That makes sense. I hope you're right. I didn't see anything about this in the manual. Did I miss it?

 

Looking for pictures or info on where to rivet back that convertable strap... please help ... thanks

 

How does this defect not get back to Crewe for revision?

I've seen this problem mentioned on almost all convertible model years.

Nice catch by the OP on determining the root cause - hopefully the word gets out to CTC owners.