MIC 2.0 Top blew off (forgot to latch)! Pics of damage and material / construction

[Broken Machines76]

This resonates well with me.

I caught some flack, in another thread, for dismissing someone's upset over a scuff in his Bronco, by pointing out that I do not expect mine to stay pristine in appearance; I expect it to get dirty, to get scratched, to get dented. Not even based on any expectation of any off-roading I might do with it, and what that will do, but just on the abuse that my current compact sedan has taken in the nearly five years I've had it.

I'm not buying my Bronco to keep as a pampered museum piece. I'm buying it to take out into the rough Real World. A world that includes construction sites with bad terrain, but much worse than that, also includes the traffic and road conditions in Sacramento, the capital of a state that is so deeply corrupt that it keeps jacking up our gas taxes to pay for road repairs, and then, instead of using it to pay for road repairs, lines the pockets of the criminals who infest our government, who then have the excuse to jack up our taxes again to pay for the road repairs that they didn't do with the last round of jacking up taxes for that purpose.

“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are for.” — John Augustus Shedd​

Understood, I was raised in the Bay Area,-Oakland, Richmond to Vacaville CA, and had a few friends in Sacramento and know exactly what you mean about gas tax prices...But as far as the Bronco's and other off-road capable vehicles staying in pristine shape, to each his own I guess. But as an owner of a Wrangler and hopefully soon a Bronco the Real World "Badges" I will embrace fully and save the prettiness for the vette and Porsche owners #UGLYGANG

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[Brouha]

I’m impressed the panel held up as good as it did

I agree. The panel still being in 1 piece and that they were able to put it back on is surprising in a good way.

 

[Frank N]

Epoxy? no, Everyone know those tops were made gray to hide duct tape.

 

[snownow]

Actually held up pretty well! Good luck with the repairs.

 

[mhtucker78]

I'm sorry for your loss, thoughts and prayers!

 

[markregel]

Wow

Someone on another thread insisted the mic tops are just cardboard covered in plastic. I thought he was being facetious. From your photos it really truly appears to just be cardboard. Are my eyes deceiving me?

That is fiberglass

Wow

Its typical composite construction designed to be light weight and strong. Airplane wings have a Styrofoam core, but I don't recommend going on an airplane builders site and say "its just Styrofoam" unless you enjoy being laughed at.

 

[Bronc-O]

I was thinking the exact same thing! Op has a surprisingly positive outlook

I'm not going to read all 10 pages, but I'm sure someone will blame Ford for this happening.

 

[lakesinai]

I'm not going to read all 10 pages, but I'm sure someone will blame Ford for this happening.

The OP blames himself for forgetting to latch his top, and is pleased with the excellent construction, that the top still works, and is reasonably confident that injecting epoxy into the damaged laminate, clamp curing and topping with a little touch-up paint to prevent UV damage to the epoxy, will make for a servicible repair for the time being. The OP is intimately familiar with boat cores and agrees with your assessment. He may have the top painted eventually anyway.

 

[PSUTE]

Meh, fill it with toothpaste and after it dries, hit if with a brushful of dollar store flat black...

 

[Perfect-Beast-2]

The Corvette world calls this the FRC, or Flying Roof Club. Congrats on being the founding Bronco FRC member!

At least it's not the FRC&CICBY (&crashing into car behind you) That would be worse.

 

[Giordiesel]

Looks like I need a systems checklist for startup! I took off down the road and once I got up to 45-50 mph on the 3-lane, the driver's side MIC panel blew right off the car! Luckily I was able to pull over, run and retrieve (a driver stopped by the panel to protect it from being run over). Obviously I forgot to lock the latches on my new MIC2 Panel that my OBX waited for almost 3 months on Dirt Mountain.

It still works well (I'll know for sure after today's rain) and now its time for some Epoxy home repair, put my epoxy boat-repair skills to work. That protruding front corner is the worst. Can I assume epoxy will work, or will I need a more exotic panel glue!

I don't imagine buying a new panel is going to be easy . . . Can I get one of those MIC1 panels when replaced? I can attest that they are strong, and I don't think I'll make this mistake again!

Thanks for being honest, it's a rare quality lately

 

[Lazerus]

Sorry to hear about the mishap. I have a soft top and after a couple of garage door incidents were posted, i made a magnetic "feeler"/reminder that I put up when the top is in the 1/2 down position. A $10 antenna and a $4 magnet. For the latch (hard and soft top issue), maybe a aviation type reminder would work.

A few years back, I was at the staging area for a century bike ride when an SUV with two Pinarello Dogma's on the roof had a brain fart and turned into the parking garage. The crunch was heartbreaking. One only snapped the forks in two, the other broke at the head tube - bye bye frame.
The guy and his wife were in tears, and I don't blame them - those start at around 7K each.

 

[Moya7]

Looks like I need a systems checklist for startup! I took off down the road and once I got up to 45-50 mph on the 3-lane, the driver's side MIC panel blew right off the car! Luckily I was able to pull over, run and retrieve (a driver stopped by the panel to protect it from being run over). Obviously I forgot to lock the latches on my new MIC2 Panel that my OBX waited for almost 3 months on Dirt Mountain.

It still works well (I'll know for sure after today's rain) and now its time for some Epoxy home repair, put my epoxy boat-repair skills to work. That protruding front corner is the worst. Can I assume epoxy will work, or will I need a more exotic panel glue!

I don't imagine buying a new panel is going to be easy . . . Can I get one of those MIC1 panels when replaced? I can attest that they are strong, and I don't think I'll make this mistake again!

Sorry, but I did that twice with my Fiat X19 back in the 80’s. I was lucky, no damage, nor did I cause any wrecks! And no Fix It Again Tony jokes, that car was a blast. Operator error for sure!

 

[Efthreeoh]

OMG, particle board, fiberglass and then plastic? Reckon that's cheaper than just good 'ole fiberglass with a gel goat. I wonder if I can find any of my boating buddies from the 90's in Florida that used to copy boat hulls by making a mold from the original hulls.

Now, this might have been done to save wait, but watcho, watch, 'dere be trouble comin' bro.

Sorry this happened to you, nice fix with the epoxy. Maybe you can get some epoxy clay and form over the tip.

Fiberglass is an epoxy...

A cool word that embraces a broad range of products.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

Fiberglass is an epoxy...

No.

Fiberglass is glass.

The same stuff of which windows are made, but spun into very fine fibers.

Epoxies are a class of resins.

Fiberglass is very often used together with epoxies, but they are two different things.

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