Why I'll Never Own Another 'Vert Again

Darkwriter77

Resident Ranting Negative Nancy
5 Year Member
Jul 1, 2005
311
293
134
Apache Junction, AZ
Glass rear 'vert windows FTL. :notnice:

I farted around all weekend with repairing the top motor lines. I fixed one line, then another of those stupid brittle plastic lines snapped. Fixed that one, and another one (really old rubber section) popped and spooged fluid everywhere. Cleaned up that mess, fixed THAT line as well, and had to fight forever to get the frickin' fill plug outta there to add more fluid. I fixed that, and thought everything was FINALLY all peachy-keen.

Sooooo, Frankenstang and I hop in and get ready to head on over to Mum's place for a Memorial Day BBQ. However, that BBQ abruptly became a WTFBBQ when I went to put the top down. It got about 2/3 of the way down and suddenly, without warning, there was a POP! and tinkling sound like someone had dumped a handful of BB's in the trunk ... the kind of sound that makes your heart sink and your hair stand on end. :cry:

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I dunno WTF happened, exactly. The top has been patched and re-patched and generally is an absolute turd that needs to just die, but at least it kept the rain off my head. The rear window was beginning to sag a little in its spot in the back, like the glue holding it to the fabric or whatever was beginning to just let go. Apparently, the act of lowering the top that one last time (on a perfectly warm 85-degree day) was all it took to push it over the edge at last - the window, I'm guessing, slipped out of its place enough to get pinched between the inside of the trunk or whatever and the top half of the roof frame as it folded down, pinched it in the middle, and POW!

Oh well. Again, it desperately needs a new top, anyhow, so if/when that ever happens then it'll get a new window there, as well. But dammit, sucking bits of broken glass out of my trunk for an hour with a Shop-Vac was not on my to-do list for this weekend. That, and I'm sure this doesn't exactly make the car look any more appealing to anyone that would have been willing to buy/trade for it until today. Damn yous, ye wicked and unjust car gods! :fuss:

Oh, and to top it off, we also just discovered tonight that Frankenstang's Capri needs yet ANOTHER radiator - apparently the used freebie 3-core she was given has a damaged fin on the lower-passenger-side and so it's dribbling green pee AGAIN. :nonono: But at least we did find that her notch doesn't need a new P/S pump and/or rack, just a new pressure hose and return line, so I guess it all balances out. :nice:
 
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Sorry to hear it guys :(
So we gonna trade all three and Stinky for my Cobra now :D

EDIT: actually you can keep the Pervertable :nice:
 
So really, the title of the thread "Why I'll Never Own Another 'Vert Again" isn't really the issue? It's the fact that your top is old and busted and has been Jerry rigged to death that's giving you the problem.....not the fact that it's a convertible in general, right?

Just making a clarification for all the would be convertible owners. ;)
 
No, and there ya go again :rolleyes:

But thats not the reason why he hates his vert, it just the cherry on the icing on the cake. He hates it cause
1. Its AOD
2. Its non E7 heads
3. no A/C
4. Its a Vert
5. Top sucks
6. flexomatic chasis
7 its AOD
8. Its too white
9 its AOD

So yes the window is a contributing factor but the rest is just standard AOD top down hatin fun :nice:
 
You also forgot #10 - It's an AOD. :D

Really, this car was my first-ever 'vert and I got it thinking it'd make an ideal weekend toy. Given, ANY Fox is an attention whore, but a 'vert is especially so. The design of these things, in particular, is just lame-o.

I mean really, who the hell thought it was a good idea to use PLASTIC lines for the top motor? PLASTIC?!? WHY????? Guess what, rubber fuel line works just as well, it's cheap and readily available at any parts shop, and it doesn't turn so brittle after a year that looking at it wrong will make it crack.

Why couldn't they make the top a manual lift/close deal? Works just fine on cars like the Miata - low-tech, simple, easily done. All these months that I didn't have the top motor connected on this Fox, I was able to lift/lower it by hand without any problems, except fighting the resistance of the pressure left in the lines of the top motor.

Why couldn't they have spent an extra, what, $10 or $20 on subframes for these cars from the factory so the car isn't as floppy as an 80-year-old granny's boob? It's nothing complicated. Subframe connectors have been around for a LONG time. And it wouldn't have added zippy-doo-da to the cost of producing the car. So ... why not?

The fact that it's an AOD I can actually let go, because at least Ford did make the process of switching from an AOD to a T-5 relatively painless on these cars ... it's just a PITA to actually find it necessary to do so, because so damned many Foxes were ordered with an AOD. And to couple that with the heaviest Foxes that Ford produced, which is supposed to be a "sports" car, is just silly (to me, anyway).

Soooooo, yeah I could go through the hassle and expense of replacing the top, but the essential design flaws are still there. And who knows how long a top lasts out here in the Arizona sun - probably only a year before it starts shrinking and developing cracks and new tears every single time it's put up or down. Especially when you don't have the fancy air tools and such to install a top yourself, and paying hundreds of dollars for some fools to install it for you, that crap gets expensive really quick. :notnice:

T-tops and sunroofs > 'verts.
 
yep i got tired of having to refill my pump every summer (sometimes twice) so i pulled two pins and pushed the rams down all the way and do it manualy now. takes like ten seconds and is easy as can be.
 
It wasn't TOO hard to pull the top back up when I had the lines disconnected, as far as the tension in the top movement was concerned, but the angle of it made it necessary for me to stand in the back with the front seats flipped forward, and lift the top up that way. I had the rear seat pulled out for awhile to make it easier to stand back there and lift the top back up. Dropping the top could be done simply sitting in the driver's seat - undo the latches, give it a backward flip and bam! Down. However, every single time I put the top back up, I would notice new little tears and rips in the top - dunno if it had to do with manually opening/closing the top, or if my top is just freakin' ancient (for all I know it's the original 1986 rag). :shrug:

Something else I forgot to mention that I truly hate about 'verts: WIND NOISE. I mean, yeah, when the top's down, you get some noise ... DUH! ... but it's pretty pathetic that it's quieter with the windows DOWN than when the windows and top are UP. Seriously, you've gotta shout to the person sitting next to you to be heard when the car's all closed up ... even with a stock cat'ed H-pipe and Dynomax Super Turbo cat-back. :nonono: