Soft top - front rail gap problems

Tim Cripsey

Member
New member, first post. Apologies if an old topic/in wrong section etc.

Just purchased a 1993 defender and the bar/rail that retains the front of the soft top was loose. Removed the soft top and tightened the rail down only to find that the gap for the soft top front bar was now non existent. Anyone have any recommendations on how to fix this issue? Thanks!
 

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Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
can you be more specific on what happening ? also does your top have a round or flat retaining stiffener built into the front edge?

if you are using stock hardware:

  • you should have a number of flat nutplates that would drop into the headerbar from above
  • loosely bolt from below
  • with the header bar loose slide the tops front stiffener/retainer into the header bar
  • now you can tighten down any straps on the top
  • finally tighten down the bolts in the header bar last




EDIT: i re-read. im assuming someone has swapped your nutplates with just regular nuts. This is why it was loose, because you cant hold the nut from above with the softtop covering it. Ask the guy who you bought it from maybe


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Tim Cripsey

Member
I have the flat retaining stiffener. The rail looks non-original, with just two bolts holding the rail in place. (I will take some photos tonight). The top is new (previous owner in the UK)

Is that standard practice to have to tighten the rail down when the retainer stiffener is slotted in place?

Thanks for your help - much appreciated!
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
yes the order above is the way it should be done. you should have 6 bolts and nut plates . plus the two bolts and regular nuts on the sides. so you are missing some hardware.

you tighten down the header bar when the soft top is slotted in place because you shoudl already have the rest of the top tight with the straps. this stretches it the last few mm. on NAS trucks they used a spring loaded latch system instead of bolts, also snapped into place last.
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
no sweat. ill say after converting to the expensive NAS style flip latches, it wasn't worth it. the bolts are better since i never peel back the front cover
 

Tim Cripsey

Member
Think the issue is that previous owner bought a new Exmoor top and may have changed the rail. Odd thing is that the back edge of the rail is taller than the two rails that hold the seal. Hence when it is tightened down, it reduces the gap for the soft top.
 

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Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
That rail that you have there is for the round front retainer. also your gutter kit is sticking up really high for some reason?
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
Here's a pic of a flat rail front retainer. Plus you can see my hand pushing down on where the top of the gutter kit is . The gutter kit is actually below the height of front header bar .
 

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Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
My finger here is resting on the top of the back edge of the header bar. You can see the gutter kit galvanized to the right
 

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Tim Cripsey

Member
Thanks for the feedback. Are there any good technical articles around explaining the difference between the round and flat header rails and installation procedures?

I will get the Exmoor trim hood model number tonight.
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
I think it may be easier/cheaper for you to replace the canvas retaining strip to round. Also you need to figure out what is going on with your gutters. No matter what you do with the header bar it won't fit correctly due to that.
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
I thinking maybe you have a Nas style gutter kit ? Zach at rn may be able to help you decipher what you have .

The reason I suggest changing the retainer is the header bars and gutter kits are $$$$$$. The retainer pulls out with pliers and is a few bones
 

Z.G

Well-known member
What type of connection do you have in the front of the top? Is it a thick plastic strip?
 

Z.G

Well-known member
Scratch that, just noticed that you placed it through our website. Will get that sent!
 
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