[SpyHunter]

Went to work in the car yesterday. Was supposed to be hot and sunny. I had the race tires on (had gone to the local car show all dressed up in Auto-X trim the day before and left them on), and the hardtop off. Well, around 3ish, the guys next door come grab me, and tell me we have a storm moving in fast. 80 mph wind gusts reported. I look west, and it was pitch black. Not good for a topless Miata on race tires. LOL. Got it home juuuust in time. I was definitly driving it like I stole it (120ish in a few spots on the interstate). Thankfully, alot of people saw me coming and got out of the way. And none of them were cops. LOL. Left the house about 20 minutes later in the OTM, and you couldn't even drive in the right lane of most streets as the water was up to the curb. Trash cans were everywhere, as well as small tree branches and a few signs.

 

[Bryan]

Trust me, rainstorms in a Miata with no AC, Azenis, and a new tear in the rear window are no fun, either... :lol:

 

[SpyHunter]

Whats A/C? LOL. Wait til the Azenis are bald. Driving home from Nat'ls last year, I hit some weather. Inside 2" were bald on the Azenis. Kinda cool when the car will "float" a good foot sideways at anything above 60. Sucks to hear about the tear. New top, or just replacing the window?

 

[Caldera]

Been there... I was all over the idea of just a hardtop, but I have to plan VERY carefully which days I pull it off.

I figured it was just easier to buy another car and leave the top on the Miata fulltime instead.

 

[leatherface24]

Funny story. Last night i had to pick up some femine products for the wife at walgreens. as i was standing in line, some guy says " aw sheeit! its rainnin hard!"
mind you, i have no rear window because it ripped out last week while i was driving (it was corroded over age and i jut bought the car last week). I RAN OUT OF THE LINE OUT THE DOOR WITH THE MAXI PADS AND MIDOL IN MY HANDS!
i had to drive the car under the overpass by the drive thru in order fo it to now get wet. By that time it was already soaked inside.
I went back in the store to pay for the stuff and the dumb lady at the counter asked if i was comming in to return the pads and midol! the idiot didnt even realize i ran out without paying!

 

[grinerizer]

hahahahahaha now that is a classic story. And, I guess, kudo's to you for buying that stuff for her. Jess and I are still at a standstill on that. I refuse, and she laughs about it, but she does ask, my solution, I just offer to drive.

 

[boogie van]

haha, and I thought somehow the maxi pads would be involved in absorbing the water that was making its way into your car

 

[Bryan]

Whats A/C? LOL. Wait til the Azenis are bald. Driving home from Nat'ls last year, I hit some weather. Inside 2" were bald on the Azenis. Kinda cool when the car will "float" a good foot sideways at anything above 60.

That happened on the way back from a wedding on July 4th. I drove 6 hrs on what should have been a 4hr trip at around 9-10pm. I saw fireworks in several towns from the highway. It was a pouring rainstorm for most of the trip, and several times I found myself drifting uncontrollably sideways just like you were talking about, and my tires aren't even near bald! That is a SCARY feeling because there is absolutely nothing you can do but wait for the car to slow down and become controllable again.

Sucks to hear about the tear. New top, or just replacing the window?

Another wedding weekend casualty. You know how they always say to never mess with the top or the window when it's near 45deg? Yup; they were right...trying to fold the window (or rather unfold, since I was putting the top back up), and I put a 6" crack with several "tributaries" so that when the top was up, there would now be a nice hole for water to leak in. Wouldn't you know it rained every day that weekend (after the wedding)?

Anyways...the top's the original one that's been on the car probably since it was driven off the showroom floor (it's a 97). The zipper's nearly busted, it's been faded by the sun on the inside, and the window has several other cracks that I hastily "repaired" with clear tape...sorta.

 

[ultimateforce]

I just replaced my top and here's some advice.

PAY THE EXTRA MONEY TO GET THE RAIN RAIL PRE-ATTATCHED. I can NOT stress this enough. I thought I was slick and used my old rain rail, and I know it's going to crack (it's got small tears from the removal and reuse) and rust my chasis. I am going to spring for a better top next summer.

 

[ultimateforce]

Post about rain edited down to save space.

That's why I got my Protege to tool around with every day. 3000lb FWD with a factory LSD and Neo Gen tires make it a great rain driver. I can't even imagine driving my Miata in the rain with bald 5" wide tires and open diff. #-o

 

[leatherface24]

Yeah I just got my new top on yesterday and thank goodness i bought a new rainrail. the guys that did the install showed me the last one; it looked like swiss cheese

 

[Doppelganger]

reminds me of the days last summer when i'd ride around on some Hancook slicks just for fun.... hehehe

 

[P90Puma]

I have been driving around all summer with no softtop (removed it to replace back window and have not gotten around to doing it yet) and removing the hardtop on and off again.

It does suck sometimes super sunny days and no a/c, and hardtop on, all because noone to help sometimes to remove/reinstall it.

Sunday night I forgot to put the hardtop back on, monday morning entire car was soaked due to morning condenstation. Driving to work was NOT fun.

Still to lazy to replace the softop though :lol:

 

[webba1]

Had something similar happen to me. Left the top down HUGE storm came, unfortunately I was in mississippi and the car was in bama #-o had a soggy bottom that day.

 

[Splitime]

I have been driving around all summer with no softtop (removed it to replace back window and have not gotten around to doing it yet) and removing the hardtop on and off again.

It does suck sometimes super sunny days and no a/c, and hardtop on, all because noone to help sometimes to remove/reinstall it.

Sunday night I forgot to put the hardtop back on, monday morning entire car was soaked due to morning condenstation. Driving to work was NOT fun.

Still to lazy to replace the softop though :lol:

You must be a small guy/gal.. I'm 135 and I can remove my hardtop solo

 

[phinz]

I just replaced my top and here's some advice.

PAY THE EXTRA MONEY TO GET THE RAIN RAIL PRE-ATTATCHED. I can NOT stress this enough. I thought I was slick and used my old rain rail, and I know it's going to crack (it's got small tears from the removal and reuse) and rust my chasis. I am going to spring for a better top next summer.

Get a Duetto unbreakable rain rail. No need to rivet it to the top (you never need to rivet the rain rail to the top if you pay attention during the install). The unbreakable is just that - unbreakable. It's really flexible and is guaranteed to not break.

 

[swingdancr]

Yeah, its so flexible, its a real PITA to install. Right?

 

[P90Puma]

You must be a small guy/gal.. I'm 135 and I can remove my hardtop solo

Removing it is no problem.

Putting it back on is.

 

[FooSchnickens]

For me getting it off is harder than getting it back on. Interesting....

 

[phinz]

Yeah, its so flexible, its a real PITA to install. Right?

Yes it is, but at least we didn't break it.