Convertible top repair - Graduate

[eric.schnettler@domain.elided]

Hello all,

  An interesting thing happened to the convertible top on my Spider the=
 other night.  I was on the highway driving at about 70 MPH with the to=
p "Up" on the car.  I heard a loud "pop" sound above my head.  I though=
t that I may have hit a bird or something=20
else but I couldn't confirm this as it was dark and I didn't see any bi=
rd or other debris bouncing off the road in my rear view mirror.  (No, =
I don't drive around looking for animals to drive into or to run over w=
ith my car)  I ran my hand along the=20
inside top and, thankfully, I didn't feel any rips to tears anywhere.  =
I wrote it off as just another part of the "Alfa Experience" and put it=
 out of my mind.
  Yesterday I figured out what caused the noise.  I purchased the car f=
rom P. Spruell Alfa in Atlanta, GA about 2.5 years ago.  I had a new ca=
nvas top installed prior to picking up the vehicle as it's original vin=
yl top was in very poor shape.  Spruell=20
did a great job installing the new top, the fit was nice and snug.  App=
arently, the top is physically connected to the steel "bows" that suppo=
rt the canvas material.  What I discovered was the glue or "adhesive ta=
pe" connecting the center bow to the=20
underside of the canvas top has failed.  I believe what I heard the oth=
er night was the "breaking" of this tape.  Now, when I drive the car at=
 speed with the top up, the top is getting sucked up and creating about=
 2-3" of vertical space between steel bow=20
and the canvas material.  My concern is that this will cause the canvas=
 to stretch and I'll lose the nice snug fit that it had when it was new=
.
  So, the question here is what methods are available to reconnect the =
bow to the canvas material and where would one buy the material to do s=
uch a repair?  I will probably end up taking the car to a local garage =
that has experience installing tops but=20
I'd like to know the options that I have before I go to have the work d=
one.  My guess is that I want to stay away from a repair using glue as =
solvents in the glue may make the canvas porous, or worse, may cause th=
e canvas to deteriorate more quickly.

Any comments or experience would be greatly appreciated.  Off digest is=
 fine.

Eric
88 Grad.

PS - I refer to speeding tickets as "Bad Behavior Tax"=

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