Re: spider convertible latch adjustment

[Scott Fisher <sefisher@domain.elided>]

Robert Hardwick of Seattle asks about adjusting his Spider's convertible
top latch, in particular the one on the driver's side.

Robert, two things may help you.  First is an old trick I learned years
ago with an MGB that had a stiff old top on it:

Take a big bath or beach towel and soak it in really hot water.  If it's
really cold, take an armful of towels and get them all hot.  Then raise
the top -- yeah, I know, it won't latch; just let it rest as far forward
as it will stay.  Then plop the hot towel(s) on the top, lay them out so
they cover the top and the plastic rear window, and wait a few minutes. 
THEN try again to close the latch.  The heat is supposed to expand (and
in the case of canvas tops and vinyl windows, soften) the fabric that
the top is made from, and it's usually just enough to do the trick. 
This has worked for me several times, and is especially effective on
vinyl convertible tops.

The second trick involves adjusting the top latch.  When I recently
tightened up the latch hardware on my '74 Spider, I noticed that there's
a very small amount of "fiddle room" at both sides of the top latch
mechanism.  Let's call the part that's connected to the top frame itself
the latch, and the part that's connected to the windscreen the striker. 
Both the latch and the striker are held onto their respective locations
with a pair of screws, adjustable with a large Philips (cross-head)
screwdriver. 

You may be able to loosen the screws a bit, just enough so that you can
pull or otherwise bias the latch and the striker so they move a tiny bit
closer to each other, and then -- with the pieces still held firmly in
the "new" location -- tighten the screws down.  (An assistant with very
strong thumbs would be useful for that step.)  Before tightening mine up
a few weekends ago, my striker and latch were both somewhat loose, and
I've found that tightening the screws helped the top close more easily
and certainly more solidly.  (Of course, we're having Seattle weather
down here, today's the first time in weeks I've had the top down!)

I would advise you to resist the temptation to take the latch and the
striker off the car and ream eccentric holes in them to give you more
adjustment room.  That's really the wrong approach, though it's
certainly cheaper than buying a new top.  It means that when you finally
put in a good, new top, it'll never fit quite right, and the parts will
rattle.

My guess is that trick #1 will do the job for you, but if not, try
fiddling with the striker and latch.  There won't be a lot of room, but
I don't think you'll need much.

 --Scott Fisher

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