DJ8684

To start, I have an '03 S2000 and decided to buy some new strikers for the soft top as the old ones are wearing out a bit. Well I went to Honda and they sold me the 86270-S2A-902 strikers. So I finally got around to installing them and when I went to close the top... the latches wouldn't latch all the way!

The hooks catch but the latches start resisting when I try to lock them. Half-way to closing them, it starts resisting to the point where I feel that if I push any further or harder they will break off. So I started searching on S2ki and saw a few others had this same issue but I didn't see any real solutions to the problem. Can anyone provide some help or solutions??

Not Sure

Did you get hardtop strikers? Hardtop strikers are slightly thicker than the softtop, I've heard people have trouble latching new strikers the first time but after the first time it gets easier.

DJ8684

yeah they are the hardtop strikers. I think that's all they sell now. I am just so afraid of forcing the top to close so hard that it will break the latches. Then I'd be really SOL.

Pineapples

Min was like that too. It seems like it'll break but it won't. Latch and unlatch it about 5-10 times and it'll be perfectly snug.

DJ8684

haha you gonna buy me new latches if it breaks?? jk jk... I have to reinstall them again cause I put my old strikers on. I'll give it a whirl. Any other experiences, suggestions, comments before I go about doing this? I'll prolly attempt it again this weekend.

SOL1D

aren't the strikers adjustable just a bit if you loosen the screws? Not really sure if i remember correctly.

UHHSON

Nah I had the same problem just latch em it won't break but it'll be real tight

closetgeek

pull down on the top from the handle when it gets close enough and make sure that from the out side the top is flushed with the top of the window. if it isn't, then its not gonna be hard to clamp down those strikers.

let me know if you got it.

DJ8684

Yeah, I had read some post on another thread about pulling down on that handle on the inside but didn't read any follow up to whether that helped or not. These are all good tips and you are all making me feel like I didn't just waste money on some useless parts. haha. I feel more confident with the install for this week when I get around to doing it now.

DJ8684

I had seen a DIY thing in the FAQ about it but also read that it shouldn't be necessary. Hopefully I just need to muscle up and push harder. haha