F430/360 spider canvas top holes issue ~solved

Hello everyone
I'm not sure if this was covered before but I could not find any info on it. So I hope this helps.

When I was shopping for F430's seemed like a lot of them had small holes on the spider canvas top. I've seen them here as well and never knew what was causing them. All the holes I've seen are all located in the same area, up near the front on both passenger and drivers side... some more on one side then the other. My car had them...BIG ones. Anyways, because of the holes I had to replace my top for a new one because it needed it. At first, I just thought that the holes came from age maybe wear and tear so by replacing the canvas top I wouldn't have any issues with it....so I thought. Well I replaced the whole outer canvas top, and on my first drive home with the top down I saw new marks forming around the same area. Then on the second drive after about 2hrs it looked like it was going to make a new hole AGAIN. I couldn't figure it out...so I started to duct tape that area on top anytime I drove with the top down....this helped but didnt solve anything obviously. I also add patches of thick tape under that area.

Anyways, sorry for the rant. I know what the problems is, and its real simple
hopefully I can explain it properly.

The marks/holes are formed because they touch or rub on each other and from heat and friction(vibration)...that area gets hot. I noticed it when got home after a drive I put the top back up and when I removed the duct tape that area was hot and almost melted the tape to the top. Here's, the problem....so the reason it gets hot is because there's a metal bar that's suppose to retract back when the top folds away. When this "bar" doesn't retract back it puts pressure in that exact area when the top is full tucked away, it also produces heat to the bar because when the top is put away in the back ....the heat from the engine heats up the top and being metal its get hotter than anything else.
I found out about this problem because when I used to duct tape the area on both sides of the top. I noticed it was rubbing up only on one side and the other side was fine....this is how I found out about the "bar"...the bar was crooked. The bar was only folding back on one side...and since the bar is held by a bracket on each side... one was forward and the other side was re-tracked back....the bar that was forward was touching the area that was making the holes and the other was free.....this is how I found out that its was suppose to move back and forth. So I sprayed some wd40 around the brackets that hold it and NOW every time I put the top down, doing the folding process I push back the "bar" while in operation to make sure it gets folded(hope that made sense). The Bar is suppose to get pushed back doing the top down procedure held by elastic straps...maybe the straps have wore out or maybe the oils have dried up on the bracelets.

Now no problems as long as the bar is pushed back when the top is down.

Simple right?


Heres some pics.

Pic1 of the area where the holes are off my new canvas top...you can see some new marks even with the new top. The red circles are the holes and the lines represents where the top folds hence the crease. (pic 2 is from a member here sorry I used your picture was to show the exact location)
pic 3 is off a 2009 f430 with only 6900miles... big hole same area

pic4. is of the "bar" thats suppose to move/retract back and forth...forward when the top is up and back when the top is down. (dont mind the patch..i just put that there)

pic 4 is of the "bar' is in the forward position(when top is up)
pic 5 is of the "bar" is in the back/retracted position(should like like this when the top is down) When its forward it creates a friction point on the canvas look at pic 6.

pic 6 is the point of contact of the friction point. so when its forward that piece of metal heats up and rubs against the canvas


So lube the brackets that hold the bar back and forth.
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Thank you all ...hopefully this really helps.

Dang, great IDEA!!

So the best position would be when the front part of the top starts to fold and stop at 90degrees like an L shape. ...the front part just fold over and you have to stop it at 90 degrees which is in the first few seconds.

Well to access the area it needs to be in the first few seconds of the top down procedure. Ill try to get some pics later.
I started to see markings the first couple of hours on a new top so it will turn up quick. If only one side is showing..then it means that only one side of the bar is retracting. If the bar doesn't retract back at all then both passenger and drivers side will start to burn a hold. The side that doesn't retract will make the burn marks.

 

In this picture

this is the position where you would have access to the bar. Here you can see the bar in the red circle that it is retracted back. The blue circle is where the bar would be if not retracted. So in this position you would see if your bar is retracting or not.

Also, this position is where you would lube the moving parts connected to the bar on each side.
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.....continue checking

Stop at this position(picture 1)


and in picture 2
The black line represents about where the bar would be if not retracted back. When NOT retracted back you will feel the metal bar where my thumb is. Check both sides though because it could be retracting only on one side.
Now when properly retracted back and working as it should ...that entire area of fabric that im holding on should be loose and free...should be all fabric with nothing underneath.

in picture 3 the area where my thumb is about where it gets pinched/burnt/rubbed.
No bar=no rubbing.
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in the picture below, the red line is about where the bar would be when retracted properly.


Can't really explain it..if you feel under the top about middle you can feel a stand lone bar.

When doing the top down procedure you can swing/pivot the bar back as the front part of the canvas folds. If you look back at the first set of pictures you can see how the bar swings/pivots back and forth.
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