Torn fabric inside of my roof

I have a 91 Rivage with electric roof and i noticed that when its down, the roof material does not always neatly fold in the middle (should fold on its self into almost a "w" shape. i lowered it half way and checked for all the straps to be ok which they were but as i was looking i found that the thin fabric which is between the rough horse hair material and the actual outer hood material was torn quite bad. Almost across the whole width.

It doesn't seem to cause a problem but is it a simple repair? Its torn from the stitching like its been caught or over stretched.

My rear tension cable is showing about 12 inches across the back. related?

Also how loud are peoples hydraulic pump? hood goes up and down pretty good but its certainly not subtle lol

Any advice is great

I think our resident Cabby roof guru chortle will be able to give you some sound advice on that!  

Rear tension cables stretch and rust over the years and snap.
Plus there's different ones some are just plain cables so they don't fill the space in the rear cable channel.
The cable is pulled around the corners so under tension the centre pushes out.
Not really a problem if you're using an OEM cable.
It depends on how it was fitted. Some don't tighten them up properly, so you might be able to tighten up a tad more.
Either that or put a new one in.

The hood not folding is usually the two straps that pull the hood into place when lowering could be snapped or not located proper.  Again often see cabbies with the hood hanging out.  The straps come through the interliner and top pad and are riveted to the frame near the eccentrics.
I've seen them there but not fixed before now.
The straps are sewn into the hood panel seams during manufacture.
A cause is
not fitting the tonneau cover when the roof is down. The hood suffers back pressure as you go along plus the age of most hoods now doesn't help.

The interliner which folds and covers the padding over deteriorate.  Very common.  I've not seen many that didn't need something doing to them.
Once the fabric goes it allows the pad to rub on the underside of hood. This can wear thin spots on the pad.

To get to the padding and interliner it's a hood off job as the fixings are undeneath..
It could well be if the roof components are old it's time for replacement.

I suppose really it's what budget you have and how you value the car.

But it's a good few hundred to replace them.

If you can get to Derby I can look at it properly and explain better.








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Great bit of info. Thanks Chortle.

I have had a little go at tightening the rear tension cable. bit of a faff without an extra spare set of hands to drift it in as i tighten. i think a new cable is best just to remove the chance of it stretching. i know the roof has been replaced in the past because i have seen the receipt for it. Best looking to see if that cable was part of the replacement.

I checked those straps near the eccentric part and all looked good. nothing was snapped. Maybe a better look around all the straps with a diagram will clarify this. i am guilty of not putting on the cover aswell so i  need to change that.

Its water tight so i can manage to spend plenty of time sorting it all, especially seen as i have no plans to ever sell it lol

There are two straps going to the rivet hole.
4 if you count the ones that come off the headliner.
So you should have two per side..
Some hoods have three persuade inc the headliner straps depends on manfaucturer.

When was the roof fitted?
Plus you should always use a new cable.  Doesn't make  sense to me.
Hoods only have a finite life and last less unless you use a good treatment cleaning product like 303 areospace for fabric or Ragg topp.

I couldnt find the receipt in the end but i know it was replaced some time ago.

Yeah sure a new cable is a must. Its funny because all of a suddden now when i lower the roof it is folding perfectly. Typical its working ok now but it still needs a full check for the straps. Thanks for all the info. Much appreciated