replacing the top on a 98 boxster

[muggs]

good morning, has anyone in the sfbay area tried replacing their top with one of the ones available on ebay? my son managed to shatter the plastic rear window. plastic vrs glass, how difficult was it to replace? tia jaime howell

[Brad Roberts]

From what I gather there seems to be a DIY on the site somewhere. Let me find it for you!!

I will tell you this: I need to do an install soon on a BoxsterS in San Jose :)

I'm deeply involved with the BoxsterSpec race series (we all pull our tops off) so you should be able to buy a top for under $300 used from one of the racers :)

Stay with me, let me find the DIY for you.

B

[Brad Roberts]

OK.. I give up..

I searched:

install top = 0

install boxster top = 0

Boxster top install = 0

Boxster top = 0

replace top = 0

You know what I came up with?? :lol: OUR current thread.. DOH!! I must be searching wrong.. here is a screen shot of what I came up with each time :(

B

[1schoir]

good morning, has anyone in the sfbay area tried replacing their top with one of the ones available on ebay? my son managed to shatter the plastic rear window. plastic vrs glass, how difficult was it to replace? tia jaime howell

Jaime:

Here is a link to a comprehensive DIY for replacing the top, and for sewing in a window:

http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/thetop-i...e%26replacement

Here is a link to RennTech member Juniinc's thread on sewing in a new vinyl window:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...pic=16350&h

Regards, Maurice.

Edited March 2, 2009 by 1schoir

[Brad Roberts]

The Renntech link took me back to the main page? Can you tell me what you used in the search to find it? I'm at a loss as to why I couldn't locate it for him?

B

[mikefocke]

I just went to it via http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...ic=16350&hl

though actually I used l link at a page on replacing a rear window by having one sewn in on http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/havingar...ticwindowsewnin

We get a lot of cracked rear windows this time of year as the weather is changing. Mine is 7 years old and looks new but then I maintain it with Novus #1 from time to time, a polish that seems to maintain the oils in the plastic and make it supple. I also don't park mine outside with the top up too often. It is a top down car or in a garage.

Edited March 2, 2009 by mikefocke

[Brad Roberts]

Thanks Mike :) and thanks for all the great writeups you have done. Were you ever contacted by Wayne Dempsey? (Pelican Parts owner?) He is/was writing a book about Boxster mods :)

B

[1schoir]

The Renntech link took me back to the main page? Can you tell me what you used in the search to find it? I'm at a loss as to why I couldn't locate it for him?

B

Brad:

Sorry, I don't know what happened. I just corrected the link in my post above.

To do the search, I just used the advanced search feature and typed in "+rear +vinyl +window" so that only threads that contained all three words would come up and the results included "New Rear Window Installed".

Regards, Maurice.

[seafeye]

good morning, has anyone in the sfbay area tried replacing their top with one of the ones available on ebay? my son managed to shatter the plastic rear window. plastic vrs glass, how difficult was it to replace? tia jaime howell

The plastic windows can get old and will crack. Don't ever use windex on it or it will accelerate the brittleness. (Brittleness???)

You can get a whole new top on Ebay for $300 or less. Don't bother just replacing the window.

You will need some extra spare parts while you are doing the repair. Sunset can help you out there. The total time to re-re is 8hrs.

Less if you have done it before. Just make sure that the back is centered perfectly or the top will have wrinkels. Get some 3m spray glue as well and

go to Lowes and buy some double sided tape and foam trim.

[Nurvus]

I have purchased the replacement plastic from TAP plastics in CA [as mentioned on the Juniinc thread]. It was about $30 shipped. I intend to sew it in later this spring, and I'll report on the project with photos. It's almost impossible to stick a needle through this plastic, so I intend to line it up on some plywood, then carefully pre-drill each hole with the tiniest drill I can, following the exisiting stitch lines, then brush-coat the stitching with Seam Seal, or equivalent

[1schoir]

I have purchased the replacement plastic from TAP plastics in CA [as mentioned on the Juniinc thread]. It was about $30 shipped. I intend to sew it in later this spring, and I'll report on the project with photos. It's almost impossible to stick a needle through this plastic, so I intend to line it up on some plywood, then carefully pre-drill each hole with the tiniest drill I can, following the exisiting stitch lines, then brush-coat the stitching with Seam Seal, or equivalent

Looking forward to the write-up and the photos.

Regards, Maurice.

[slotsmd]

Nurvus,

I had the vinyl window replaced in my 02 S last fall. Bought the car over the summer and it was pretty well shot, and cracked shortly thereafter. I'm in an area with a lot of boating activity in Maryland and I expect that, being in San Francisco, you may be able to follow the same path I did, which was to find a sailmaker, take the top to them, and have them sew in the new window. Ended up costing me only $150 for materials and labor and it's worked great. There is a thread including some pictures on here somewhere. What they did was to cut the new window to shape, sew it on over the old window, then carefully cut out the old plastic. When you look at it right up close, you can see the edge of the remnant, but it maintained the original stitching/seal, and it doesn't leak.

I used the detailed DIY for top R&R that's referenced above and it went as smoothly as I could have hoped. I used regular foam weatherseal to replace the crushed down foam you'll read about, just carefully cut it to size and shape. Took around 8 hours total of my time to do the removal and replacement of the top.

Cheers, and good luck with it.

Slots

[mikefocke]

Don't think I was ever contacted by Wayne.

[Nurvus]

Slots, thanks for the suggestions! It really is appreciated. Do you have any photos of the new window on your top, preferably close-ups of the inside and out? That would tell me a lot.

The more I think about sewing the new plastic on while leaving the old plastic in place, then slice away the old plastic later, the more it makes sense to me. I'm assuming you sewed the new plastic onto the top from the inside of the top -- is that right? If so, did you remove those approx. 1" wide cloth strips that run around the inside perimeter of the window?

I plan to remove the entire softtop structure in a month or so, when I am expecting to receive delivery of a Zeintop hardtop for the car. I'll tackle the window job right after the hardtop is installed.

Unfortunately, I do not live in San Francisco, but in New York. But, as you suggested, I found a sailmaker in Stamford, CT willing to sew it in for $150 or so. So thanks for that idea!

Edited March 10, 2009 by Nurvus

[slotsmd]

I'll try to get some decent photos tomorrow when it's light. They sewed it from the inside as you assume. Don't think they removed anything other than the old window. I'm not sure exactly how they went about cutting out the old one, but they seemed to do a pretty good job, although you can certainly see it if you look closely. I expect it is a commonly used technique for them.

Cheers

Slots