430 Spider top ? How often do you put up

You really should exercise your top at least once a month to keep the seals in the hydraulics from drying out and leaking. That said, I haven't put my top up in nearly a year. Gonna do it today. Thanks for reminding me.

Two thoughts on the storage position for the top.
1. Down. With the top stowed in the capote, the elastic bands are all relaxed which should help keep them from failing. Regardless, if the elastics haven't been changed in 10 years, it's time to replace them. I wrote an article on the topic: https://www.ferrari360.org/2020/09/capote-elastic-bands-and-more.html. If you have to "throw the bar" to get your top to close, then it ends up wadded up in the capote, making the wrinkles worse and eventually causing wear holes in the friction points of the fabric.

2. Up. The rear window and fabric are stretched out so they don't wrinkle.

Personally, I prefer parking with the top down. I have a dedicated garage for my 360 and it's very low dust so leaving the top down seems to be better as the elastics, a sore point with these tops, stay relaxed. My window has a permanent fold already so I don't care about that. I really dislike the look of the car with the top up so that's reason enough to leave it down.

 

There are 14 elastic bands. Replacing the two (actually four) in the bows is only the start of the job. There are 10 more that are just as critical to keep the fold orderly and also cushion the top as it lays into the tub.

 

A top should be left up, not down.

 

I always put mine up in garage. Keeps top stretched out and dust out of car

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Just had the bands replaced in my 2003 Spider. That's 19 years and mostly with the top up because I don't like wrinkles or creases and it keeps all the mechanical bits exercised when I go out (mostly) with the top down.

 

...and BTW, the 360 and 430 use the identical top.

 

Totally agree. I know firsthand it doesn't do well in down position for any length of time. Plus it will keep out the dust and grime. It's not recommended as far as I can recall being on this site since 07.

 

I suggest garaging it with the top up. When I had my 430 I would leave the top down for weeks on end and one day I went to put it up and one side had basically collapsed. The dealers first question was if I had left the top down for an extended period of time because that tends to cause problems. The entire inside git’s of the top had to be replaced.

 

If you exercise your top regularly, the point is rather moot. Leaving the top up has no advantage that I can see as all the hydraulics are fully extended, leaving the slide part exposed to corrosion and the elastics are stretched.

I cycled my top just yesterday after a year of storage and it came up perfectly, without any wrinkles and then stowed perfectly with the correct folds. The key is to have proper elastics so that the folds in the top are where they're supposed to be and the top isn't all wadded up in the capote tub. That's where the problems start.

Then again, I have a sample of one so my experience is limited. My car is absolutely mint so that probably helps a lot too.

The top up/down question is one of preference and the proper position (stowed, up) can be argued until we're all blue in the face. I prefer it down because I dislike the look of the car with the top up.