear in the top. All this time, I've been reading about how the hinge mechanisms are causing tears in the top, but have always hoped that I would be lucky. Well, not so much.

My only luck is that the ford dealership here has been EXTREMELY nice to me regarding issues on my vehicles, so I don't expect to get any lip from them regarding this or that (let's hope).

My decision now: do I have them replace the top, which I don't really want done. and, if I do, do I get the cloth top if they allow it

I'm pretty ****ed about this. but oh well, it's not like I didn't know it was possible, and I knew that a top replacement would be needed eventually...I was just hoping it would be much later instead of sooner.

mikes rx

also, I'm wondering if this will fix my squeaky top problem

TacoBill

Mike, all very good questions for a vert owner, but I have no idea what to suggest for you.
Just seems that if it's defective (which it sounds like), get it replaced for free while it's still under warranty.

mikes rx

It's been a known problem with members on this forum. I've known about it for quite awhile now, but have been hoping to press my luck and not have it happen to me.

With the dealer here, usually just showing them posts on this website is enough to get "common issues" fixed under warranty, whereas other dealers use the "it's not an issue" method.

also, this dealership, although small, seems to have heard of a lot more unusual problems as compared to some of the bigger dealers. So, the "I've never heard of that .. duh duh duh..." comments are avoided.

In terms of getting it replaced: I'm just going to get it done. I can't leave it the way it is. So, I'm probably going to just swing by the dealer tomorrow and let them look at it before I go in to work. I'm 99.8% sure it'll have to be ordered anyway.

Cloth vs. vinyl top: the cloth looks fancier, but also has other issues. Plus, technically, it's not correct for the year of the car. So, that will probably be a spur of the moment decision, if available

TacoBill

I'd get it addressed asap too... good move.
Just hope that your new top won't have the same 'defect' as your current one.

As far as cloth vs vinyl, I'd probably choose what came stock on the car (vinyl). Not too sold on cloth, maybe I have to see (and feel) it in person.

LEO_06GT

IMO the cloth looks better. Might as well get it fixed now and get it over with.

New vid compliments of Bill.
http://s36.photobucket.com/albums/e1...rrent=Leo2.flv

TacoBill

Nice Leo!

Here's my donut... gotta tighen it up a bit next time.

habu

we're gonna have to take lessons from him soon



Brilliant

habu

sorry to hear that it happened but it sounds like you've got a solid dealer so that is very good ! If you can get cloth then do it I guess. I haven't really seen too many with the tops up so it's hard to say which looks better.

Any way I hope the dealer treats you right. It's great when you can find a good dealer like that, they're few and far between.

TacoBill

Leo = Attachment 33902

USMC0341

Looks like another successful run at the secret proving ground!

NYNY53

Very nice Bill but Leo wins out with most tire smoke..........................

Leo looked like he was fogging for mosquitoes

We want more tire smoke Billster

1999Pony

Those doughnuts were awesome. Big

mikes rx

Well, some bad news regarding the top:

The dealership that I deal with here has not done a replacement top on a S197 stang before. And, the other dealership about 20 minutes in the other direction hasn't done one either.

So...now I have to call around to different service dept to see which ones have changed the top. I do NOT want to be their guinea pig.

tom281

Good idea... don't be their R&D car.

Make sure you take detailed pix inside & out so that whenever it is installed and completed, if it's not how it was before you have proof. Trust me on this, I'm the original owner of a '92 GT vert that has a white top that after 12 years and 65k miles had a couple of stains.... no rips, just stains....so I thought I'd buy and have installed a new top. Well, for the most part it came out ok but the area near the top of the windshield is not the same as before and it bugs me to no end..... My options? Pay to have it redone again somewhere else.

mikes rx

Who on this forum doesn't have detailed pics of their car? Good point though, seriously.

Luckily, my car has warranty coverage past the new decade, so if something were to get installed wrong, back to be fixed it goes.

Right now, I'm actually just thinking of taking the car in, having them diagnose it as an "issue", and getting a small amount of sealer or something to temporarily fix the repair. That way, Ford has on record that I had a problem, and I can buy some time to get it fixed correctly. The last thing I need is an eternal leak.

StangMahn

Bill, your car sounds AWESOME! The secret proving grounds have definately proved to make some good vid footage.

TacoBill

Yeah, I've got a few pics of my car!

Good luck with the Dealer, hope they do what you want.



Thanks David!

My proving ground allows our Mustangs to stretch their legs a little.
(Leo, Brian, and George can attest to that.)