[Escy]

I just put the roof down on my spider and heard 2 massive cracks. Thought it was just the frame creaking, put the roof back up and the rear window is split and cracked all over the place, totally destroyed.

Is it common knowledge to not put the roof down when the weather is cold?

Had loads of cabriolets in the past and never had this happen before. Pissed right off about it. Got to get a new window now. Anyone know where to get one from?

 

[symon]

I don't know if it is common knowlege, but whenever I have owned a convertible I have not allowed the window to fold when it is cold for that reason.

The plastic will also get more suseptible to this as it gets older.

 

[darkangelv2]

Yes, i thought this was common knowledge. In convertible vehicles where the rear window is the folding variety you should only use it within its working temperatures ie. normal/warm.

The become brittle in the extreme cold.

Definitely an easy mistake to make though!

Ebay has solutions.....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Alfa-Romeo-Sp...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item33592330f3

 

[Escy]

I've also got an E36 M3 vert and I put the roof down on that last week when the weather was colder and there was ice on the car. Had no problems with that, and it's 2 years older than my Spider. My Alfa hasn't left the garage all winter so it can't be as cold as the BMW is with snow all over it. Been searching on the forums and seems it happened to a few people. Seems Alfa Romeo haven't chosen the best quality rear windows.

Looks like it's going to cost me £150 to replace.

 

[darkangelv2]

Yeah it could be a quality issue. Does the BMW window fold?

Edit: Yeah it does. BMW obviously spend the doe

 

[Escy]

Here's a picture of the crime scene. Excuse the dust/dirt on the Alfa, it's not being used over the winter. (just as well given the window)

The roof on my BMW does fold.

 

[freddie]

had the same thing a couple of years ago , carhoods direct do the rear window but comes with the material at the bottom costs something like 140 quid , not to hard to fit just a zip a few allen bolts at the bottom and velcro down the sides , but i have heard some people sewing in the plastic on its own , not sure where they got that from though

 

[rgwm]

Learnt this lesson on my 105 series Spider a good few years ago......I guess they never expected anyone to drop the top in freezing conditions......

 

[JayTwo]

I guess they never expected anyone to drop the top in freezing conditions......

Just like they never expected anyone to want to open the doors in freezing conditions! :lol:

 

[jillyflower]

I just put the roof down on my spider and heard 2 massive cracks. Thought it was just the frame creaking, put the roof back up and the rear window is split and cracked all over the place, totally destroyed.

Is it common knowledge to not put the roof down when the weather is cold?

Had loads of cabriolets in the past and never had this happen before. Pissed right off about it. Got to get a new window now. Anyone know where to get one from?

OMG:wow: I've had my roof down (see topless thread!) but no probs so far There is a really great guy-Neil Catlow, an alfa nut with a garage and he breaks too; I know he's on here somewhere and on facebook if you're on there too? If not and you want his details PM me??
Cheers m8 Jill

 

[JFK]

There are two aspects to the cracking. Summertime UV exposure will degrade the plastic over time and make it inherently more brittle, increasing the chances of it shattering during cold spells.

I am sure that it has been mentioned on this forum that users of Renovo to polish out scratches reported a much more flexible screen as a side effect.

Limited UV exposure and use of Renovo might explain why some get away with it...whilst others don't.

 

[jabbawok]

Happened to me too. Managed to score a whole new hood on ebay for £90 with a slightly spotty back window & the local sailmaker has replaced it for £20. now I've gotta get up the courage to fit it..

 

[ChristopherF]

I think this is standard for all cars with plastic windows. If I want to put roof down when cold, I stop the motor just before the window folds and make sure that it will fold manually - get a nice crease half way across.

 

[jaydh]

Just like they never expected anyone to want to open the doors in freezing conditions! :lol:

:lol:

 

[Escy]

Think i've got a decent ending to this. Found a company in Newport who will replace the rear screen for £40 providing I bring them the rear window section. Just taken it out now.

 

[ICEMANV6]

I'm glad i'm not alone here. The excact same thing happened to me on Tuesday. Got home from work early, the sun was out (bit cold still) so thought i'd run the spider down to the shops. Put the roof down and the plastic screen just cracked! It's not all bad because I needed to get a new surround as it had started to come away from the frame where you put the allen bolts through and was starting to look untidy, so it's made me go out and get a complete new rear. Being fitted tomorrow which is good except for the £295 it's gonna cost. Still saves me having to bother and braking something else.

 

[Goudy]

An alternative to Renovo is Greygate plastic polish, it's sold on Ebay and the saddo's who bought the wrong cars (MGF forum) swear by it. It was used by the old GPO for polishing the old bakerlite phones.
I tried it and it did clear the "fuzz" and seemed to soft up the window.

 

[kfp]

I had to use the luggage space under the hood cover when it was -5 and snowing.

Warm water (not boiling) from the kettle softened it up immediately.

In that case I was just moving it out the way and then putting it back in the raised position..

...its one thing warming it up so you can put the hood down. But what do you do when its freezing again and you want to put the hood back up?

 

[duke of jazz]

I just put the roof down on my spider and heard 2 massive cracks

Thats realy unlucky mate!
mine has also cracked, not half as abad as yours ESCY, but i could do with getting it replaced. (been about 2 months now!)
Is it possible to replace it yourself?
Ive seen this on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Alfa-Romeo-Sp...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item335993a12e

Should i go for it or not?

Ta
Edd

 

[Escy]

I saw those, I was going to buy one but I wasn't too clear with the "comes with both parts of the zip". Put me off.

I found a local interior trimmer that replaced the screen for me. I removed the rear panel and he fitted a new one in for £40.

Removing and refitting the panel is easy enough, lift up the rear section of the roof and you'll see a row of torx screws on the bottom of the roof frame. Be careful as they are easily rounded off. Then you pull it from the velcro and unzip it at the top, remove 2 elastic straps (held on with a popper thingy) and it's out. Pretty easy job to do.

The thing is, if the screen supplied on ebay doesn't mesh with the zip on the car, what do you do then, mess about sewing in a new zip? Might fit fine though.