Gunfire on the 405 -- aka Rollover Bar Deployment

Saturday afternoon on the 405 in West LA, in stop and go traffic. Car in front starts, then immediately stops. I start, but DON'T immediately stop. I bump the car in front, which then slams into the truck in front of her. No big deal, until the rollover bars in my cab deployed. Sounded like two .45s going off at the same time. Really unsettling. The not-so-bad news: no apparent injuries, and minimal damage to the cars. Although the front bumper cover on my car was dimpled, it popped right back out, leaving only a barely visible wrinkle in the bumper. Debating what to do about it. The car I hit had no damage to the rear bumper, but the front of her car submarined the truck in front of her, causing the trailer hitch to scrape back the hood of her car. My insurance company seems to be taking good care of her. The truck in front had no damage. The not-so-good news: I had the top up when the rollover bars deployed and I foolishly tried to lower them before consulting rennlist/renntech. Was unable to do so with the top down, so I tried lowering it. Big mistake, as the bars tore a seam in the headliner. I immediately stopped lowering the top, and was eventually able to get the bars down, thanks in large part to old postings here and on renntech by Orient Express and Loren (thanks guys). So, I'm hoping I can have the headliner repaired at minimal cost, and have the wrinkle in my front bumper removed with no paintwork, with all its attendant hassle and cost. Any experiences with these issues would be appreciated. Sorry for the length of the post, and thanks in advance.

What about any damage under the bumper? Did you take the bumper off to check for hidden damage?

I have not looked under the bumper. The impact was so minimal that I doubt there was any damage, but you're probably right that I should take a look.

you think the impact was minimal...but the car you hit...hit the car in front of her?? So the impact can be stronger than you might expect....glad nobody got hurt...and your P is a massive beast...so you probably got to buy a new bumper....and paint it...better than "trying" to repair the damaged one!

My guess is that the paint will spider web in a few weeks for sure. Same thing happened to my front end, but on the corner. Someone hit it in a parking lot and when I popped it out it looked fine. About 2 weeks later the spider webs showed up, and about 6 momths later the paint started flaking. Man I hate people like that.

You must have cracked her harder than you remember for the bars to pop up. I am surprised the airbags didn't deploy.....I wonder what the triggering event was, that resulted in one and not the other.... I also wondered about your obligation to cover the damage done to the front of her car.......

Can you explain how you tore the liner again, please.

he tried to put the top down with the rollover bars still deployed.

I was shocked that the bars deployed, since the speed at impact was so minimal, but not surprised that the airbags didn't deploy. I suspect -- or I guess I should say speculate -- that she hit the gas when I bumped her, because the damage to her front end was entirely inconsistent with the speed at which I hit her. I am certain I and my insurance company are responsible for her front-end damage, since I triggered the series of impacts. That stinks that I can anticipate that the paint up front will spider-web. I guess I should plan for a front bumper replacement and/or repaint. Any ideas as to how much that will set me back? And yes, I ripped the headliner trying to lower the top to get a better angle on the bars to push them down. It is very difficult to engage the locking lever whilst pushing down on the bars far enough to get them to lock back in place with the top up. Small tear, but will definitely need repair. Why must I learn all my lessons the expensive way?

Ah yes, the sound of 45s going off just behind your head! It was so realistic, I swore I smelled gunpowder. The good news is that the seam that you think you tore is really a seam with a zipper on it. It is designed to pull apart if someone does some thing dumb like open or close the top with the bars deployed. To fix the seam, open the top to the service position, (open the top so that it is a inch or so from the windshield header, pop the wire ropes that hold the back of the top where the rear window is off, and fold that part of the top up. Next get inside, and look for the seam and zipper, pull the zipper back to its start, connect the 2 sides of it, and zip it back up. Worst case is that you have bent the zipper movement, which means going to a fabric store, and buying a new zipper to get the movement off of it, to stick back on your top. And please, don't ask me abut the experience that I had that taught me all of this arcane trivia.

Never buy a new zipper!! go to zipper repair on Google. you only need to replace the slide if your zipper doesn't work.

Exactly. This is what I was trying to say, just go get a new zipper, and take off the "slide" and replace the broken slide on the top.