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For all those thinking of using Halfords
silicone sealant on their roofs. The sun started to shine this
morning, so although it was freezing, I drove to work with the
roof down and my ears freezing solid. When I got to work I put
the roof back up and had a look at the sealant that I'd put in
a couple of weeks back (this is the first time the roof has been
down since then as the wife has been driving it)
Glad to report that the sealant that I had put in hasn't shrunk,
cracked or come away from the vinyl. So for all those thinking
about doing it for winter, then I highly recommend it. Used the
nozzle on the tube to 'inject' into the cracks then used a wet
finger to smooth over. Sealant is black and roof is black and
cracks aren't that large. Can be seen close up but from a few
feet away just looks like a nice crack free roof. (11/99)
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| What stuff are you guys using ? I've a couple of cracks above
the drivers window which are about 2cm long. (11/99) |
| My roof is slowly cracking at the edges every time a have it
down. Is there any way of slowing down the damage. I don't want
to have to keep the top up for fear of ripping the roof right across.
I don't want to have to be buying a new soft top just yet. I just
want something that would stick it back together or patch it up
a little. Can you sew them up or does this make it worse? So far
the biggest crack is about an inch long, inch and a half, but its
getting worse. Any suggestion please. (4/00) |
| No worries, just get to Halfords buy some of this black mastic
stuff in a green tube, fill it into the cracks (I used a bit of
plastic) let it set, this should last you for ages, it worked great
on my old 8 year old roof, that had loads of cracks on it. (4/00) |
| I used black silicon sealant on the cracks in my roof but they
weren't more than half an inch deep. I don't know whether you could
do a patch job with a puncture repair kit if there are any gaps?
Might work very temporarily until you can get a new hood? (4/00) |
| Don't try to sew the cracks up because, from what I have seen
in someone else's attempt (honest!), the tension in the cotton (or
whatever) makes it cut through the vinyl like a knife. Use vinyl
glue or the black mastic that others mention. (4/00) |
| A couple of weeks or so back I used the black silicone sealant
from B&Q (in a greenish tube) to mend a couple of small cracks in
our roof. Thanks to whoever suggested this stuff - it's stopped
the leak and you can't see the mend. (6/00) |
| I tried the black silicone sealant from Halfords for the same
reason and wasn't very happy with the result. The sealant looks
like it doesn't dry properly and so can easily be seen. It does
seem to have filled the cracks but there are lots of things that
would do that - I was after an invisible mend. (6/00) |
| I've used the Halfords stuff too and it's still shiny - this was
only 1 month ago so I'm hoping it dulls down soon. (6/00) |
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The sealant looks like it doesn't dry properly and so can
easily be seen.
Is it really still tacky of just more shiny than the rest of
the surface? It might roughen if rubber carefully with sandpaper,
or even just ordinary paper. (6/00)
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| You're really only buying time on an old roof with this method;
the "small" cracks can very quickly expand to rather larger ones,
especially at this time of year, with repeated raising/lowering
of the roof. The car I have right now (2 weeks) had a few tears
on the edges when I got it. Now the tears have become 2" rips on
either side (I've already got a replacement roof at home waiting
to be fitted). The tears are caused by hood shrinkage, so start
saving for a new roof. It'll probably last a year like this without
looking too bad. (6/00) |
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