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When the winter months come and the days keep on getting shorter and shorter it can be difficult to take your M-X5 out for a leisurely ride.
Unfortunately during these times of the year many MX-5 owners tend to store their car in the garage. If you are like me and enjoy the MX-5 driving all year long then it may be about time to turn your roadster into a Coupe by installing a hard top. Although many of you may resist this conversion, the hard top installation comes
with many really nice advantages when the bad weather comes around.
The real benefit comes with the fact that you will prolong the lifetime of your soft top as long as you store it properly. You will also get noise reduction and great rear-window visibility.
The latest model hard top for the MX-5 will fit all models from 1989 to 2001. You will have to have it painted to match the color of your car. If this is your first hard top then you will require some extra parts for the install. Purchase yourself one left side latch striker (NA02-R1-371D), one right side latch striker (NA02-R1-361D), 4 TORX bolts to hold them (9944-10-820B) and two chromium plated rear deck bolts (NA01-R1-38XB).
First you will need to install the rear deck bolts. You can use a small drop of Loctite to attach the bolt. It is very important when doing this to make sure the o-ring will seal properly and prevent water from leaking in. Next you will need to attach left and right side latch striker. You will need a T-40 TORX tool for this installation.
With the purchase of a new hard top you will be given two black quarter trim panels with the cut-out. You can always make the cut-out on your own if these are not available. Just use a fret saw and follow the line on the rear of the quarter trim panel. Now you will want to install the side latch striker but do not tighten it all the way down as this will not be permanent yet. For this part you will want some help from someone strong. Lift the hard top into place and slide the rear latches over the deck bolts. Push it forward in the windscreen direction. Make sure that there is some clearance between the frame of the windscreen and the hard top. If the clearance is more then 9mm then do not adjust the front top latches.
Begin with the rear latch plates. Open up the latch cover and loosen up the two bolts that fix the chrome rear deck bolt with a plate. With the plate not tightened up make sure to adjust the front top latch assembly. Once this is completed you can adjust the rear deck latch by pushing the plate forward until it is up against the chromium deck bolt. Then you can tighten up the plate bolts. Now close the rear deck latch cover.
The final step to completing the install is to adjust the side latch. First you will want to go ahead and try to secure the side latch. If you feel that you need to use too much force then loosen up the nut. When you close the side latch you want to make sure that the striker plate for the side latch are loose. Once they have been properly positioned you can then tighten them up.
Unfortunately during these times of the year many MX-5 owners tend to store their car in the garage. If you are like me and enjoy the MX-5 driving all year long then it may be about time to turn your roadster into a Coupe by installing a hard top. Although many of you may resist this conversion, the hard top installation comes
with many really nice advantages when the bad weather comes around.
The real benefit comes with the fact that you will prolong the lifetime of your soft top as long as you store it properly. You will also get noise reduction and great rear-window visibility.
The latest model hard top for the MX-5 will fit all models from 1989 to 2001. You will have to have it painted to match the color of your car. If this is your first hard top then you will require some extra parts for the install. Purchase yourself one left side latch striker (NA02-R1-371D), one right side latch striker (NA02-R1-361D), 4 TORX bolts to hold them (9944-10-820B) and two chromium plated rear deck bolts (NA01-R1-38XB).
First you will need to install the rear deck bolts. You can use a small drop of Loctite to attach the bolt. It is very important when doing this to make sure the o-ring will seal properly and prevent water from leaking in. Next you will need to attach left and right side latch striker. You will need a T-40 TORX tool for this installation.
With the purchase of a new hard top you will be given two black quarter trim panels with the cut-out. You can always make the cut-out on your own if these are not available. Just use a fret saw and follow the line on the rear of the quarter trim panel. Now you will want to install the side latch striker but do not tighten it all the way down as this will not be permanent yet. For this part you will want some help from someone strong. Lift the hard top into place and slide the rear latches over the deck bolts. Push it forward in the windscreen direction. Make sure that there is some clearance between the frame of the windscreen and the hard top. If the clearance is more then 9mm then do not adjust the front top latches.
Begin with the rear latch plates. Open up the latch cover and loosen up the two bolts that fix the chrome rear deck bolt with a plate. With the plate not tightened up make sure to adjust the front top latch assembly. Once this is completed you can adjust the rear deck latch by pushing the plate forward until it is up against the chromium deck bolt. Then you can tighten up the plate bolts. Now close the rear deck latch cover.
The final step to completing the install is to adjust the side latch. First you will want to go ahead and try to secure the side latch. If you feel that you need to use too much force then loosen up the nut. When you close the side latch you want to make sure that the striker plate for the side latch are loose. Once they have been properly positioned you can then tighten them up.
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