well, after telling my kid's to be careful when dropping the top, naturally it has incurred a one inch tear on drivers side, anyone have any luck with top repair without replacement, it's not gapping, but.... o No:
I think you can get something like an iron-on patch. Personally, I've used duct tape on the inside, and a smaller piece on the outside (with the same color) using a little sealant in the tear itself. There are people here, though, that know how to do it right.
The problem is your top pads are not in the correct position. When the top goes down....the pads have a tendency to walk to the center of the top. If you take a lil extra time and move the pads back to the outside edge...you won't have this problem. When your top is replaced...make sure you tell your top man to move the pads slightly to the outside to prevent the problem from happening again. This is a very common problem with A-body tops.