Roof catches................
Roof catches................
Author
Discussion

ceejay73

Original Poster:

489 posts

257 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2005
quotequote all
I have been considering exchanging my roof catches from the original plastic numbers to some nice shiney stainless items at some point however, I now have one broken (as of Sunday) and having read some of the horror stories from other people losing roof panels decided now was not the time for experiments just get one back on quick.
Having done a bit of an online search I have found a supplier for the original Southco items and thought I should stick it on here incase anyone else needs them.
Supplier link is:- http://www.zygology.com/products/tier3.asp?search_ID=Plastic

The actual part number for the latch is E8-10-502-20 and NOT EB-10-502-20 as stated on the alternative parts list. They come at £6 and change each but with P&P a pair came to just under £24 (can't remember the exact pence but was under £24)

Hope thats useful to somebody.
Carl.

PeteW

16 posts

257 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2005
quotequote all
Cheers Carl,
I need to do mine so let us know how easy or otherwise they are to change
Pete

Hoover33

5,993 posts

271 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2005
quotequote all
to change the roof latch is very easy.....

1) undo the screws...

2) throw away broken latch

3) screw new latch into place using exiting holes

4) adjust the lentgh of the latch by adjustable nut...

sorted.....

Got mine from RS Components (see Pies Site for alternative parts list) after breaking one SCH2 last year

big ian

335 posts

259 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2005
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"having read some of the horror stories from other people losing roof panels decided now was not the time for experiments just get one back on quick"

I still don't have any roof catches, my roof is tight enough when in place (very very rarely)...IMHO who needs a roof! At speeds over 50mph, there is even a thought as to who needs windscreen wipers!

>> Edited by big ian on Wednesday 3rd August 08:38

>> Edited by big ian on Wednesday 3rd August 08:38

RJC-S3

427 posts

257 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2005
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Has anybody actually lost their roof?

keithyboy

1,940 posts

299 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2005
quotequote all
My previous S (an S1) never had any catches either or evidence of any ever having been fitted.

ceejay73

Original Poster:

489 posts

257 months

Wednesday 3rd August 2005
quotequote all
Don't know how to quote properly but this has been cut and pasted from another thread.. I just dont wanna take the risk of the same happening to me and as my car doesn't only get used when the sun is out going topless isnt always an option.....

aka spike said:
I'd gotten into the habit of occasionally (when in a hurry) not locking the catches at the front of the panel.
One day, I was in a hurry.
On the motorway, making, er... good progress... wind gets a tiny bit more under the roof panel than it would under normal circumstances, not as much force holding it in place as would be normal... *whoosh*, off it goes. Bugger!
Pulled over smartish and got out expecting to see a trail of carnage across the carriageway, thinking the panel *must* have gone through somebody's windscreen, who would have spun, hit someone else... etc..
Fortunately, the panel was resting peacefully in the central reservation , cars zipping happily past me (wondering why some idiot had pulled over with only half a roof).
Phoned the traffic police. "Don't try to retrieve it" they said. "Don't worry" I replied, "I'm not going anywhere bloody near it".
They came out, lights flashing, copper ran into the central reservation, recovered the panel and breathlessly returned it to me.
"I'm really, really sorry" I said. "Don't know what happened, but my roof catch must have broken". "Never mind", he said. "These things happen". And with that, they were off!
And I was left with a badly mashed up roof panel.
It's actually a testament to the resilience of these things - the panel is still in one piece, still fits (pretty much) and actually doesn't look too bad in place.

It's a lesson well learned and a moral to us all - *never* forget the bloody roof-catches; they're there for a damn good reason!

Did I mention that I need a new back-hoop as well?...

Pexa

34 posts

253 months

Friday 5th August 2005
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I just bought the steel Leven catches from TVRCC at £41.00 the pair (+P&P), I will fit them this weekend. They are much more robust than the plastic ones, I thought that the plastic ones would just fail again so it should be a worthwhile investment. Looks like 5 minutes with a screwdriver's worth of work.

dlspoo

48 posts

257 months

Friday 5th August 2005
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I called TVRCC for some roof catches yesterday and they told me they were out of stock.

I called Leven and they said that they don't have any in stock either.

AAAAGHHHH!

RJC-S3

427 posts

257 months

Friday 5th August 2005
quotequote all
dlspoo said:
I called TVRCC for some roof catches yesterday and they told me they were out of stock.

I called Leven and they said that they don't have any in stock either.

AAAAGHHHH!



The catches on mine have been replaced with stainless steel catches from a company called Southco. They are different to the originals as I have these also. They have been altered slightly to fit and have enough metal on them to have an extra fixing to the roof panel & look much better. Don't know their web address but I know they are near Worcester.
Hope this helps.

Roy C

4,213 posts

313 months

Friday 5th August 2005
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Southco latches (plastic & steel) are available from RS and are listed on their web site.
http://rswww.com

dlspoo

48 posts

257 months

Friday 5th August 2005
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Thank you for that.

As someone who is not familiar with these things do the latches from Southco come with latch and hook.

ceejay73

Original Poster:

489 posts

257 months

Friday 5th August 2005
quotequote all
The original equipment plastic catches that I ordered over the phone around 4:45pm Tuesday arrived in the post yesterday (Thursday) morning as promoised. They are an exact match and did come with both latch and hook. Very impressed with service from zygology. Simple 5 min job with a screw driver to swap the broken one out for the new one. Not worried about losing roof panel on motorway now
If any of you guys are around High Wycombe then you could probably just pop in, they are on Wellington Road.

s27

501 posts

313 months

Friday 5th August 2005
quotequote all
ceejay73 said:

The actual part number for the latch is E8-10-502-20 and NOT EB-10-502-20 as stated on the alternative parts list.


List amended thanks

SP