Miata Mailing List: April 1994, Message #74
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   From: Alan Dahl 
Subject: Re: instant top-down driving
   Date: Tue, 5 Apr 1994 12:06:42 -0400

"Freie, John F" 
> Some time back there was a discussion about how quickly people could put        

> their tops down.  I think I may have set the record --- alas.  While            

> cruising down a back road, doing about 70, with my top up (due to the usual     

> cold weather we get here) I hit a rather large pothole.  I either didn't        

> have the latches on the top as firmly attached as they should have been, or     

> something failed.  I a matter of less than a second I was looking at blue       

> sky (actually gray sky).                                                        

>         While I feel good about having probably set the top-down record my      

> rear window disintegrated.  Are there some sort of tension settings in          

> those latches that I should have checked out?  The problem very well could      

> have been that I didn't latch it properly since I put the top up in the         

> dark the night before.                                                          

> 

Did this a couple of years ago on teh way to Nationals when I only latched one  
of my top latches. The roof let go about 60mph. The rear window survived but I  
ended up with a big "X" etched in the plastic. Half an hours work with some  
Mirror Glaze #17 took the marks right out and you can't even tell.

Nowadays I make sure to pull on each latch to make sure that it's well and  
truly latched before I drive off.

---
  ___   __   ___  Alan Dahl                    | alan.dahl@mccaw.com -or-
 /_ /   /   /     Analysts International Co.   | adahl@axysdev.nwest.mccaw.com
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