107 soft top: expectations

[notillr]

What is a reasonable expectation of abating wind noise on a 24 year old rag top? Should one be able to get rid of all the whistle?

There are two screw holes (one on each side of the hinge) in the side frame above the door glass. Should there be screws through the canvas to hold it down to the frame at this point? It looks like it would make a very tight fold in the fabric when stored if it was screwed down, but it would certainly get rid of a lot of leak. How is the fabric supposed to be attached to the window (side, door) frame?

If someone could, please outline the whole canvas attachment over and behind the door glass.

I haven't looked closely at the cloth top. Are there adjustments on the front locks?

[peter serbanica]

Hello, I install tops in New Jersey. I need way information, your questions are way too vague.

[notillr]

I don't know what to say to clarify. What do you need to know?

[Gurunutkins]

There should be 2 sorbo rubber strips along the canvas just above the door frame. there is a screw at the front of the frame above each corner of the window. the screw holds a wire that runs through a canvas sleeve along the top of the window above the 2 strips of sorbo rubber. the wire terminates at a dog leg at the rear of the window on the top frame. As the frame is tensioned down when you twist the locks at the front then the dog leg pops backwards and tensions the wire which pulls the canvas down and sandwiches the soft sorbo rubber strips between the canvas and the top of the window frame.

No it wont stop all noise but yes it should be pretty quiet. if yours is flapping around I would guess you have lost the wires or a previous owner has pulled off the soft rubber strips not knowing what they are for.

hope that helps
Barri

[Strife]

These rubber strips rot out apparently. My car came with about 1/10 of the original rubber still in.

[ScottinSoCal]

Originally Posted by notillr

If someone could, please outline the whole canvas attachment over and behind the door glass.

The strip running up behind the window is firmly attached and is held in place both by glue and by the metal channel holding the window seal. The section running over the top of the window is held in place by tension and sealed by some very soft rubber gaskets. The guy who replaced by soft top glued the rubber strips in backwards (yeah, he wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree) but it's still fairly quiet. Those seals work well when they're new. If you try to attach the canvas above the window you'll have a very hard time trying to get the top to fold down.

Check the metal cable running through the canvas over the window - it secures to a nut just back of the glass and you should be able to see it by sitting in the door frame looking toward the back of the car. It should be very tight when the top is up and secured. If the rubber seals over the window are rotted out you can buy them separately.

[notillr]

Thanks to all. I think everything over the windows is likely in decent shape. The front seal is gone, as was the hardtop front.

I bought this thing in the rain 200 miles away a couple of weeks ago. The soft top was up when I test drove / bought it. We never took on moisture from the sides. The front seal was so loud that I couldn't really hear anything. else. We put the hardtop on to come home, and as I mentioned, the front seal was loud as well.

A day after it was home, I put up the soft top, to make sure it dried out. As I put it up for the first time, I was surprised that the area over the window frame was not attached. However, when it was in place it appeared that the rubbers were sealing well. I wondered where the magic was; I had not considered the tension wires sxisting. I saw the two holes in the frame and wondered if it should be screwed like the front, more because it was unattached as it came up than an apparent problem once in position. I resealed the front of the hardtop, put it back on, and was happy.

I had read posts saying things like "hardtops are for long trips" and "soft tops are for sudden changes in the weather" making me think that daily driving might be objectionable under a soft top even in the best shape. I wanted to pull the hardtop this weekend, reseal the front of the soft top, and leave it up. I'm thinking the soft top will last better exercised than in the hole, and I really need the extra inch of headroom. My kids are all back to college, so I was going to need a friend to pull the top, and I hated to ask him to come back in a couple of hours to put it back on if there was no chance for success (I drive the car at highway speed several days a week)

Thanks again to all; I appreciate the detailed explainations.

[GSMITH]

When asking questions it will best to state what car you are talking about. There are a lot of versions of the 107 over the years. Please read TROUBLESHOOTING, Get the Most from your Post! to get the most from this forum.

If the soft top is in good shape there will be some fluttering noise but it should not whistle. If it whistles then you have a bad seal or are out of adjustment. I added a windscreen behind the front seat and can drive in comfort at legal highway speed with the top down.

[notillr]

Sorry, the car in question is an '84 380sl

[peter serbanica]

You should be able to drive this car every day with little wind noise. Did you crank soft top at the rear. Replace front seal properly and you should be good to do.

[bbeberness]

Wind screen is the best idea. I bought one on Ebay last year and it works great when the top is down. No whistle or other noises when traveling with the soft top up. Sounds like the rubbers are missing/worn out etc with your car.