348 Spider

I would just like to find out what you guys do about the following problem. When you are driving at a good speed with the roof folded down and the roof cover is correctly in place, all the studs attached. The cover edge, closest to the endine bay, in the centre flaps around badly. First time I saw it in the rear view mirror I stopped as I thought that one of the studs had come loose but they had not. So now I know they attached but there must be a better way of securing the soft top cover.

 

Worst case, body is bending in half I mean literaly, all spiders and t-roofs have bending in the middle of car over time.

Good luck

 

mine seems pretty secure. The boot comes with a connector that is a snap on one side and velcro on the other to secure the center. I've never used mine nor seen the need to at speeds 100+. Your boot might simply be a little stretched out or could it be an aftermarket and just doesn't fit as snug as it should?

 

There should be a snap under the cover that is attached to velcro in the center (part#3 in the picture). if it is not there, you need to order it.

Regards, Jim
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I may have an oddball, as mine has the "female" snap directly under the center of the plastic window, which allows for both covers I have to snap in securely. This may have been added, as apparently my top is the second on the car, due to leaks the first owner noticed. maybe you could install the snap permanently. I have noticed that unless I button it first, it's tough to get snapped, but definitly keeps the top from flapping.

Edit, it's not the typical "studded" snap, but the standard snap button type seen on other convertible tops...

 

thanks Jim but I have those ones. It is flapping on the other side of the cover. If you look at the diagram it is directly back from no.3, over the folded in roof towards the back of the car. Where the cover reaches the engine bay. The edge of the cover between the 2 clips on either side of the in the position below the rear soft top window. That is what is flapping around.

 

My car has the same...The base of the top has a male snap, but the tonneau has no female snap, which would cure the problem. Just have a black female snap added to the tonneau, and you are done !!

 

This works awesome for me even at 170 mph (not that I ever have gone that fast..)

I also own a Porsche convertible and the Germans are geniuses on my model Porsche when you close the rear deck lid you grab the tonneau cover on purpose to hold it down when the lid is closed. I perform the exact thing on the Ferrari and it holds it down great without damaging tonneau cover or lid and you can take her up to speed with confidence.

First big trip I took with the car a similar thing happened to me and I thought I lost most of my snaps but when I pulled over I realized that they just couldn't hold the cover down at highway speeds.

 

my guess is that your boot cover is stretched or not fitting properly. When i put on my boot cover, i REALLy have to tug and pull on it to get some of the clips to snap. If all of your snaps fit too easily, you might need to get a new one.

 

So with an extra snap in the middle, that cured the problem? It manages to hold on with the wind force?

 

you meant 170 KPH right? ummmm yeah, me neither

 

Thanks Roberto but I am not quite sure how you do this and how you hold the back edge down where it flaps.

 

Mine is also tight and fitting snug and is a real mission to put on. How do you hold that edge down in the middle on your car?

 

if I understand you correctly, its the edge that folds over on the rear side of the boot cover, where it meets the engine bay that is flapping correct? See my attached picture. This is my boot. does yours look like this and have the same snaps?
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yes Jason exactly like yours all the same snaps. Flapping is where you circled. No snap there. Do you think if I put one there it will hold it ok?

 

i think if you did put a snap there, it would stop the flapping, and would be much cheaper than getting a new boot cover. I still think your cover is just stretched. if i snapped all of my snaps except for one of those inside snaps where your flapping is, it would be almost impossible for me to snap it, it would be THAT tight.

Can you even add a snap there tho?

 

Mine also has the snaps and velcro, after it is snapped in place, secure the velcro (this is to allow it to "wrap" around the seat belts) and seems fine at speed. There is a little buffeting, but nothing to be overly concerned about.

 

When I put the boot cover on I start with those 2 inside snaps then I put the 2 on that are on the outside on either side near the doors. Then all the snaps on the inside behind the seats. They are all tight and then finish with the furthest back ones. If I add a centre one on (circle on your photo) I will be able to get it on at the same time as I do the first 2 snaps. This is a European car so the seat belts come out of the seats and not through the boot cover like yours. My boot cover does not have the hole for the seat belts but it does still have the velcro like yours does.

 

yep, center snap should fix the problem good luck and let us know the outcome

 

I would take a picture but it is too cold to put the top down now..lol

Experiment in how you fold your top as well you can make the rear window fold and fit 2 or 3 different ways giving you way more room for the tonneau cover and not making it look so bulky.

Where they are suggesting the third snap is the part that you would fit on the inside edge of the rear deck lid. Hope this helps sorry for no photos.

 

I am busy fitting a centre snap. I will take it for a ride tomorrow up to about 130 mph. Weather is perfect 30degrees C tomorrow. Will take a photo and let you know how it goes.

 

Today I fitted the screw/male side of the snap to my car in the centre below the window and fitted the snap to the boot cover. I had no problem fitting the boot over the folded down roof, starting with the 2 inside snaps them the new centre one. It all fitted together fine. I then went for a drive and took it up to about 200 km/h, 130 mph for quite a while and it all sat nice and snug. NO MORE FLAPPING. Problem sovled. Thanks everybody for your help.
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