ragged claws

Took my Melrose targa top off of my '89 coupe and tried to store it under the hatch back where it belongs. I can't get it to slide far enough forward so it will drop down enough to engage the locking bolt mechanism. It needs about another 1/4" to work. I took the rubber things out of the receiving brackets behind the front seats and carefully tried to slide the top a little more forward. Still a no-go. Anyone else have this problem and ,if so, how did you resolve it?

Thanks, Kim

ED77KATR

Had the same problem with my 91 yesterday. I just wiggled it a bit and after 10 minutes it locked...

ragged claws

I wiggled mine for at least 20 minutes and still no go. I've done the wiggle fix in the past and it worked, but I'm looking for a more "elegant" fix. Can the brackets be moved toward the back seats? I've got a bad back and just removing the top is a pain. Screwing around with it under the hatch is more trouble than it's worth. I can just leave the top in the garage when I go out for a drive but it's good to have it in the car if I run into bad weather. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks, Kim

Calderone

happened a couple of times, wiggle it harder ! i had to push it and then to engage it on the lock i have to pull it back until it clicks !

ragged claws

I wish I had that problem. I can't get my top shoved forward enough to allow the bolt hole in the Targa to drop down low enough to line up with the locking bolt. Meanwhile, there's no rain forecasted for the foreseeable future so I'll just leave the Targa in the garage and get my topless a-- on down the road!

C41987

How long have you had this problem?
(Just to be safe, you do know that the "bolt" slides back?)

ragged claws

I know that the bolt slides back and I make sure that it's totally retracted before I try to push the Targa top down into position. The "lip" on the Targa that has the bolt hole in it just won't clear the raised portion of the plastic at the rear of the hatch opening. There's a shelf that the Targa is supposed to rest on but the Targa "lip" is just barely hanging up on the raised portion of the plastic just to the rear of this shelf. If I could just get the Targa to go forward another 1/8" all would be well. This is the first time I've tried to stow the Targa since I lowered the car, so maybe there is some minor tweaking going on. Even before I lowered the car it was a real tight fit but I could get the Targa to eventually drop down onto the shelf. Now I just can't get it to go. It seems that it just shouldn't be this difficult.

cal55

Try turning it around and see if it fits. The first time I stowed mine I put it in backwards.
Joe

Otis S.

I have this problem occasionally, the u-clips in the brackets seem kinda of stubborn some times. I have stood on the side of the car and pushed the top in from the side, this seems to get it all the way into the clips and then it will lock in with the bolt.

ragged claws

I think I've got the direction right, Joe. The hole that receives the locking bolt is on the front of the Targa so the rear of the Targa slides into the brackets behind the seats. I might just try putting it backwards though just to see if it will fit in the allotted space. I wouldn't be able to lock it in place though.

cal55

That is the correct position. Something must be hitting,preventing it from seating properly. I'm sure you'll figure it out.
Good Luck,
Joe