The Honda S2000 soft top locks in place with two latches on either side of the inner windshield frame.  Unfortunately, bumpy roads can cause the latches to rattle from time to time.  My S2000 is no exception and the rattling is driving me nuts!  Today I did some research and found a Honda S2000 Soft Top TSB (in PDF format).  This TSB addresses various ways of solving squeaks and rattles on the Honda S2000 soft top.

As it turns out, the inside half of the latch has a plastic trim piece.  Under certain conditions this plastic trim will rattle.  The following picture shows the soft top partially retracted…

And a couple of more pictures showing what the latch looks like…

So the way the hinge works is by pressing the side button and letting the hinge open towards the front of the vehicle.  This releases the claw from the windshield frame.  In the middle photo above, you can see the inside half of the hinge surrounded by a plastic trim.  This is the source of the rattles.

The Honda TSB talks about using Honda EPT sealer and wadding it up into a small piece.  Then wedging the wadded EPT Sealer between the latch and the plastic trim.   This fills the void and prevents the plastic from rattling.  fair enough…

But, I have no idea what “EPT Sealer” looks like, so I Googled it and found the picture on the left.  As it turns out EPT Sealer is sold in rolls.  I don’t need a whole roll.  Instead (according to the TSB) all I need is small strips about 10mm x 5mm.

What can I use instead of EPT Sealer?  💡

I noticed the EPT Sealer is roughly the same thickness as Craftsman toolbox drawer liner material.  I found an extra liner and cut a section as shown in the picture to the right.  This piece is about 1×4 inches in size.  More than enough to do the job!

I carefully cut small strips of this material.  The material took a little coercing to fit in between the latch and the plastic trim but the result is perfect!  If you look closely in the following picture you can actually see the little strip of material between the latch and the plastic trim (in the yellow circle):

The solution described in the TSB works!  I drove my S2000 down a bumpy road not far from my home and no rattles.  Oh and I still have plenty of this material available, so if you want some shoot me an email (info at bowtie6 dot com).  I’ll be happy to send you a piece!

S2000 Update

My Honda S2000 has been a real joy to own.  Hard to believe it has been 4.5 years since I bought it from an estate sale and brought it home.  During this time expenses have been for fuel, oil, filters and a set of tires.  I also had the A/C system checked because it was a few ounces off.

Hard to believe the S2K had only 4,726 miles when I bought – ahem– stole it!

Today, I took a picture of this same dash and it shows slightly more miles on it.  And this is interesting…  There is a thread on one of the forums where folks talk about how many miles they have on their S2K’s.  I’ve seen several photos of cars with 250,000 and more miles on the clock.  Hmmm…  I have a lot of driving to do!

Funny!  Today’s photo has a nicely centered and focused dash…  Thanks to my friend Tyson who has taught me how to correctly show mileage in a photo!

And finally…  Two complete opposites!  RedRock in the background and the S2K in the foreground.  The Camaro with tons of torque; the S2K just wishing…  The S2K with the agility of a gazelle, the Camaro just wishing…

I suppose I am a just a lucky sumbitch!!!