Interesting video. Connecting the rear heater element wire is easy. It uses the same plug as the one in the softtop. Once you've disconnected the soft top simply connect it to the hard top and vice versa when you remove the hard top in future. I'm not sure the soft top catches that you showed connect to the hard top but simply close when the soft top is lowered and remain stowed whilst the hard top is fitted. The hard top is secured at the rear by the "Frankenstein bolts" on top of the rear deck in front of the bootlid. If you do get those latches to connect please do another video about how you did it, thanks. Enjoy your MX5.
Thanks for commenting! My problem is that the hard top doesn't have any of the wiring harness - just 2 spade connectors on the screen itself where it should be plugged in. The OE one on my soft top is a permanent connection, so I can't use that without breaking the wiring and soldering a spade connector on... I've now sourced a new wiring harness so will just have that one for the hard top, and then plug that one in instead of the soft top one, if that makes sense? The catches at the rear (inside) do just tuck under to hold the soft top down - I should really do an update vid!
Great vid/ review i just got an oem hardtop with defrost and headliner for my NB2. It stiffened everything up big time and had same problem with ragtop latches easy fix closed them then put HT back on
i seem to have a problem with my Hardtop, with there being a lip on the windscreen from the hardtop and it not perfectly matching to the screen is seems like its slightly bulged or something its still sealed from raisn and stuff but when i go on the german autobahn the windnoise that lip makes is so loud and highpitched, it sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard but i reinstalled the hardtop a few days ago and it seemes to fit a bit better than the first time but havent gone on the autobahn jet so dont know if the wind noise is less
I have a very similar issue since I swapped the catches for fixed brackets! I think it's probably to do with them being too tight and squeezing the roof in somewhere, but so far I haven't worked out which catches are responsible. The fixed brackets and the original latches all have some adjustment on then, so in theory, slacken or moving some or all of them should fix it... I'd been trying to adjust the front brackets, but now I think about the physics, it could be the side brackets that are too tight... Let me know if you hear of a fix, or manage to sort yours out!
@@BadMax02_VR hmm, that could be to do with it being stored wrong before - sometimes they can warp. I have loosened the side brackets of mine, as think those being too tight could potentially squeeze the front edge up - but as you don't have anything holding the sides that won't work for yours
Yeah, because installing a softtop on this car is so easy and fast. There's a reason literally nobody ever does it and a shop charges you well over 1k+€ in labor for it.
@@RyosukeTakahashiRX7 You did a mistake while thinking. The shop is charging the money for putting the cloth / vinyl on the metal frame (what you can also do yourself, i did on mine) but i m talking about removing the complete softtop. 2 Screws and not hard.
@@e30kitty ruclips.net/video/jpLc21BeRhg/видео.html 2 screws... sure? They keep the full softtop on btw, this is only removing the whole thing. I smell a lot of bs ;)
Did you ever figure out how to get the heated rear windscreen going? My hard top already has the curly wiring attached but dont know where the other end goes in.
Follow where the wire from the soft top to where it plugs in to the car then unplug it and plug the hardtop in its place. Should be just behind the passenger seat headrest if you have a rhd car
Lol that's a fair point! It's easy to just drop it on and clip it in place... But then there are several fine adjustments that you need to be aware of...
My chagrin is that my 1992 NA6 does not seem to come with any of the pre-existing wiring for the heated rear window. No relay plug in the boot behind the license plate carpet, no plug for a fuse box to go in for the defog and antenna. Like the wires that run from those places have no place to plug those things in, they're just solid cables from one end to the other. Gotta try to get someone to wire my hardtop heated window up as I'd be a massive quality of life upgrade for these cold UK winter months. I also find I'm hearing the exhaust more too, which I don't think is a bad thing lol.
There is a random wire shoved into one of my fuse holders, where someone is clearly taking a live feed from there - I've never bothered tracing it to see where it actually goes! That could be the way to do your connections, though. For the noise (and heat?) you might find your gearshift gaitor has died. It seems pretty quick and easy to replace - I think mine would benefit from it but it's not desperate. I may well get some footage of that, when I do it. There are loads of guides around on here!
First thing to try is bending the rail outwards a bit to see if that seals it again - it worked on mine! This vid is also good for a cheap but good fix: ruclips.net/video/eoDpaPgJrE0/видео.html
Not when you've done 20+ years on a motorbike as your main vehicle! I'm happy with something solid above me - and love how it stiffens the handling up even more!
![Is It Worth Having A Mazda MX-5 Hardtop? [LWAMM Ep. 12]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XqCOPRtJYOc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Is It Worth Having A Mazda MX-5 Hardtop? [LWAMM Ep. 12]](/img/tr.png)
Interesting video. Connecting the rear heater element wire is easy. It uses the same plug as the one in the softtop. Once you've disconnected the soft top simply connect it to the hard top and vice versa when you remove the hard top in future.
I'm not sure the soft top catches that you showed connect to the hard top but simply close when the soft top is lowered and remain stowed whilst the hard top is fitted.
The hard top is secured at the rear by the "Frankenstein bolts" on top of the rear deck in front of the bootlid. If you do get those latches to connect please do another video about how you did it, thanks.
Enjoy your MX5.
Thanks for commenting!
My problem is that the hard top doesn't have any of the wiring harness - just 2 spade connectors on the screen itself where it should be plugged in. The OE one on my soft top is a permanent connection, so I can't use that without breaking the wiring and soldering a spade connector on... I've now sourced a new wiring harness so will just have that one for the hard top, and then plug that one in instead of the soft top one, if that makes sense?
The catches at the rear (inside) do just tuck under to hold the soft top down - I should really do an update vid!
@@jcaterracing Nice one James.
I shall keep an eye out for your update vid. Cheers.
If it's a NA hardtop it won't fit the NB..I know I have one. Had to buy a NB pigtail to make it work
Great vid/ review i just got an oem hardtop with defrost and headliner for my NB2. It stiffened everything up big time and had same problem with ragtop latches easy fix closed them then put HT back on
Thanks! I've heard that the anti-theft catches add even more stiffness, so am now keeping an eye on those until a bargain comes along!
How is it vs the softop? Road noise, wind noise etc? Because with the softop it is by no means a quiet car haha.
i seem to have a problem with my Hardtop, with there being a lip on the windscreen from the hardtop and it not perfectly matching to the screen is seems like its slightly bulged or something its still sealed from raisn and stuff but when i go on the german autobahn the windnoise that lip makes is so loud and highpitched, it sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard but i reinstalled the hardtop a few days ago and it seemes to fit a bit better than the first time but havent gone on the autobahn jet so dont know if the wind noise is less
I have a very similar issue since I swapped the catches for fixed brackets! I think it's probably to do with them being too tight and squeezing the roof in somewhere, but so far I haven't worked out which catches are responsible. The fixed brackets and the original latches all have some adjustment on then, so in theory, slacken or moving some or all of them should fix it... I'd been trying to adjust the front brackets, but now I think about the physics, it could be the side brackets that are too tight... Let me know if you hear of a fix, or manage to sort yours out!
@@jcaterracing the thing is i dont even have the side attachements yet, i just use the top latches with my hardtop.
@@BadMax02_VR hmm, that could be to do with it being stored wrong before - sometimes they can warp. I have loosened the side brackets of mine, as think those being too tight could potentially squeeze the front edge up - but as you don't have anything holding the sides that won't work for yours
If u like to use the hartop for a long amount of time 2-3month's in the winter, just remove the softtop completely before mounting the hardtob.
Yeah, because installing a softtop on this car is so easy and fast. There's a reason literally nobody ever does it and a shop charges you well over 1k+€ in labor for it.
@@RyosukeTakahashiRX7 You did a mistake while thinking. The shop is charging the money for putting the cloth / vinyl on the metal frame (what you can also do yourself, i did on mine) but i m talking about removing the complete softtop. 2 Screws and not hard.
@@e30kitty ruclips.net/video/jpLc21BeRhg/видео.html
2 screws... sure? They keep the full softtop on btw, this is only removing the whole thing. I smell a lot of bs ;)
@@e30kitty Do you have instructions on how to quickly remove the soft top?
Did you ever figure out how to get the heated rear windscreen going? My hard top already has the curly wiring attached but dont know where the other end goes in.
Follow where the wire from the soft top to where it plugs in to the car then unplug it and plug the hardtop in its place. Should be just behind the passenger seat headrest if you have a rhd car
You said t's "pretty bloody easy" to fit the hard top, then demonstrated that your didn't fit it properly. Not that "bloody easy" then.
Lol that's a fair point! It's easy to just drop it on and clip it in place... But then there are several fine adjustments that you need to be aware of...
My chagrin is that my 1992 NA6 does not seem to come with any of the pre-existing wiring for the heated rear window. No relay plug in the boot behind the license plate carpet, no plug for a fuse box to go in for the defog and antenna. Like the wires that run from those places have no place to plug those things in, they're just solid cables from one end to the other. Gotta try to get someone to wire my hardtop heated window up as I'd be a massive quality of life upgrade for these cold UK winter months.
I also find I'm hearing the exhaust more too, which I don't think is a bad thing lol.
There is a random wire shoved into one of my fuse holders, where someone is clearly taking a live feed from there - I've never bothered tracing it to see where it actually goes! That could be the way to do your connections, though.
For the noise (and heat?) you might find your gearshift gaitor has died. It seems pretty quick and easy to replace - I think mine would benefit from it but it's not desperate. I may well get some footage of that, when I do it. There are loads of guides around on here!
Any idea how to replace the passenger side weather strip on the hardtop?
First thing to try is bending the rail outwards a bit to see if that seals it again - it worked on mine! This vid is also good for a cheap but good fix: ruclips.net/video/eoDpaPgJrE0/видео.html
Seems like you didn’t do your due diligence before mounting the hardtop 🙂
Without videos like this explaining it, there is no 'due diligence'.
What the don’t tell you is how HARD it is to find a cheap one
Ooh yes! Wrong time of year for that, though! It's worth hundreds less if you wait until the sun comes out again next year!
Oh my the streering wheel is on the wrong side🤪
There's some weird bloody stick thing in the middle, too! :P
I wish I could drive that road
You can if you're near Bromsgrove!
I’m still trying to understand what people are not telling me.
You need to watch my video. 😉
I didn't know Jason Statham had a Miata!?
What's a "quid"?
It is a slang term for a Pound - the main unit of currency in the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, etc). One UKP equals about $US1.25.
@@idontwantachannel3091 Thank you for explaining that for me.
This all looks too much like hard work. Plus of course half the fun of an mx5 is open air driving
Not when you've done 20+ years on a motorbike as your main vehicle! I'm happy with something solid above me - and love how it stiffens the handling up even more!
I don't understand what the problem is...
This is probably not the video for you, then...