Soft Top Care Tips (FM Live)

In this week's Live video, Mike goes over some soft top care tips, how to clean your rain rails and also answers a ton of great questions from Instagram and Facebook! Thanks so much for sticking with us through it all!
This is a quick overview video to inform our customers, and is not intended to be a guide or installation tutorial of any kind.
Flyin' Miata is the world leader in Miata performance. We offer a wide range of parts for all years of the Mazda MX-5 Miata.
www.flyinmiata.com
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[@jdwxly]

Thanks for showing the bottom side of the rain rail drains. Maybe another video topic would be locating and cleaning out all of the drains. If I remember correctly there are a dozen or so around the car!

[@jebus914]

The drain holes on the ends of the windshield are pretty important. My NB had one side with a small twig in it and I wondered my that side would leak onto the door speaker. There are some that lead down the doors as well. This would make a good video!

[@graham_lewis]

13 I believe. 8 door sill drains, 2 windshield drains, 2 rain rail drains, and a gas drain. If you have an automatic antenna, then make it 14

[@GuernB2]

Cool to see you guys drop the Moss recommendation when they are a competitor that sells a lot of the stuff you guys do. I have bought stuff from FM, as well as Moss, Goodwin, and 5x, and all of been great. The Miata aftermarket is probably one of the best communities I have seen so far and its cool to see FM share the love.

[@anthonyrutherford3920]

100%

[@lifeoutdoors3953]

Thanks so much! You guys have a endless amount of these videos that could be done. I would love to see in depth about wheels and there fitment. 15x6 all the way to 15x10 and what's needed to be done to the car to fit them. You have plenty of cars sitting in the garage in the background I've seen that would also be interesting to see a video on. more car tours! Love the car tours. Also a whole video on say one brand of suspension like the vmaxx. Thanks again look forward to the rest to come!

[@mikefannon6994]

Can't go wrong with Simple Green and Meguiars. I've used SG for 30 years - mild, environmentally safe, you dilute with water. I've used varying strengths on everything from car interiors to Spring-cleaning my back porch. I sold body shop products and paint for over 20 years. Meguiars makes the best!

[@madfzr]

Thank you for the rain drain portion all the way at the end of the video. Ragtop cleaning and conditioning super important. As is the weatherstripping u covered…and dash :)

[@ag4allgood]

Nice job Mike you covered just about everything about the top except those wonderful soft top drain filters that are above the drain tubes. Those are a PITA to get to. As a rule don't park under or near ANY trees as they will drop trigs / leaves that will clog your drains causing interior water damage. So I bought a good sunscreen & park in the open areas usually away from other cars. I have a 2016 Club soft top that I daily drive in 4 season Northern Illinois. So far the top has been holding up well.

[@laurendibiase3856]

Fantastic content. Thank you. Can you tell us where to get the red light you used under the car ?

[@AnthonyDibiaseIdeas]

Fantastic content. Thank you. Can you tell us where to get the red magnetic light under the car?

[@AnthonyDibiaseIdeas]

Great video! Very useful. What is the red light you used under the car to show the drain?

[@ecristofoli]

Great informative video, however I think I was miss informed when I asked my Mazda dealer what products need to be applied to maintain the condition of a 2019 top. He told me that I did have to use anything.

[@jayarnold8883]

Any thoughts on cleaning the underside of a canvas top ? That and the headliner cover on my top are really grungy. Thanks 😃

[@businessmanph]

conditioned side looks amazing vs the fade

[@carolbeckett9712]

That’s great information. Thanks 🇨🇦

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

Glad it was helpful!

[@graham_lewis]

How would you recommend putting the top down on an NA? I am replacing the soft top on my car with a Robbins budget top, so I cant unzip the window. I read you can use a cut down pool noodle with a towel or blanket to keep the window from getting bad folds.

[@martinpatrusky360]

My top is a VW cob 2001 and the top looks like new in CA I keep it down all the time in a garage with a car cover

[@b_gumm]

Thank you

[@markw8139]

Really good info.. The only thing you guys went overkill on was the drain tubes.. You really don't have to get at those drain holes from underneath . I found using bicycle outer brake cable works perfectly to unblock the drains

[@thatslegit]

No you have to do it bottom to top or else the tube will pop off. And the only way to properly get it back on is to remove the whole top cassette

[@martinpatrusky360]

How long do you have to keep your top down before you put it up

[@8145dwerdna]

Wouldn't silicone be better than petroleum based for rubber seals?

[@cliftonfrey1174]

I have a 2016 ND Canvas top Miata I have used a liquid protector with a spray gun it requires a lot of preparation so the protectant doesn’t get on windows and such you mentioned using the conditioner it sounds like it is spread on is this easier to work with?

[@ag4allgood]

1st few times I used the 303 Fabric Guard to condition the top the spray was messy to work with. Then I used sponge brushes to apply which is the best way to apply the Fabric Guard imo.

[@alikat1951]

There is a trombone brush that works great for cleaning out the roof drains.

[@Un.hinged.69]

"Face of book, Land of gram" 😂👌

[@davidbarlowjr7583]

Is there a specific way to open a glass top on an nb? My wondow glass is separating from the top and I fear it may have been from me not opening and closing the top right. This is my first glass window top, all the others I've had were all plastic top.

[@mal15102]

Definitely. NB tops or replacement glass window tops get a bad reputation from not being lowered properly. The hoops hang on the top and if the top is forced in the least when opening the tremendous mechanical advantage causes the window to rip out and/or damage such as that shown in the video. The point is, if the top doesn't drop to the open position on its own, you are or have the potential of doing damage. Avoid it in several ways; replace the springs that force the hoops together on older NB tops with the later stronger springs, silicone lube the underside of the top where the hoops slide and, most of all, help the hoops collapse together and NEVER, even in the least, force the top to the open podition.

[@a7i20ci7y]

Any tips or tricks to make it easier to put the roof up when you have a roll bar? I fine it easiest to get out of the car to do it, but sometimes that isn't convenient.

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

Pass it from one hand to the other - right hand lifts it up to the bar, left hand takes it from there.

[@a7i20ci7y]

Yeah, that's what I've been doing. It's just a clumsy operation.

[@businessmanph]

do soft tops last longer or shorter on the east coast NY or west coast CA?

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

They should last longer on the east coast because of lower UV damage.

[@one234569and10]

Flyin' Miata OH THAT LIGHT 49:06 - where did you get it?

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

That's from Kyle's secret Snap-On stash.

[@alanmullen5417]

I used Johnson and Johnson's Gelled Baby Oil. Inert.

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

Thanks for watching!

[@trolling4dollars816]

Noob question: How do you tell the difference between vinyl and canvas top. My NA was bought used with no history.

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

Vinyl is fairly smooth with a surface texture similar to that of the dashboard. Canvas is a bit furry and feels like fabric. I don't believe any NAs came with a canvas top from the factory, but a pretty high percentage are no longer on the original tops.

[@Hasanduman_]

How is valeo drop top protector

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

Sorry. We haven't used that one so, we're not sure.

[@communicate17]

i wish this was in Australian, we have completely different product names

[@andrewjackomos363]

303 and meguires for a start are sold in Australia having purchased them

[@user-tj7fy4tt5j]

Very ..information video..five stars..😂😢😅😊😂

[@shadowraith1]

05 MSM.👍

[@blue04mx53]

Why is my top flapping at hiway speeds? ( Said the naked grandma on her motorcycle )

[@thatslegit]

Fm: "Use simple green" Simple green: *NOT FOR VINYL* 🗿🗿🗿

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

If used properly, we've had pretty good luck with Simple Green for lots of things and vinyl tops is on that list. Simple Green has a write-up on tops if you're interested in their view.

[@FlyinMiataVideo]

simplegreen.com/cleaning-tips/automotive/convertible-tops/