Rag Top Question

[alexbartman]

this may sound very dim of me but.....

I recently had the hood replaced on my 1999 C4 coutesy of my insurance company and their "approved repairer". Apart from them cracking the back bumper - which they subsequently had to repair - the hood itself looks like a good job but on the inside, on the trim all around the four sides of the plastic rear window, there is a lot of "ruffling" and the trim is not smooth where it meets the window.

As I had the hood replaced before I had even had a chance to take the hard top off which was on when I bought the car a few months ago, I dont know if this is how it should be or whether its a shoddy job (or even what it looked like before). The rear window is obviously sewn into the hood (i can see a neat row of stitches) - and I was under the impression that the rear window was bonded-in.

I have tried to peer into other 996s I see parked but its hard not to look as if you are trying to steal them!! Dont suppose anyone has any pics of the rear interior with the hood up so I can compare. Before I get too worried about it, is the "ruffling (gathering) a normal thing with these cars??

[jmj996]

this may sound very dim of me but.....

I recently had the hood replaced on my 1999 C4 coutesy of my insurance company and their "approved repairer". Apart from them cracking the back bumper - which they subsequently had to repair - the hood itself looks like a good job but on the inside, on the trim all around the four sides of the plastic rear window, there is a lot of "ruffling" and the trim is not smooth where it meets the window.

As I had the hood replaced before I had even had a chance to take the hard top off which was on when I bought the car a few months ago, I dont know if this is how it should be or whether its a shoddy job (or even what it looked like before). The rear window is obviously sewn into the hood (i can see a neat row of stitches) - and I was under the impression that the rear window was bonded-in.

I have tried to peer into other 996s I see parked but its hard not to look as if you are trying to steal them!! Dont suppose anyone has any pics of the rear interior with the hood up so I can compare. Before I get too worried about it, is the "ruffling (gathering) a normal thing with these cars??

No, it's not normal, but then again it might not be due to wear, but as a result of how they removed the original rear vinyl window. It was originally glued/bonded together. Usually, these only come apart in the bottom corners, the rest of them stay pretty secure, so when they pulled out the original rear window to sew in a new one (not uncommon because this would be 1/3 the price of having the dealer rebond a new window into place), they probably caused this ruffled appearance that you see.

[alexbartman]

this may sound very dim of me but.....

I recently had the hood replaced on my 1999 C4 coutesy of my insurance company and their "approved repairer". Apart from them cracking the back bumper - which they subsequently had to repair - the hood itself looks like a good job but on the inside, on the trim all around the four sides of the plastic rear window, there is a lot of "ruffling" and the trim is not smooth where it meets the window.

As I had the hood replaced before I had even had a chance to take the hard top off which was on when I bought the car a few months ago, I dont know if this is how it should be or whether its a shoddy job (or even what it looked like before). The rear window is obviously sewn into the hood (i can see a neat row of stitches) - and I was under the impression that the rear window was bonded-in.

I have tried to peer into other 996s I see parked but its hard not to look as if you are trying to steal them!! Dont suppose anyone has any pics of the rear interior with the hood up so I can compare. Before I get too worried about it, is the "ruffling (gathering) a normal thing with these cars??

No, it's not normal, but then again it might not be due to wear, but as a result of how they removed the original rear vinyl window. It was originally glued/bonded together. Usually, these only come apart in the bottom corners, the rest of them stay pretty secure, so when they pulled out the original rear window to sew in a new one (not uncommon because this would be 1/3 the price of having the dealer rebond a new window into place), they probably caused this ruffled appearance that you see.

thnaks for the reply - the curious thing is that the hood and window are both brand new......so the sewing in iof the rear window and the ruffling around the edges might be a product of a job done cheaply. I must say that from the outside the job does look like a good one and the mechanism etc works perfectly. Id just hate for an expert to cast doubt on the job when I come to re-sell. As ther Isurance work is guaranteed, I might take it to the OPC for their opinion - here in the southern UK - only one OPC has the facilties to replace the hood apparantly which means a long time without my car as it has to go there on a low loader fitted and then returned....I'll post soem pics to see if anyone can make a judgement!

[eastriver]

how about some pictures? ^_^