Question [Who says the tops are hard to operate?]

[DURAMAX]

Who says the tops are hard to operate. When the Dealer showed me how it works I was impressed by how simple it was. My last rag top was a preban 63 Ford Galaxie 500. That was a huge job. Climb in the back seat and unzip the window. Unlatch from windshield. 2 Difficult handles under the visors. Hit the switch and hope it won't bind. Put on the boot with what seemed like a million snaps that ripped out when you take it off. How can it get any better than the Sky? And the main thing I like is it is in the trunk. What could look cleaner than that? By the way for you young guys and gals preban refers to the convertible ban starting in 1976. Thats when T-Tops and sunroofs were invented. We older guys suffered for a while.

[cerberus]

I hear ya! What's the world come to now that there's no snaps or cover? Compared to some cars where ya toss the top over your shoulder, sure it's a bit more to do, but as you say, to stow it away in the "trunk" we get a very clean look. Tradeoffs I suppose. I'm fine with the way the Sky works. Seems easier than my '69 TR6 did.

[DURAMAX]

The whole reason I bought the Sky was how it looks with the top down. Lets face it no convertible looks great with the top up. These days many small cars don't even have a cover on the top when its down. The don't look good with the top don either. Having it out of site makes it such a sharp car with the top down. Don't care about the small trunk. I will drive my truck to haul stuff, people, or when it rains.

[RedSkyMan]

I said the same thing last year. People today want power everything. I could put the top up and back down a whole lot faster then most power tops operate. And once it's stowed you have the beautiful lines of the deck lid to hide everything. Besides, I very rarely put the top up, looks better with it down.

[DURAMAX]

I only put it up at work. I throw a seet over the car in my garage to keep it clean in and out.

[DURAMAX]

Also power tops break a lot. Rember my mention of a 63 Ford?

[reedred]

I actually like the look of the top when it's up- just not as much as I do when it's in the trunk.

Most of the griping about the top came from automotive journalists when the car was first coming out. I think many of them were looking for negatives and went off half-cocked instead of thinking rationally and being fair.

[aggressiva]

I like it when her top is down

[Lithium Lotus]

Import owners mostly.

[reedred]

Well, when they're out cruising for trim in their Evos, a Sky pulling up would be an instant cock-block.

[BSRL]

I actually love the way it looks with the top up. I think it looks real aggressive. But it still looks good with the top down too!

[gadget]

Originally Posted by DURAMAX

The whole reason I bought the Sky was how it looks with the top down. Lets face it no convertible looks great with the top up. These days many small cars don't even have a cover on the top when its down. The don't look good with the top don either. Having it out of site makes it such a sharp car with the top down. Don't care about the small trunk. I will drive my truck to haul stuff, people, or when it rains.

Well I disagree with you on that. This car looks great top up or down.
Otherwise I completely agree. Raising and lowering the top is no problem.

[Bogie]

I have no major issues with the top, and I go through several extra steps when raising or lowering.

[SKY888]

takes me 10 secs

[pastohio]

My wife has a lot of trouble when she has to put the top up....and then stretch it at the windshield a little to get the clamp to catch....putting the top down is a breeze.....generally women don't have the upper body strength than men....just my $.02

[Bogie]

Originally Posted by pastohio

My wife has a lot of trouble when she has to put the top up....and then stretch it at the windshield a little to get the clamp to catch.....

One of my "recommended" steps is after raising it from the left side, go over to the right side and make sure the B-piller is fully seated. Then grab the right side of the top and push it forward lightly to help seat the front right pin better. On my car, there may be a a quarter to an eighth inch of play in the B-pillar and a quarter to half inch of play in the front pin. It will still latch at these tolerances, but the stress of seating the pillar and the pin is placed on the latch mechanism, and by extension requires more torque applied from the operator. If you pre-seat these two points as described above, latching requires less torque, which means less work for the operator.

I have a lot of upper body strength, so I mainly do this to lessen the torque stress on the latch (being an engineer I worry the full torque will one day break the mechanism...not to mention the importance of ensuring the B-pillar is properly seated in general). The added benefit of this approach, other than preserving the latch, is the latch become easier to engage.