Convertible top really hard to latch.

[tarynl519]

We have a '76 SB Convertible and had a new convertible top installed last winter. When we got the car home, the top worked fine. Granted, it was a little bit of a struggle to get the thing latched, but it did. The shop said it would loosen up a bit over time. Over the last few months, we installed a new interior so we let the top stay down to give us more room to work in the car. Went to put the top up over the weekend and now it doesn't want to close at all. It's almost as if it is 1/2" too short. After a half hour struggle and me sitting on top of the windshield, we finally got it to latch. However, now the driver's side door is really hard to close. Any ideas of how to fix this?

Also, just a theory. The shop didn't install the "main bow to base" seals when they did the top. We added those after we got it back. Should those have been installed before they measured and cut the tension wire? Wondering if that is what's causing this issue and if we should remove them.

[finster]

I'm sure I've read something similar on the forum about soft tops not closing after being left folded for a while. from memory I think the advice was to stand the car in the sun or use a steamer or hot towels to stretch the material. I'm assuming it's fabric sonnenland type not vinyl.

[Cusser]

I only raise or lower my own '71 convertible top when it's warm or hot, or warmed by the sun. That's not too difficult for me in Arizona, but maybe one reason (other than keeping park time in the sun to a minimum) that my top has lasted since 1980.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[finster]

here's the post I was remembering about stretching tops -

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8688169

[BUGGED11111]

I had a similar issue after an install on my 74 and still do if I keep the top down for a long time.
The trick that works for me is to unscrew the latch J hooks as far as I can without detaching them. That gives me enough length to latch it. Then I unlatch it again and screw the J hooks back in and it latches. I guess it gets things aligned and stretched once it's first latched