Soft Top broken, how can I fix it.

[JUCD VPR]

I have a 97-02 Viper Soft Top, but it must have been dropped at some point because the front corner of the front brace bar has a break through it. It's a clean break but I have no idea how to fix it or where to find a replacement part. The rest of the top is in GREAT condition, I just noticed the break when I took it out of the bag, It has not been used much and it's in awesome shape besides that crack. So i'm going to sell it but i'm not sure if I should fix it or sell it as it is.

Has this happened to anyone before? Anyone have a broken soft top and want to sell that front brace bar piece?

Let me know what you all think, thanks in advance for any help.

- OK i can;t load pictures right now because my computer is acting crazy, i'll post pictures in a little while.

 

[RedEnuf93]

I have one with BOTH braces broken....
I think the part was insanely expensive, if even available anymore.

 

[ViperTony]

Mine broke right where the corner turning thingy is. I put it back together using an industrial metal welder product from Devcon. I recall choosing this product because it had high strength, temperature and worked well bonding many different sufaces together. I grinded down the cracked parts to be glued, setup the two part expoxy, glued it and used clamps to hold it in place while it cured. The expoxy melted into surface being glued and bonded extremely well. That was over 3 years ago and it's still going strong. I'll take pics of the fixed area and try to find more information on the product I used.

 

[HLN A55]

How much would you like for it in its current condition?

 

[JUCD VPR]

Hey tony, can you possibly post a few pictures of the soft top you fixed? Also if you have any info on that bonding glue, please let me know so I can try to possibly fix my top. Thanks

 

[ViperTony]

Hey tony, can you possibly post a few pictures of the soft top you fixed? Also if you have any info on that bonding glue, please let me know so I can try to possibly fix my top. Thanks

I broke and fixed my top after it flew off the Viper at high speeds in Mexico in '06. This is probably the worst place that could break on the soft top frame. The area is in corner of the rear of the hard top where the side-arm turns in/out. It broke in three places...you can see the crack across the top nut but also broke on the frame part that inserts between the two areas that busted (the area where the bolts inserts through the pieces). That insert piece could not be put back together so I remember making a form out of cardboard, clamping it to the frame and filling it with the metal welder stuff. Then I ground it down to shape and drilled a hole for the bolt after it dried. Once that stuff dries it's PITA to grind/drill.

Yeah, it's ugly as sin but works. Besides, unless you have a hard-on to go peek up under the back corner you're not gonna see it. If you don't like it, you're welcome to come over and clean it up for me.

I didn't take before/after pics but I did grind down the broken parts in order to rough up the areas to be glued so adhesion would be better. Also, because I was adding a gap of metal welder between the parts grinding ensured that the brace was the same length as before. Otherwise, if it's too long or too short you'll never get it to hook up with the front part.

This product I used is below. I never confirmed with Devcon if this was the proper product to use but I've used it on a number of different materials and it never failed me. It has a high tensile/shear strength and bonds metals-metals-plastics-composites. It sounds like yours broke in an ideal area that can be accessed and fixed fairly event-free as compared to mine. Post pics of the area in question.

ITW Devcon | Two of the most recognized brands in all of industry; Devcon® and Permatex®.

 

[Rapps]

Another one bite the dust

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[hemihead]

I've got a nice hard top you could replace it with!

RT/10 Hard Top OEM Gen II - ViperClub Classifieds

 

[ZESTY]

I have a soft top off a 2001 in good shape. PM me if interested.