Mondial Cabriolet Top Folding

That happened to me at the beginning. I suspect your top is not going all the way down. DON'T FORCE IT. When the top goes down, look behind the rear seats, there are two openings there. The frame should fold in there. If it is not going in, look at the frame, there are two tabs, one on each side. Lift them, you'll see that the frame will accomodate itself like magic. You should also see a bar through your rear window. If that bar is down, the top will not go down further.

Patience, play around with it until you get a hang of it.

 

exactly, can you post a couple pics of your top in both the 'down' position then 'almost' down where the pic shows the inner bars and such.

had a devil of a time few months back, scratching head, just to realize both sides were not entirely symetrical. That is, one of the side, folding arms got somehow in-between the incorrect strut. Once I repositioned that part, it folded like magic....one of my more Darwinian moments.

 

guys there is a small lever on each side that you can hold onto that helps fold the top correctly. If you attempt to put the top down without using that particular "hidden" lever, the top will not stow correctly. I had this very problem on my dad's 84 Mondy.

 

Does anyone think it's a bad idea just to leave the top down? Am I messing up the rear window by doing so?

 

I have mine down about 99% of the time. Yes, the window is a bit hazing in the fold lines, but, since it's always down, no one sees that.....IF I must, I'll just have a new window sewn in there....getting the Ferrari logo will be expensive, but, IF I think about it, I could sew in a less expensive piece and save the 'real one' for later, then again it's sounding like a lot of work.

In my case, I just don't car...keeping the car, so, it is what it is for me.

 

The metal round tube/bar that contacts the rear window plastic when stowed can vibrate and cause window scuffing. I put a stick on fuzzy drawer liner type of liner over the bar, and this prevents scratches. I also have a small Dash size california duster, and I give the window a quick sweep to make sure there is little grit on the plastic before folding.

The manual show the top folded in a rounded u shape in the stack. Yet most, and I included, fold so that the window creases inward in half to fold, and the stack sits lower and makes it easier to put on the cover. Harder on the window to crease like this, but the steps I noted seem to help.

My top is original, on a 1988 Mondial Cab, with 50K kms. Still lots of life left as far as I can tell, and I am in Canada, folding the top when rather cold, and keep the roof down until the salt hits the road...

 

I'm in the same boat, I've tried my top several ways and don't know what is right. I also have difficulty attaching the boot at the rear by engine lid. I did just see a clip from "Scent of a Woman" in another post here that shows a brand new T with the boot not attached at the rear by engine lid. I'd also like to see pictures of someone stowing the top. Last time I put mine down I basically lifted the cloth above the frame, frame dropped into place beautifully and I rolled up and folded top on top, didn't seem right and turned out about the same.
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Our top has also been down all summer also. It is now raining and too cold to operate but when the sun comes out in a few days I can have my daughter take pictures or a video.

In the mean time here are a few shots without disturbing the now stiff window.


Dave
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I hope these help. As mentioned already the trick is to lift up first and then back on the little handle in the picture. Everything should naturally fold into place.Then fold in rear window and push the whole thing down.
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Here is a page from my owners manual cabriolet supplement. Sorry no pics as the top is up right now, hope this helps.
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Dirk: You really need to take another shot at that as not only is it folded incorreclty, but, not a good idea for the Tenax clips... Ok, and I'll mention it doesn't look right.

You have one of or both of the folding side arms either inside their respective longitudinal struts, or one of the cross bars, beam to beam is folded wrong.

 

Thanks Rik, I'll give it a try again. I know I'm missing something. I'll read your direction when I can get near my car again in a couple days. It's gone up and down many times and has never gone well. I've even had the top fabric bind in some of the hinge points before. I've been hoping I'm doing it all wrong. I'm a slow learner, so if I can't get this I'll have to drive out to you. I grew up in Petaluma and a drive from Baton Rouge to visit the friends would be a good one.

 

According to the manual, you are not supposed to fold in the rear window like that. Which makes sense, folding it like that seems to unnecessarily sharply bend it.

 

My picture is misleading. The cloth is folded at the very top of the window and then tucked into the most forward fold. Not a tight bend for the window itself (about the same as wrapping it around a gallon of milk.) True the manual doesn't have you tuck it in but it sure makes putting the boot on a whole lot easier.
dave

 

Is this the view you are looking for?????
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Hi all my top no longer folds down. Can some please post pictures of what
the frame as the top goes down. My frame is binding on the way down and wont go all the way down. I need to know how the arms fold as the top goes down and how the arms work together. Mine is pinching and I don't want to force it down. Thanks for your help.

Thanks,
crash

 

Do you have the "swing arm" that hangs down on your top? If so, you must hold that in the 'up' position while you bring the top down. Based on the pics I've seen in this thread, not all tops are the same (I don't have a lever like Dave...mine is a swinging bar that is critical to raising/lowering the top)

 

That's precisely how I tuck mine. The window has no bends and the boot fits perfectly.