S2000 OEM Striker Rattle Fix DIY

[YLDS2K]

Hi all,

So in a nutshell, I have had a rattle within my soft top for some time and I have been far to lazy to track down the problem and think of a solution. I know that a lot of people swap out the OEM soft top striker's and catcher's for OEM hardtop striker's and catcher's, although this is usually performed when you are experiencing a problem with wind entering the roof from where the roof and A frame meet...I was not having this problem.

My problem was coming within the striker's themselves and how the plastic and metal rattle against each other when I drive over certain bumps like railway crossing's. This is a basic DIY for those experiencing the same problem, and who are not looking at spending any money to fix this annoying issue. So here we go...

tools needed:
1) screw driver
2) scissors
3) sharp knife or box cutter
4) a decent quality business card
5) multi purpose cleaner & rag (optional)

step 1:
unlatch the roof and fold back half way.

step 2
remove the 2 screws that hold each striker against the roof
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8142/7878696660_67729457a8.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/63668637@N06/7878696660/)

step 3
take your business card cut the card roughly around 3mm off one of the sides (depending on how long the card is this might not need to be done)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8433/7878735364_bcbc421fc2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/63668637@N06/7878735364/)

step 4
slide the business card from underneath until it goes as far in as possible
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8426/7878738706_08db84c2a7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/63668637@N06/7878738706/)

step 5
use the knife or box cutter to trim off the card leaving the cut piece wedged between the plastic and metal. Do this to both sides to have 2 pieces of the business card on each side between the metal and plastic.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8436/7878743000_e480fbdf77.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/63668637@N06/7878743000/)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7120/7878751272_9e28ac6e85.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/63668637@N06/7878751272/)

step 6
use the multipurpose cleaner and rag to clean the back of the striker and underneath where it sits on the roof
before:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8305/7878759640_10d1fe58ab.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/63668637@N06/7878759640/)

after:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8436/7878763432_9a2b0cc223.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/63668637@N06/7878763432/)

step 7
replace the striker's and enjoy rattle free bumps.

PS: I apologise for the poor iPhone quality pictures.

[Dylaan]

great! I will give this a go when I have some spare time :)

I was going to ask why you cut off the 3mm from the card, but the I realized it was so the rest of the card will fit in the striker, correct?

[VeYzZii]

Good stuff man.
Now i just need to get a business card

[YLDS2K]

great! I will give this a go when I have some spare time :)

I was going to ask why you cut off the 3mm from the card, but the I realized it was so the rest of the card will fit in the striker, correct?

Exactly right

[YLDS2K]

Good stuff man.
Now i just need to get a business card

Yeah just make sure it's of decent quality not those cheap paper ones because it won't work, I guess you could also use project paper? cardboard? Folder A4? Plenty of options

[Dylaan]

I just did this. It only took me about 5-10 minutes to do. I haven't tested it over any bumps or rough roads yet but I'm sure it will be good :)

[YLDS2K]

It will work like a charm and you will laugh how you didn't do this earlier

[Dylaan]

Results are good! Should have done it 3 weeks ago when I got the car haha.

[YLDS2K]

Lol I spent 3 years saying "I'm going to do it I'm going to do it" but was simply too lazy, or things always came up that I would forget to do it.

Glad it has worked for you and congrats on the purchase of an S

[Dylaan]

thanks mate, congrats on keeping yours so long, I seem to get bored of every car I've owned after 18 months but I think that this car might serve me for a long time. Are you a member on the S2KOCA group on facebook?

[YLDS2K]

Nah, I don't have Facebook the car has been good to me and can't see myself driving anything else

[nellfur]

I had this problem too but hadn't got around to trying this DIY - so I made up a temporary measure that works well.

Cut a small piece of sticky back velcro (or similar) and stick it to the plastic shell on the outside where it is overlapped by the metal catch (or vice versa) on both sides of the catch. Puts pressure on the plastic and stops the rattle.

YLDS2K I borrowed your photo - hope you don't mind!

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