Preventing tears while lowering

[TORQUED455]

What is your convertible top lowering procedure (with tear prevention in mind)?

Do you add additional padding where the joints pinch the top?

What about glueing additional top material in the inside where the suspect area is?

I am particularly interested in 68-72 A bodies.

Thanks!

[462CID]

I stop the top while it's halfways down

Then I make sure that the top pads will cover that hinges right over the rear quarter windows.

I lower it almost all the way, then I double check that the pad is still protecting the top. Often I must reach in a tug the pad back over.

Also, I put thick foam pads over the bolts that hold the cables on each side of the roof.

No rips since '96, on my daily driver, top gets used all the time.

Gluing in more material probably won't work. It gets awfully warm in there, the top material is not a good insulator.