jhb

The top slamming is fairly common. The easy solution is to just put the palm of your hand up as the top comes down and lower it the last inch.

The other is to get an allen wrench and tighten the connections for the top so it is not so "lose", That worked for me. Just don't tighten so much the top won't move.

vjd3

Mike's top is impressive, it scared me when he closed it for me, a heck of a slam!

I'm not sure that my latch motor is trashed ... I don't understand why it's not possible to open/close it with a screwdriver, because when it's running the screw slot is turning, but it operates fine by the switch every time. The "wheel" seems to be a bit looser than the one on the other side, though. I can move it a little bit.

jhb: I'm on the South Shore, too ... in Hanover. The biggest problem with getting mine back together is the missing welded nut on the passenger side sheet metal. I have two good transmissions and the cables seem to be all right. All the motors are working. I'm not sure how to get around that welded nut, but if you have ideas, I'm up for experimenting. I think the top needs to be adjusted a bit because it sits higher on the driver's side when it's not latched into the windshield frame. Grrr.

Vic
95 C4 cab

jhb

I would go to a machine shop and get a new nut welded to the back of the bracket. Should be easy and short money too.

nile13

jhb, if I put my palm anywhere near that top on it's last inch of travel, the slamming noise will be far exceeded by my primal screaming, as there will not be a single unbroken bone left in my wrist. Vic heard my top. It's one hell of a freefall from the top apex of top's travel to the windshield.

Vic, I'm in Quincy pretty often nowadays, so maybe we can try and get something together to look at this thing. I'd second jhb's idea to weld a new bolt in place - should not be that hard. The other idea is to drill a hole where that bolt used to be, tap it and use a Home Depot bolt going into the tapped portion?

I find that a good upholstery shop that has specific experience with a specific model top is invaluable. But I don't know who it would be around Boston. there's a bunch of us, cab people here, maybe someone will chime in?

vjd3

Problem is, it's the "top" hole that's missing the nut, so it's really inaccessible -- it's inside the sheet metal. In fact, the "center" hole lost its nut, too, but they managed to rivet some sort of bracket in there that's holding a nut in place, although it's a bit loose. I suspect this is why the top had problems to begin with, I'm sure it wasn't tight or aligned correctly, which caused the original trans to fail. Hmmm.

Vic
95 C4 cab

nile13

Vic, on an unrelated note... I'd take PO to Small Claims. There is NO WAY he did not know about this. I would also try to at least get the PPI money beck from the shop - what they did (or more precisely didn't do) is rediculous.

vjd3

I know ... it's just that I'd have to go to Florida to deal with it, or hire a lawyer, so by the time I get done, I'd be lucky to break even. There were so many problems with the car, most of which I have paid to correct (to the tune of $7k now), I feel like selling the damn thing. The PO paid the shop for the PPI because he had to have the AC recharged anyway, so I don't really have much recourse there -- technically, he hired them. The lawyer I spoke with advised letting it go.

Vic
95 C4 cab

jhb

I have heard good things about Adolphs in Natick, no affiliation etc.

Nile13: if your top does a free fall from where the top crosses the center point then something is lose, and very wrong. Are you side trx's bolted in solidly? They may be shifting as part of the top opening/closing. This would cause this type of behavior, and you may run the risk of breaking the eyes that bolt them to the car.

VJD3: There mut be some solution for you. I forget, but can a nut be welded to the outside of the sheet metal, or does that get in the way of the transmission mount?

vjd3

I think it would get in the way; there's a spacer which fits over the bolt and sits flush with the sheet metal. The shop's solution was to somehow get the bolt on the inside of the sheetmetal and put a nut on the outside of the trans. But it apparently didn't work very well, as the bolt was bent and I can't see how to get another bolt in there anyway. I suppose the hole could be enlarged and then rewelded or something like that ... and there's already two bolts wedged down inside the sheet metal now ;-)

Vic
95 C4 cab

nile13

jhb, I'll check the transmissions. Are they behind the side panels next to speakers?
BTW, Adolph's a good shop. It's 5 miles away from my home, I spoke to the guy there, he's very nice and knowledgeable. But doesn't have much specific 993 experience.

jhb

Maybe a keyhole arrangement? A large hole where the bolt head could fit through then slide down into a smaller hole that is only wide enough to accept the shaft? Would have to be reinforced with a washer or something.

Were the other two bolts for the trx secured? It seems they could not have been if the stress on the third bolt was enough to bend it.

Your right though, it would have to have zero play. I assume the spacer is narrower than the width of a bolt?

jhb

Yes, the side panels are held in with two screws, I believe. I would definitely check them. that is the only place that could atribute the kind of play you describe.

vjd3

Spacer is actually thicker than the bolt, considerably. In fact, it's not even a tight fit when the bolt is inside it, there's play there. The other two were fairly tight. I just think there was so much stress on it -- it deformed the slot on the trans that the arm fits into -- that everything got out of whack. I can imagine bolting it all together, hitting the switch and ... crack!

My plan was to try and get it working with just the short arm portion attached, not the top. But I couldn't get the passenger side trans mounted to the wall, so I was screwed before I started.

Vic
95 C4 cab

Patentman

How many miles do you guys have on these cabs? I have a 98 cab with 18 K miles and put the top up and down each nice day, sometimes 2 times a day. Are cab top problems to be expected at a certain point?

Also, I leave my cab top down/open when at home in my garage overnight, sometimes for two or three days at a time if its raining. Is this cable shrinkage something that occurs with the top down or is it better to put the top in its closed/up position when parking for several days?

vjd3

Not sure, Barry ... my car has 26k miles on it. If you really want to be frightened, do a search on the 964 board ... and the mechanism is the same as on the 993.

I think it's a good idea to find a tech who really knows the tops and just pay an hour or two of labor to have it all checked, aligned, lubed ... probably good insurance, because if it jams and twists the top, it's really expensive to fix.

Vic
95 C4 cab