Targa Top Storage | Page 2 | FerrariChat

Targa Top Storage

Discussion in '308/328' started by LTODARO, Mar 1, 2015.

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  1. 4rePhill

    4rePhill F1 Veteran

    Oct 18, 2009
    8,178
    Worcester, England
    Full Name:
    Phill J
    My recently purchased 328 GTS did not come with the storage cover to hold the targa top to the bulkhead behind the seats, so I bought a new one from Maranello Classic Parts.

    The top section, that clips onto the "parcel shelf" behind the seats, is curved in such a way, that the only way you can hold the targa top in place without putting excess stress on the sides of the top, is as shown in the owners manual, with the headlining side facing the bulkhead, and the top surface facing towards the front of the car.

    Being brand new, the cover is seriously tight - there's just no way you could put the roof panel in the car with the top surface facing the bulkhead, and the headlining facing the front of the car.

    I tried the top in the car with the pins facing upwards, and downwards.

    With the pins pointing upwards (as shown in the owners manual), but I wasn't happy with how the pins were pressing hard against the new cover.

    With the pins pointing downward (buried in two holes in the carpet - Are they there by design?, or have they just been worn into the carpet over the years? :confused: ), the cover sits nicely over the latches, so that seems the best way to locate the roof panel to me.

    It's funny because, the 328 is a smaller car than my previous Ferrari, a 348 TS, but I can still fit in the 328 with the roof panel behind the seats (I'm just over 6' 1") - Something I couldn't do with the 348 (I managed to find a hen's teeth rare folding roof panel for the 348, that sat nicely on the parcel shelf behind the seats, so I could go out in the car, and still take a roof panel with me- just in case )

    What makes it even funnier is, I've owned two FIAT X1/9's in my time, which are even smaller than the 328 GTS, and their roof panels fit beautifully beneath the front compartment lid, you can still use all of the front compartment for luggage, and, I'd say the X1/9 (using both front and rear storage compartments)can carry more luggage than either of my Ferrari's could. The X1/9 is a fabulously well thought out design, when it comes to its packaging - It just needs more power!
     
    syata, Rosey and GordonC like this.
  2. AP328

    AP328 Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Aug 5, 2005
    88
    Canada
    I just leave the top in place - never had it off once. If only I could have found a GTB when I was looking......
     
  3. JonWH

    JonWH Karting

    Aug 13, 2020
    57
    Full Name:
    Jonny
    My cover for the roof is the original one, and age has shrunk/stiffened the material so that the roof struggles to fit in with the poppers secured. I am surprised to hear a brand new one was also v tight. Not a major issue of course.
     
  4. 4rePhill

    4rePhill F1 Veteran

    Oct 18, 2009
    8,178
    Worcester, England
    Full Name:
    Phill J
    It takes a good bit of stretching both width ways, and vertically, to get the poppers to line up, and a bit more effort to get the buggers to clip on (mainly due to losing the alignment if you haven't "over-stretched" the cover enough).

    Removing the roof panel and placing it behind the seats takes @ 30 seconds.

    Getting the storage cover on takes @ 5 minutes! :) (At least it seems that long as I battle the poppers! :D)

    The good thing is, because of how tight the storage cover is, the roof panel is definitely not going to move around at all! :cool:

    I had noted that the Maranello Classic Parts site indicated that the buyer would have to put the holes for the poppers/press studs in the cover themselves, but when the cover arrived, it had the poppers/press studs fitted already.

    I also found that the poppers/press studs supplied with the cover, didn't have any "buttons" fitted at all [there's no way you could use the poppers/press studs as supplied - You just can't grip them to pull them off], and it seems, you can't buy just the Ferrari Prancing horse embossed "buttons"

    If you want the Ferrari prancing horse "buttons", you have to order another set of poppers/press studs with the "buttons" fitted, and swap them all out.(Easy enough to do - You just need a small 2 prong pin spanner. It just seems a bit of a silly extra expense to get the embossed "buttons" [the 4 Ferrari "button" topped poppers/press studs cost an additional £57].

    So now I have 4 Ferrari embossed "button" poppers/press studs on my cover, and 4 spare poppers/press studs without "buttons"

    (I'm sure you can buy plain "buttons" to fit the poppers/press studs for very little money, but my Ferrari had to have the correct Ferrari embossed "buttons" :))
     
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  5. i-velocita

    i-velocita F1 Rookie
    BANNED

    Sep 9, 2006
    2,520
    Colorado
    Full Name:
    James
    This is why I ship the fasteners loose with my covers. They are easy to install.
     
  6. Brian A

    Brian A F1 Rookie

    Dec 21, 2012
    3,079
    SanFrancisco BayArea
    Full Name:
    1983 US 308 GTS QV
    Off topic, but much has been made about how Selleck fit into the little 308. People speculate on how the seat was modified for him to fit.

    This little gif surprisingly shows the headrest at the height of the back shelf which is essentially stock seat position. His shoulders come quite high on the headrest but he seems to fit even with the roof on.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
    Saabguy likes this.
  7. Rosey

    Rosey F1 Rookie

    Nov 5, 2015
    3,587
    Australia
    Full Name:
    Mark R
    Surprised they didn't at least raise the headrest up a few notches for him- not for crash protection but just to make him look less of a giant in the car.
     
  8. 4rePhill

    4rePhill F1 Veteran

    Oct 18, 2009
    8,178
    Worcester, England
    Full Name:
    Phill J
    But what is he actually sat on?

    A standard 308 seat base?
    A modified/thinned down 308 seat base?
    a piece of plastic mounted to the base frame, to which the standard seat back has been mounted to?

    Let's not forget that he wouldn't have actually driven the car for any real distance - Just long enough to get the required shot (several takes maybe - But he would not have been driving the car for long periods)

    I've got the whole (real) Magnum p.i series on DVD, and there are plenty of scenes that show Tom Selleck driving along with his head 1~2 inches above the top of the windscreen (and that's without his baseball cap on)

    There are a couple of episodes where he is driving in the rain with the targa roof on, and he does not look comfortable!

    Even if they could only take an inch out of the seat base, it would've helped Selleck drive the car.
     
    Rosey likes this.
  9. 4rePhill

    4rePhill F1 Veteran

    Oct 18, 2009
    8,178
    Worcester, England
    Full Name:
    Phill J
    The fastener's that were already fitted are in reality, perfectly located - The targa top is seriously secured against the bulkhead (I could barrel role the car down the side of a mountain, and I might fly out, the engine/gearbox might fly out, the wheels might fly off, the radiator might fly out, the engine cover might fly off, and the seats might fly out, but I'd put money on the targa top still being in place, tight against the bulkhead when the car finally stops rolling! :D )

    It just seems a little odd to me that, rather than supply fasteners with "buttons" already fitted to them (even just blank ones), they supply fasteners without any "buttons" (I suppose the thinking might be that most customers would use their old "buttons" ).

    I'm not really complaining - My one worry about possibly having to put the holes and fasteners in myself (as the website suggested), was getting it wrong, and having the cover loose whilst holding the top in place, allowing it to move around (Definitely don't have that problem!)
     
  10. miketuason

    miketuason F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2006
    15,517
    Cerritos, CA.
    Full Name:
    Mike
  11. 4rePhill

    4rePhill F1 Veteran

    Oct 18, 2009
    8,178
    Worcester, England
    Full Name:
    Phill J
    First read it over 10 years ago (There's a reason why I made the suggestions of missing seat base padding, and plastic seat bases - All based on articles and interviews from the past! ;):D )
     
  12. BLACK HORSE

    BLACK HORSE Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 11, 2004
    1,937
    California - Bay Area
    Full Name:
    Rob
    I think a way to reduce or eliminate wear marks that the targa top leave behind when its being stored behind the seats, is to making a special bag from vinyl along with padding to enclose the top entirely. I was kicking around the idea of designing a bag which incorporates the original design of the black vinyl top cover that comes with the car. Over the years, my top left a permanent wear through on the leading edge of the cloth that covers the rear shelf from both latches, and yes with the pins facing downwards.
     
  13. kcabpilot

    kcabpilot Formula 3

    Apr 17, 2014
    1,527
    California SF bay area
    Full Name:
    Paul
    I don’t know, I never really thought about it much it just seemed to me that obviously it goes pins down, textured top forward because when you pull it off and you’re holding the back edge it just drops right in behind the seats. To put it in any other way requires that you flip it 180 degrees which seems unnecessarily awkward.
     
  14. 4rePhill

    4rePhill F1 Veteran

    Oct 18, 2009
    8,178
    Worcester, England
    Full Name:
    Phill J
    I looked into storing my top in every possible configuration.

    As posted already, the vinyl cover is shaped with an outward curve, so the top is designed to sit with it's top/outer surface facing the front of the car (this seems counter intuitive though, because there are two recesses in the headlining, that not only increase the headroom by a small amount when the top is fitted, but also seem ideally shaped to allow the seat backs to sit in the recesses, allowing the seat to sit slightly further back, allowing a little bit more legroom/seat back angle :confused:)

    With the facing upwards, the top rests on the latches, which doesn't appear to be good for them. In addition, the pins put two pointed pressure points in the vinyl cover, which look like they'd eventually wear through (The owners manual though, does appear to show the top behind the seat with the pins pointing upwards :confused:)

    I have two holes in my carpet where the pins locate into, which, look for all the World as though they were put there by the factory (but may well just be wear and tear from owners putting the top in pins-downwards).

    With the top located pins down, the vinyl cover sits nicely over the latches, with no additional stress points being put on the cover - So that seems to me, to be the way to go.
     

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