Boxster roof not seating correctly

Hi Guys does anyone know how to fix this concern, I have a small gap at the bottom of the roof frame, I have attached new strong elastics to the flappy material to tension the material, could this be the tension wire cable to the edge of the roof cloth see pic below, how do I fix it as it has let in water Thanks for all your kind help guys Nick

First question: was that gap there before you did the ‘roof elastics’ repair? If so, maybe the elastic is too tight. I did the same fix on my top with the sagging elastic, but it only needs to be a modest amount of tension on the elastic. Or else, which I can’t tell from the pics, is that the plastic rail that holds the back edge of the convertible top to the underside of the body has come unfastened somehow. This is the piece that you unfasten when putting the top into engine access mode. If that is not pulling down properly that may be causing the gap to open up. The entire geometry of the convertible top has many rods, bars and pivot points that all must work in concert to ensure the top seats itself properly either when raising or lowering. Anything out of whack will most likely result in a misalignment of all these crucial mechanisms. Check out any of the videos on putting the top into engine access mode and you will see what I mean.

Thats fantastic Chuck, The Boxster is a new car to me so Im still learning lots Thank you for responding and taking the time Kind Regards Nick

In answer to your question Chuck, yes the gap was there before I fixed the elastics, the plastic rail you are referring to, is that the one which channels the rain to the drip pans either side and is held down by two plastic clips at the rear in the recess ?

Yes, that is what I am referring to. Just a stab in the dark, but when it comes to these issues, anything is suspect. Hard to tell from the photo, but I can’t tell if I’m seeing a shadow or just wrinkles/creases in the canvas but there appears to be some slack or looseness in the top fabric. Checking mine, when I raise the top to close it up, the canvas becomes fairly taut. If there is any slack, it may need some adjustment or some of the pivot arms may be bent, preventing it from achieving the tight fit needed.

I have the same issue. I did the roof elastics repair and after a couple of weeks noticed that I had pulled the elastic too tight, causing some stitching to be visible. I backed the elastic off one notch and now have a similar issue to what Nick has.

I just fixed mine as well but found this on the passenger side and have no idea what it is, as I suspect this is the pull the "interior" covering. OP may want to check this. My top seems to be working OK so far but only tested 5 times. Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18 Show Content

Hi Hoster Thank you I have fixed the elastic on both sides of the vehicle, I do know that the cord with tab on the end shown in your pic is not fitted on the drivers side within my vehicle, but what also is interesting, over the weekend I checked the push rods, and when I open the convertible roof fully, and the rear deck closes, there is a crunching sound right at the bottom of the closing movement, so checking the pushrods both sides, the UK drivers side pushrod the white cup is showing roughly 15mm of exposed adjustment thread at its base, the passengers side only 5mm, uneven height push rods?.....could this be the problem???

Didn't notice the flag and didn't realize you guys drive on the wrong side. Plus hope you are not a gunners fan Can you post some pictures of those push rods? 15mm sounds too exact to be "rough" ;-) What I found out as I try to adjust / fix: 1. Youtube is too easy as I am struggling 2. The "OEM" length / tightness of the elastics didn't work for me so had to take a "trial-and-error" with the "new elastics" with multiple holes / positions 3. When I set the driver side elastic too tight, the roof fabric on the side didn't flatten out completely 4. Plus, there is a tension wire going across the roof (see pic, #17) and the wire seems to "adjust" left and right balance (of the roof fabric) as the elastic strength may vary left / right over time (I may had the US driver side too tight initially, and I had to compensate - e.g., ensure the tightness of both sides are somewhat equal / "close enough") 5. In addition, there is another elastic band (see a picture with my finger) at the bottom of the frame - you may want to check that - this elastic may function "opposite" of what we are trying to fix as this should "release" to close the gap in your picture, perhaps?? The crunch sound may be (based on my VERY SHORT experience - I just got my boxster 3 weeks ago and getting to know the car day-by-day ): 1) the fabric cover clip coming loose and/or 2) this "protective cover" coming loose (see #23) which was initially loose / sitting in by the rain drain, and/or 3) the rain guard in the stowage compartment was loose / not seated properly (and the glass window is squeezing?? What started as a 10 min fix, is taking too long for me

Hi Hoster, Thanks for this fantastic write up, tried releasing the bottom elastic shown in your pic, this has made a difference a small one, but still didn't get the wire to sit within the roof channel fully, but it did help so thank you very much......I will post up some pics later of the push rods, and other possible concerns I have noticed with the roof.......and NO not a Gunners fan....... Nick

Good to hear that you are not a Gunners fan Forgot to mention, also check this string / wire - mine was "loose" (or the elastic was missing, compared to the US driver side), and I basically tied a thin piece of elastic around the frame, looped the string around the elastic (but ensuring the elastic / wire do not slide down, similar to the driver side). Also you can slide the plastic piece (up and down about an inch or less). Good luck and keep us posted.

I'll just comment - the pushrods (part #9 below in the red box ) have two adjustments - one is toward the rear of the car and is a T30 bolt that holds the rod part of the assembly in the part that mounts to the pivoting arm on the gearbox, the other rod length adjustment is the plastic sockets at the ends, the threaded part of the rod. From end to end the rods should be equal in length. These rods are what move the frame of the top back and forward. You want both sides to move the same distance at the same time and remain aligned with each other. The alignment is fairly simple (did it one night last week actually when one of the Torx bolts came loose..) You want the front of the top to just contact the header over the windshield EQUALLY on both sides when the motor stops. If one side isn't going as far as it should it will be difficult to latch the top closed, and on mine - it protests by making a big bang/clack sort of noise as I try to latch it. To adjust it - I used the T30 bolt, and this time I put some blue Loctite(tm) on the threads - medium strength - in the hope that it won't loosen up again. You do the adjustment/alignment with the top open about 10-12 inches. Measure the distance of the pin on the top leading edge, to the socket on the windshield header. Measure the distance on the side that's closing correctly. Measure FROM the pin to the socket. Measure the other side and adjust it so the distances are equal. If you use the bolt to adjust it - I'd suggest Loctite(tm) - blue. Easy peasy really, but bet Porsche charges a fortune for it. The lid assembly is interesting - the things that look like little shock absorbers are actually springs. The rod going to the top extends OUT of that shock-absorber-looking thing (part #11, green box above), putting spring extension tension on the rod so it pulls the lid closed tightly. Opening it - the spring simply bottoms out (being compressed) and pushes the top up. Clever design IMHO. No alignment is necessary. If one of the springs fails the lid won't close evenly, but that's a very rare failure (I've only heard of one or two of them..) As far as all the elastics and stuff on the top - that's where Rube Goldberg was doing the engineering.. most of it baffles me and I'm not thinking any more about it until it misbehaves..

Hi Deilenberger & Hoster I am very fortunate and I cant thank all you guys across the pond in the USA enough for all this very kind help. Reading Deilenberger's post above, I re visited the Boxster today and looked tat the alignment of the front leading edge of the roof to the top of the windshield, measuring the gap before fully closing by hand the latch, I noticed that the drivers side UK, is showing 20mm gap and the passenger side 15mm gap, so perhaps the drivers side push rod needs adjusting forward 5 mm? I then measured the gap Im having issues with and this is 5mm to 8mm out of the channel? I don't know guys if the fabric-of the roof should be flush with the windshield creating a really good seal, so I have included a couple of pics hopefully one of you can tell me Yes its Fine or NO its to far away from the windshield?

That's a bit far, but not awful. A very small adjustment will make a big difference at the top edge, since the rod/ball connects to the bottom of the frame assembly, and you have a large arm that is being pushed - from the bottom. Enough to be concerned about? Probably not. If the top is seated correctly on both sides in the window channel the difference isn't caused by that (and that WILL cause a difference.) If it isn't an effort to latch the top, I wouldn't be concerned. But - if you hear the snap sort of noise from the latch mechanism when you close the top - then it's time to get both edges the same distance from the windshield header. For that small an adjustment I'd probably try 3-4 turns out of the ball-socket on the end of the rod (you obviously have to remove it from the connection to the top). The tricky bit is - with the top fully closed you can't reach the pushrods to adjust them. You need the lid open, and that means the open edge has to be about 8-10 inches from the windshield header. That's why I suggested measuring it at that point since you can adjust it while it's partly open, then check it when you close it.

I concur with Don....and he is the master. I do have another, continuing issue (again, not a big deal yet but I want to resolve this as well). Not sure but this also may be affecting your top. 1. After the elastic fix, the US passenger side ("RIGHT") works / not work 50% - I will likely "re-fix" based on Don's method 2. Also, I am getting this (see pic below) even if the roof is close / pulled in perfectly (which I didn't have previously) 3. While investigating, this "tension rope" (987 561 773 01, and #17 in the diagram I attached earlier) was basically "loose" - e.g., no tension at all and just flapping around. Also, Suncoast indicates this also affects the top closure. 4. And I am not sure this tension rope is somehow secured / connected to this cut string / elastic in rear Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18 Show Content @deilenberger Do you have any insights on how that Tension Rope (#17) works, by any chance? While I have not been able to dedicate too much time, but one simple "fix" is "unfixing" another, and the saga continues.... ;-)

Sorry Guys, I have not replied, I have been in hospital Anyway managed to get on the boxy today, and found that the right side pushrod cup has broken, see pic I also have the same concern with the tension rope..........again guys thank you for reading my postings Kind Regards Nick

I happily haven't had an issue with the "tension rope" - but it's possibly the rope that goes through the plastic beading on the edge of the canvas - that's supposed to slot into the slot in the folding window header. That's a WAG.. so don't hold me to it. It appears the rope is simply a nylon cord with some elastic on one end allowing it to change total length as needed to keep tension on the rope (which will help guide it into the groove..) If the elastic has gone bad - the edge will not be tensioned to pull into the groove, and again you'll likely end up with the edge over the window header frame (yet again.)

This is likely caused by the top edge not going into the groove. It requires more force to get the leading edge of the folding roof to where it can be captured by the latch on the windshield header... and that force over time breaks the plastic socket. Advice - there are replacement sockets on eBay and I believe Amazon . Get plastic ones, do not get metal ones - the reason being if the socket doesn't break when the top is binding on closing you're putting more force on the transmission gears - which also being plastic are the next thing to self-destruct. It's possible to replace those gears, but it's also a PITA to do the job. And before unscrewing the old socket - put some tape on the threaded part right at the end of the current socket so you know how far to screw the new one on. Hopefully, that will avoid the need for a top alignment.

Hi Don and all my other American cousins across the pond Thank you for your advice, hopefully I will get onto the Boxster this weekend and try and attach the new push rod cups which came yesterday. I have watched quite a few You Tube Vlogs, and Im curious it seems everyone struggles to press home the plastic cup on to the stud, Question, would it be better to take off the pushrod, and also unscrew the stud, then fit the stud to the Cup by placing in a vice, re fit the pushrod loosely perhaps locating the stud first then attach the arm to the boomerang?? just thinking out loud here?.....or am I being wildly optimistic ? I noticed other guys using the tape to mark how far to screw down the cup seems like a good idea, thanks Don Kind Regards Nick

I'll see if I can find it - the actual service manual shows pressing the cup onto the ball using a lever against a bit of the body when the top is partly open. I ended up discovering this myself - and confirmed that I think like the engineers who wrote the service manual.. a plastic trim tool works great for this and isn't likely to mar the paint finish. The ones that are a real PITA are the metal ones that are on the back edge of the top to the chassis - they're used to set the height of the back end of the top so the cover sits tightly against the top when the top is up. Those have to be removed when going into service position (not too bad) but can take from 10 seconds to 20 minutes to fiddle back onto the ball when reassembling. I haven't found a trick for these yet. They mention using a screwdriver to lever it off, I prefer the plastic trim tool.. And there is one showing it being pushed back on..

Hi Don Thats super thank you, and yes the new pushrod cup located quite nicely, very pleased, roof is a lot quieter in operation, did it fix the gap.......nope?.... ....so now unsure what to do next ?

So visually checking the clam shell, I notice that the passengers side is almost 6mm see pics This is the drivers Side UK 3mm clam shell gap, along with the gap in the hood, I thinking now there is a slight alignment problem, Im wondering would adjusting the silver screw on the central part of the pushrod arm both sides equally resolve this concern??

Hard to tell from the angles, but looking at pic #4, it seems that there is some serious stress in the tension of the roof canvas, evident by the tension on the stitching. How does that compare to the other side? Does it appear to have equal tension on the stitching? The mechanisms and various rods and scissoring arms are quite intricate and even though everything may visually appear to be in working order, a slight bend in one of the arms will put everything out of alignment and place stress somewhere that will inevitably fail. Just happened to my ‘08. Top was working flawlessly until one day it seemed a bit slower than usual and made a few sounds it never did before. After a week or two of that, it failed due to one of the arms bending like a pretzel and snapping a few important parts. That visible tension in your stitching hints that something is not adjusted/symmetrical between each side’s mechanisms.

I'm not certain what's being measured in the photos. Perhaps a bit further back showing where you're measuring would be helpful. If there is a gap in height (lid higher than the surrounding panel) something is likely binding. The panel is pulled down to the stops by the two things that look like little shock absorbers that attach to the lid and go to the arms on the transmissions. They are not shock absorbers - they are spring-loaded cylinders where the spring is making the cylinder shorter - so it pulls the lid down, and then the mechanism can go some additional distance and the springs lengthen the cylinders, pulling the lid down tight. These are bone simple devices, it's hard to imagine something really going wrong with them (and they're stupid expensive new..) The other arms with the adjusting screws and ball-receivers have to be adjusted so that when the top closes fully, the front edge of the top should just be touching the header over the windshield, and touching it uniformly - the same distance all the way across. The length of these can be adjusted with either the screw (bolt actually) in the wide section of the arm or the threaded-on ball receiver. I think you want some length of the ball receiver threaded onto the threaded rod so it's a stronger junction, then do a final adjustment with the bolt adjustment. I also strongly suggest when you do the bolt adjustment that you use blue- Loctite on the bolt - new ones come with it on them. If you don't I can almost promise you it will loosen up and the adjustment will be lost over time. BTDT. If however there is an unequal panel gap on the lid to the body - I'd be looking at the sliding bit of the panel mounting - that's what positions the panel that way when it's closed. Possibly there are adjustments where that fastens to the bottom of the panel - I've never looked so that's just a guess. If you weren't the original owner of the car - it's always a bit more challenging since a prior owner or a mechanic may have futzed up the mechanism at one time and it simply isn't right. That really adds to the fun.

Sorry Don Please excuse my rubbish explanation, the gauge in the pics above shows the gap at each corner of the clam shell, with the passenger side having more of a gap to the rear wing, which made me wonder if there could be an alignment issue, the clamshell isn't higher at the back and does sit flush when lowered.....I dunno perhaps I'm being a tad picky? I hope these couple of pics help

OK. Now I see your problem. Hmmm.... I wonder how much adjustment the brackets that attach to the shell have? I'll have to open mine and look at it. It's either that, or the transmissions are slightly out of sync... but in this case - I'd be looking at any available adjustment where the lid attaches to the mechanism. You're right and no - I don't think you're being anal - I wouldn't be happy with that difference on mine. It should be better than that. Just spinning ideas here - I wonder how much front/back adjustment the actual top-frame-mount to the body has (at the bottom of the bows and mechanisms? I realize these are different models and the top mechanism is likely different - but I wonder if @jjrichar might comment - since I know he's removed the mechanism from a 981.. When I have a chance I'll take a look at my lid...

A few pics, and then I'll swing around and comment on them.. This arm really does it all. It locates the fore/aft position of the top. The front edge of the lid is a slider that goes into a track attached to the side of the trunk cavity body.. The spring loaded link down to the bell-crank on the transmission. This does the heavy lifting, and holding down of the lid. Blue circles indicate the mounting studs/nuts for this pivot bracket. Red is once again the spring cylinder. The interesting part about the mounting studs/nuts is the nuts have wide flanges where they contact the body. Is there any sign those have ever been touched? Apparently the painting takes place after they're tightened down. The flange on the nuts makes me curious if that bracket has oval or oversize holes in it - allowing for some movement of the bracket - for alignment purposes. If they've been touched before (damaged paint on them) - then I'd remove one and look to see what the hole in the bracket looks like. That might be the position that allows for fore-aft adjustment of the lid. Maybe. The bracket that attaches to the top... the 3 blue circles indicate the mounting points. Again - use of the flanged nuts to me indicates perhaps these are alignment points. Closeup of the middle mounting point. What to me is significant there - is the flat portion where the flanged nut seats. Once again - I'd be curious of the shape of the hole the stud goes through. Oval? Oversize? It's possible the large flat area is there so the position of the stud can be moved around, meaning another alignment point for the lid. If all three are oversized it might be used for fore-aft and side-to-side alignment of the lid. So - that's where I am now. If it was me - I'd first take a close look at these and see if any have been disturbed in the past. If they didn't appear disturbed (paint intact with no cracking) - I'd try pushing the top toward the front of the car to see if it can be aligned better. You can do that with the top up and the trunk open through the trunk opening. If there is any play - then it's a matter of tracking down where it's happening. I might take a close look at the spring loaded piston. Make certain it's fully retracting. That probably would involve getting it off the mechanism and trying to pull it open, and make sure it pulls smoothly, no hangups. My WAG is it's OK, since the top sits flush as it should, and the primary purpose of the spring cylinder is to pull the arm and hence the lid down when it's closed. If the paint has been disturbed on any of the flanged nuts - I'd remove one at each position and see what shape the hole it goes through is - and what the position of the stud relative to the hole(s) is (are..) It might be as simple as loosening the nuts slightly and moving the lid into the correct position. Good luck and let us know how this works out...

Hi Don Fantastic Don You are spot on my friend, just had a quick look inside the Clam Shell, and guess what the lid has been moved at some point, looks like the previous owner used a coloured wax crayon to show the position prior to taking off by drawing around the arms, witness marks are the paint damage to the flanged nuts and im wondering if these are the correct flanged nuts? first pic is the drivers side followed by the passenger, time is against me here in the UK so will check out the wing mounted nuts by the slider rail tomorrow.......thank you so much Don

Good call, Don. And good catch on your more than likely problem. Hopefully, this will bring everything into alignment. Keep us posted.

Hi Chuck, I hope this helps others on a similar Journey, the work put in by all contributors is truly outstanding and a real credit to you all, hopefully this will bring it all into alignment, however watching this Youtube VLOG, I discovered this on the drivers side

Nick - do you have a link to the YouTube video? That is a 986 , and I believe the top is somewhat different than our 987's, but it might be of some help.

Hi Don here is the link this is a 3 part series, and this one is number 2 also I have watched this guy who I thought was very good: See you tomorrow guys Nick

so today we took the push rods off both sides, and happily they are not bent, re installed again with a slight bit of adjustment on the cups to hope fully move the roof closer?.......did it work?.......marginally.......I noticed that the very corner of the roof doesn't sit within the rubber guttering slightly, I cant imagine that porsche would allow this to happen, or is everyone else's the same? Anyway back on the car yesterday extended the push rods to the max allowed, this resulted in a very easy roof latch lock procedure, and caused a roof frame mis alignment. again this didn't close the gap at the side of the roof hood or locate the corners correctly......fast running out of ideas......chances are now I will buy a second hand roof for the car..........wished I knew what it was....but I don't sadly.......if I do find out I will post up the findings...........thanks to all who have contributed to this journey you are all amazing guys........