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zipper repair

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John_Mc

John_Mc

Jedi Knight
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Since I know some of you must have encountered this one before I'm going to ask how to fix a buggered-up rear window zipper on a soft top. Mine is in the upper passenger side corner of the window and is unzipped all the way around both fore and aft of the zipper handle("slider"). Some of the teeth look a little tweaked as well. Right now I have a heat lamp on the area to loosen up the window and vinyl, as I can't seem to get past that corner, but even if I do I fear my alignment is going to be off. Anyone have any magic solutions? I'd like to take my car on a 115 mile drive tonight, but I'm less inclined to do so if I can't close that window. Thanks in advance for any advice that doesn't involve a chainsaw...
 
Hi John - hope you are doing well.

I don't have any magic solutions, but local upholstery shops can help with this sort of thing. Doesn't help with the drive tonight, but if you get really stuck...
 
Update: well, in the few minutes since I made that last entry, I managed inadvertently to separate the window side of the zipper from the slider. So I was able to move the slider back to the start point, but the real problem remains of getting the two sides back together in alignment in the slider again. Impossible? Please let me know.

Tom, thanks for the quick reply. I may have to go to an upholstery shop when all is said and done. Now, if my grandmother were still alive, I bet she'd repair it in no time!
 
Patience? Good luck. I used to that that problem with a previous car. The last guy who replaced the zipper told me to zip it closed before latching the top down. No more trouble.
 
I suspect it's similar to ones jeans: proceed slowly, tooth-by-tooth, be sure there are no dangling obstructions. On my TR3 the only zipper to worry about is on the tonneau. I spray it regularly with silicone. But even so, whether it's nylon or metal, it needs to be replaced from time-to-time. Upholstery repair shops are the easy solution.

I've nursed many of those zippers along (they are also fighting quite a bit of tension, if the weather is cold), but I've found that once they start to go, it's better to start fresh. Some key tooth in the chain will be weakly anchored or the fabric frayed, and, even if you manage to reconstitute the zipper's normal series, it will continue to fail, and more frequently.
 
Perrymip said:
I suspect it's similar to ones jeans: proceed slowly, tooth-by-tooth, be sure there are no dangling obstructions.
Click to expand...

:lol: What a mental image that is!
 
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