Broken Soft Top Bar

gbhrps

SnowXTC,

Back again after some more research.

The fix for the cloth top (because yours is so small) is an adhesive called “Stormsure”. Watch this video from YouTube and you’ll see what I mean. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dozd_sDlbtc
As well, you can buy it on Amazon. Just pop in the name and it comes up. Not sure if you can find it elsewhere, but maybe.

Along that line, wrap the broken pieces of that bow (yes its number two bow, I finally saw your pictures from your 2nd post and it’s obvious to me anyway) with black electrical tape until you can get it fixed. This will prevent more cloth top damage if you continue to use the car.

Which brings up this …… why did it break in the first place? That bow is supposed to move/swing somewhat when the top goes up and down. Maybe yours was binding at those screw/bolts at each end and couldn’t = broken arm. Or that bow was damaged when someone or thing hit that area of the top before you bought the car. Who knows? Anyways, when you repair that bow or replace it, make sure it can move/swing freely, or you’ll be doing this repair again.

I looked at my 2nd bow and I believe its made of an aluminum alloy, so if its removed, it should be able to be rewelded. But not every welder can do aluminum welding, so you’ll need to find an aluminum welder, and have him inspect that bow and tell you if it can be fixed. If not, the part number for that 2nd bow is 970201ETOA from Nissan and its MRSP is $317.98. Yikes! But cheaper than $13 000.

If you look at your bow picture, you’ll see that the inside roof material velcro’s or wraps around that bow and a long plastic strip fits into a slot the length of the bow as a fastening. Meaning it unclips or the velcro can be pulled off to loosen the bow from the inner top material. You’ll also see that the outer top cloth has a part that is fastened into a slot along the bow’s top length, and it just slides out. Meaning, by undoing the bolts/screws at both ends of the 2nd bow, you should be able to slide the bow out one side after you’ve detached the inner top material from the bow. Again, if you go through the RF section of the manual, this is all explained and pictured for you.

What it really comes down to is that you should be able to fix your top for a very reasonable price after all, at least from what I’m seeing, no guarantees though, as I’ve not done one of these at this stage.

So now you have some knowledge of what needs doing, how it works, and then see your Ford guys. From there, maybe a good reputable convertible repair shop is the place to get the work done, but I’m not certain a Nissan dealership will have as much expertise. If you go the convertible shop route, it’ll help to have the RF section of the FSM printed out for them, and then show their service guy the specific sections concerning the 2nd bow. I don’t think they’ll have a copy of it, since they won’t have done many 370z’s in the past.

Get back to me if you have any questions, and keep us posted as to how it all goes.

Gene