Honda F1

I did a search, but from the threads I clicked, I didn't see a similar problem as mine.

A good friend installed my hardware and hardtop for me last night and the whole install was pretty straightforward (I hardly did anything, my buddy on his own made the whole process look easy! ). However, once it came to dropping the top onto the car, the passenger side dropped right in, whereas the driver's side seemed to only go halfway and felt like it was "caught" on something. We checked and couldn't figure out what it could be. It was pretty dark in the garage at this point, so we couldn't see very well. We lifted both sides up and tried numerous times to get the driver's side to seat. After 10 minutes of pushing and pulling, the driver's side finally dropped in.

I'm wondering what the issue could be? Is it something a simple alignment of the top will fix? Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Thanks for any help!

Slows2k

Is it a new or used HT?

The side latches are adjustable, but you need to remove the interior trim panels on the HT to access them. Pulll the panels and you can adjust them side to side untill both latches drop into the body catchers.

dhayner

Did you loosen the bolts that hold the rear latches to the top, so that the latches find their best position in the catchers, then tighten the bolts, per the instructions? (These bolts are behind the interior sail panels.)

Honda F1

Thanks for the replies guys!

It is a used hardtop and it was getting late so we didn't pull the panels to loosen the bolts before dropping the top on. I'll give that a shot. It definitely sounds like the solution to my problem. Thanks!

Honda F1

My friend dropped by today to help me align the top and it fits much better now, although we still need to kind of push it around before the top drops completely into the catcher. We're thinking maybe the previous 2 owners had it sitting improperly aligned/incorrectly for a long time and the brackets on the hardtop warped somehow? Anyone think this is a possible reason why the top doesn't drop in or remove easily from my car? The bolts were adjusted and this was the best result we could get. It is much easier to drop the top in than before, which is good. Could it be a problem with my catchers rather than the pins in the hardtop itself?

dhayner

It's possible the catchers weren't installed correctly. You have to bend a little bit of body structure with a hammer so that the catchers can sit flat against their mounting surfaces - did your friend do this?

The top itself is quite a flimsy structure - it is possible that it has been distorted somehow.

Honda F1

Yeah, my friend hammered the metal piece on each side before installing the catchers.

Well, it fits much better after the adjustment and I don't expect to be taking it off all that often anyhow, so I'll learn to live with it.

Thanks for all the advice