Anyone else having trouble with rag top on 01?

[Rich01RT10]

Got caught in a downpour today, but luckily found a parking garage before I became a carpool. I had a lot of trouble getting the soft top to latch on the passenger side and broke the latch receiver plate (the piece on the windshield frame that's held on with the 2 hex screws) in 3 pieces. It seemed the latch would not go in far enough. About an hour and a half later, the rain subsided to a "driveable" condition...
Has anyone needed to replace this plate? What's the green epoxy-like sealer around it? Are any other 2001 owners having this much trouble? - obviously, I couldn't get the top on.
I have a hard top and have not had any problems getting it on/off.

Thanks for any help -