F430 roof mechanism issue

Hi guys,

I had my soft top changed at a reputable firm and i´m having some issues which im not sure is caused by them or not.

3 Scenarios:

When putting the roof down and up directly, everything works fine.

When having the car parked in the garage, leaving the soft top down for a few hours, putting it back up everything works fine.

When having the soft top down, driving for 30-60 minutes, the soft top will not go back up as it is slightly missplaced. To make it go down in the front locks, i have to push the roof pretty hard by hand slightly to the right while pushing down for it to go into correct position and eventually lock.

It is quite frustrating as it was not like this before the soft top change, the guys at the firm do not want to take responsibility. It seems like the mechanism is slightly missaligned, but why does it only become like that in one scenario? Does it absorb much heat next to the engine?

Can i adjust something to make the roof go slightly more to the right? Or have they screwed up when they have glued things up in the soft top? My wishes are that eventually the roof can get more stretched with time and close easier. It has gone some time now since the change occured in the end of May but the soft top have not seen to much sun since then.

 

I replaced my top two years ago and it was very tight at the beginning and had some issues with opening and closing. It might be worth putting the car out in the sun top closed/up for a few hours and then cycling the top to see if the issue persists. If it goes away, that at least you would know it’s a bit tight. I think I had to adjust one micro switch bc the shop bumped it when they did the top replacement.

it’s totally possible something is not right though too.

 

thanks for your input. Did u have it in the sun just a few hours in total? Gonna be sunny this week i might park it outside the house for a few days then

 

I think I did four hours or so. That was enough to warm up and expand such that it worked no issue.

 

Second leaving the car out in the sun with the top stretched closed. New tops are very tight and the open/close procedure is affected slightly. Some don't even close without assistance at the last bit to get the front to latch. Perfectly normal, but keep an eye out in the long run if things don't return to usual after some time.