328 gts top storage

Do the pins go up or down? Does the inside of the top face forward or back?

 

Depends on who you ask.

The answer will be...both ways!

 

He'll be asking about timing belt change intervals next .....Noooooooooo!

If you are very tall then (alledgedly) you can get the seat to recline further if you store the top with the inside facing forwards.

I store mine pins down, outside forwards - but then I ain't 6'3"

 

There is one picture in the owner's manual. It shows the top of the top facing forward, pins up. I suppose you'd lose concours points if you did it wrong -Steve

 

Pins down, top forward.

That's the only way the vinyl cover fits properly.

 

That's the way I do it too. Just be aware that if you are careless in positioning the latches, they can dig into the rear deck if you don't use the cover. A previous owner of my car was lazy and there are tears rubbed in the rear deck material from latches not positioned out of the way before stowing the top without the cover.

 

Thats the way I do it as well

 

Me too. When I get the rear deck redone Im going to do something about the latches
rubbing on the fabric (but I think it helps hold it even more snug).

 

Some older 308's have rubber grommets on the floor that the pins rest in. I would think the original design is for pins down.

 

+1

 

+1 again, that's the only way I do it. And my top is painted, so this way keeps the paint from rubbing up against the carpeted firewall.

 

I stow mine top forward and pins up. It just seems to fit better for me, Owners Manual pg. 39 appears that way, but it's up to you how you prefer it.
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I think if I ever stumble onto a spare top, I'd like to try putting a piano hinge lengthwise, so it'll fold up.

(Not down the exact middle, but offset so the rolled edges overlap when folded.)

There's plenty of room behind the seats, down low. It's just at the top of the seat back that it's short of space.

 

Which leads me to another thought: My top is also painted. When its stored in the correct way and the cover fitted, there is part of the cover at the top which is tightly stretched over the edge of the top, and is not lined with the soft lining. So there is direct black vinyl in tight contact with paint, right in direct sunlight. This does not seem good to me. I am thinking of getting that part of the cover lined with something soft.

 

My recollection is previous threads have suggested that what is construed as pins on first observation are actually the clips hence pins down is being demonstrated

 

Sure looks pointy to me in the OM, besides and I'm unable to attach the push-knobs on my cover (both top and bottom) with the latches up, go figure?

 

I store mine pins down with the inside facing forward (top is toward the engine). This way the pins are not pointing into the carpet tearing it up but rather are suspended over the "seat well." At least thats how it happens to fall in my car with my own seating position.



PDG

 

"Depends on who you ask.

The answer will be...both ways! "


See? I told you!

 

Concours judging is done with the top in place, so moot point there....

 

I am over six feet and I store it inside forward which seems to work better with my seat position. I am still experimenting with pins up or down. Both have their advantages and disadvantages as noted.

Much of the time I just leave the top in the garage and avoid the entire thought process.

 

I store mine in the barn so that my firebottle will lay nicely ,on the floor, behind the drivers seat. Lost

 

I have always stored it with the pins up and the top of the roof facing forward. I've never had any problems with the cover fitting over it this way.

 

Me too. The seat tilts farther and goes back so that I can at least drive with the top stowed in the car. That's important here in the NW when you are 6' 1". Never know when it will rain so you need to take the top with you.

My cover fits fine with the pins up, slightly snug so it doesn't move around but the tenax fasteners attach easily.

 

I have to admit that although I wanted a gts, I almost never remove the top. That's one reason I was so anal about getting the ac to work reasonably well. Every time I hav had the top off, I was too uncomfortable with the sun shining directly on me. It's fine in the 70s and low humidity but that hardly ever happens when I'm where the car is.