The plastic rear window is coming off the ragtop, is there a way to fix this? I live in Florida and this past week it's been smoldering in the mid 90's every day, and I think the adhesive has become undone due to the heat, the rear window is still attached to the ragtop but only partially on now, what can be done to fix this?

 

You might do a search as this has been covered before.
The only thing I've heard that works is replacing the top.
I wonder if this could be covered by the glass replacement on your insurance policy but it sounds like a long shot.

Living in Houston myself, I feel it's just a matter of time.

Let us know what you come up with.

 

check thru the Crossfire Roadster threads and you'll find info and a shop in Miami that makes this repair.
scubaman

 

Any idea what they do to repair it?

I'm taking my baby (65 Chevelle SS) out of the garage for good so that I can park my roadster out of the elements. Hopefully this will slow down the deterioration of the top.

 

Wow! That's a tough call. I am keeping mine under a carport. It's still in the heat but out of the direct sunlight which should help. Can't you buy a portable carport to keep one of them under?

Also, try a search called "window separation". I saw someone that had it reglued but it was a temporary fix. I'm sure there is other info that will help, you just need to search it out.

 

I have the same issue. A top shop, and the dealer, says there is no fix, just a new top. There are no aftermarket tops we can find and new tops are back ordered.

If anyone knows of a fix, or an after market top, please let me know.

I'm told the rear windows are bonded in and glueing will not fix it.

Jim

 

my window fell out one day at work, just drdopped.........first the dealer glued it back in with black silicone. It worked but looked like a finger painting job done by my son... Every upholstery shop I spoke with said the onoy right way is to replace the top. I was onoy happy that warranty covered it. They had to order the top from Germany. And I am in Houston

 

The trend seems to high heat causing the glue to release the heavy glass. I keep mine garaged. I suggest that if you park in outside in the sunbelt, you invest in a cheap (or custom) car cover in the reflective silver material to keep the car "cooler". The black top is a heat sink. I'm on the road this week in Wisconsin with the roadster, and it registered 117o in the parking lot yesterday when I turned it on.

 

I just bought an 05 rag top and live in FL. Car is garaged at night but wife drives it to work. I was looking at the rear window the other night and had a thought........The window is glued to the inside of the top. Looking at the outside there is a 1/8 to 1/4 inch of overlap of top material around the window. If you carefully applied a thin layer of silicone between the glass and top in that gap it would seal the rain and other elements out. I have to think that it would also be like glueing the window to the top from the out side too. To an extent. Silicone sticks to everything!

My reasoning is if water is getting in there (and I'm sure it does) it will find a way to get where it shouldnt be. I know wet and high heat will destroy any kind of adhesive with time. And we have lots of rain and plenty of heat this time of year in FL.

I will try this. It can't hurt anything. I don't think?

 

It is either the back window of a convertible falling down or the headliner of the coupe falling down. Either way you go, get ready for a repair. It is a shame! When I had my headliner replaced in my coupe, the guy who did it (in business for 40 years) said he never saw a headliner fall down so fast on a new car. He said the glue must have been defective and they didn't wrap the material properly around the edges so the heat and moisture got in there.

I had a 2000 Convertible Camaro with a back glass window that NEVER fell down and I NEVER had a problem with it.

 

Dang! You guys make me look.
Look what I found today.



If you look how the top folds when going up or down you can see where it stresses the corners of the window seam. Don't see an easy fix. Silicone isn't going to hold it. Need something stronger. Maybe Gorilla Glue?
Ideas???

 

I took my car into the Chrysler dealership to be checked and they tried to glue it back to together with all kinds of super glues, epoxies and such and none of them worked. So I get a call from them saying, Sorry, we can't fix it, so you have to put on a new top which will cost $2,300 AND it's back-ordered so it will be a while until my new top gets in.


Ugh so this sucks, it's an 05 and the original warranty expired. I did buy an extended warranty through U.S Fidelity Warranty Services and I bought the best plan one could get, called the Platinum plan and I find out they do not cover convertible tops!!!

I really don't want to shell out $2,300 for a new top, are there any other options or anything I could do to try to get the top covered? Could I say the dealer sold me a lemon and have them replace the top for free? I just bought the car used 5 months ago.

 

I wonder if this is a problem related to the 2005 models ?
In an earlier thread some one had replaced the original glass with Isinglass (vinyl).

 

I wonder if the new tops you order are any better than the original ones???

 

I have been reading about this problem for quite sometime. I own a convertible Crossfire too and am concerned about this. I decided to e-mail Karmann (the company that built the car and designed the top) to see if they have a solution. Here is what I wrote:

I have a 2005 Chrysler Crossfire convertible Limited Edition and I am concerned about the rear window that is attached to the tonneau cover of the car. Three of my friends had the window separate from the top. Reading on-line it seems that it is a problem in most Crossfire convertibles as the glass window is just glued to the top (very disappointing design). My understanding in the newer models they have changed the design of how the glass attaches to the top to remedy the poor engineering!
I am writing to you to see if there is a solution to this problem and how I could prevent this from eventually happening. It seems that heat is a factor in the glass separating from the top as the glue dries, especially, in hot climates. Please, advise of possible solutions or if you have figured out a way to remedy the problem in the original design. Thank you for your help and cooperation in advance.

Sam

I will keep you posted if I hear back from them. Let’s just hope they own up to their poor engineering

 

Might as well post this here also!

Wow! Must be summer time with all of these posts about glass coming out of the tops!
Found out that my glass was separating also. So far I have...

• Moved my PRETTY 65 Chevelle SS out of the garage (sorry Baby) so I can put the Roadster in.
• Bought a car cover so I can cover the car while it is outside at work.
• Repaired the top with 3M Window-Weld (08609). So far so good!

We are in our monsoon season now so I will probably drive other cars until I am sure I will not get caught in the rain.

 

How is that 3m window welld sorking? I just had the same issue with my rear window yesterday. How frustrating.

 

Have found no fix with any glue. I bit the bullet and ordered a top. However, they are back ordered and no after market tops are available.

Jim Harris

 

Coming up on three weeks and the fix is working. (now over a year, still holding)
Hard to tell that it was ever fixed (I do good work).

If you go this route be careful spreading the WW08609 around. Its sticky stuff.

How I did it.

• Bought the WW08609 from Autozone for around $18 +tax.
• Put the window in a straight up position so there was slack in the canvas.
• Used a razor blade to remove old glue from window.
• Punctured end of WW08609 tube and squeezed the glue out since I don't have one of the fancy guns that this type of tube requires. Also didn't need much. One tube could fix a dozen tops easy. I resealed the tube with plastic wrap for future use if necessary.
• I used a small blade screwdriver to spread the glue onto the glass where it makes contact with the canvas making sure to get into the tight areas where the top and glass are still holding together well.
• Let the glue tack up for a few minutes then put the top UP all of the way to include latching the front latch. This will pull the top and glass tightly together. Carefully press on the repaired areas to ensure a good seal. If you need to support the glass from the inside.
• Now LEAVE IT ALONE! I waited till the next day and used the razor blade to remove the excess glue from the glass.

Looks like new!
Yer welcome!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Addition from IBLUBYU with more detail. Thanks Howard!

More DETAIL

 

I have no suggestions on a fix other than considering a pop-top to keep her cool during and after the fix.

These little covers help keep our rides cool as they really heat up under the sun!