Tonneau Adjustment

April 29

Greetings everyone! I have a 1990 Reatta convertible with a tonneau cover that likes to smash down on my head when I am folding away the soft top.

There are two methods that may hold the thing up, but I haven't been able to figure out what the intent was and I am hoping someone can tell me?

The first is a plastic C-shaped catch that is attached to the body cross piece between the tonneau and the trunk lid.

It was cracked in my case, so I reinforced it with metal and repaired it the best I could. It now works "sort of".

The second possibility are some rollers and two tension bars (similar to the design of a lot of more modern trunk lids).

The tensioners are meant to lift the tonneau a few inches when it is unlatched. But they also catch on some rollers and I am wondering if that was the primary means of holding the tonneau up? Mine are not weak to pop the tonneau, so I am not sure if they should be adjusted.

If they should be adjusted, there are three notches that could be used to tension them more. The shop manual says that there is a "J Tool" that should used for this, while the image in the manual shows a breaker bar being used. My Reatta does not have a bracket that will accommodate a breaker bar, so wondering if anyone knows what this magic J Tool is?

Lastly (ok, not really), can anyone confirm that moving the bars to the notches closer toward the front of the car makes them more (tense?). The manual says, "The forward most notch will give the highest amount of tension." but I don't trust my reading skills.

Photos attached...and uploaded in random order for inconvenience...sorry.