Glass window top replacement

[Tool Pants]

Looks like a UK based company has come up with an aftermarket replacement top with a glass window that can be used on 1997-2002. Without replacing the 1997-2002 three bow frame with the 2003-2004 four bow frame. More info may follow....

[vfxbox]

Who are these guys ? This is awesome... no need to replace rear window forever.

Can we order this here in US from UK or ebay may be ?

This is cool...

[HenryV]

So much for Porsche engineering - this looks much simpler than the OEM solution - and backwards compatible.

Can't tell from the picture, but the glass window seems larger also :clapping:

[BobMarley]

So sweet, hmmm, do I need a new top....?

:D

Any pics of it up?

Edited March 17, 2005 by BobMarley

[Tool Pants]

It looks like the band of top material is wider below the glass than a 2003/4 top. I guess that lets the glass window tuck down. The glass is heated. The glass is a single piece, not hinged in the middle as I had assumed. This is an entire new top. You do not retrofit a glass window in your plastic window top. You replace your plastic window top with this this glass window top.

The rear storage/speaker box stays in place. The guy from the company said they played around with the size and location of the window in order to keep the box. This company makes tops for many other cars, including a plastic window Boxster top replacement. This is a new product for the company.

Developement was completed just last week. The company is based out of Wales. Price is 595 pounds. I am on the UK Boxster board and have asked if someone would check it out by going over to the company. I want to know the quality and the vision out of the rear view mirror. I also want to make sure you can put the top in the 'service position' to get to the engine.

The 4 bow frame used on the 2003/4 lists at something like $6,500. If you wanted to retrofit the OEM 2003/4 glass window top on a plastic window car then you need to replace the 3 bow frame used on a plastic window car with the 4 bow frame. This new product may be a more cost effective solution. And more so if it is time to replace your plastic window top.

[BobMarley]

looks good to me

Thanks Toolpants

[jinijazz]

This is perfect news to me, just in time!

my top just start rattling, and plastic window got some scratches. :angry:

Keep us updated!

[Lorne @ Vancouver]

I am the new member liaison for PCA Canada West Region, Vancouver. Last weekend I was calling new members and got hold of one who told me about some of his business interests. He runs a company called Heritage Trim that does very high end interior trim manufacturing. Reports from the PCA guys here in Vancouver are that they do magnificent quality work, and some of their Jags have sold at Barrett JAckson auction for over $200 k.

Now he is starting to get into some Porsche products, including seats. He is a partner with BAS International, major convertible top (or hoods, if your British) manufacturers, and as the above posts note they now have a replacement top for the Boxster. I understand that their manufacturing process is the same as for an OEM top, with the glass sealed into the top. Heater rear window, and the whole bit. He faxed over the promotional info that his UK partners sent him and I am waiting to see the photos -- they may be the same as the ones posted above.

I asked if he wanted information out into this and other Boxster forums, but the fellow I spoke to was reluctant for me to put anything up on the web until he had his ducks lined up. He wants to get a top in, install it, check it all out, and figure out pricing. I just spoke with him to alert him that the word is out and he told me to go ahead and put a message out there, but that he isn't in a position yet to respond to questions. He is moving quite methodically and wants to be sure that there isn't a lot of fizz without product.

So ... my suggestion is to sit tight for a couple of months, but that this looks like the real thing.

FWIW, the pricing was £950 recommended for "supply and fit" -- fully installed, I assume. He could not tell me what the North American price would be .... too many variables yet to get sorted out.

Stay tuned.

Lorne @ Vancouver

[Tool Pants]

I had a guestion about being able to put the top with a glass window in the service position in order to get to the engine and Steve Evans sent me the first picture.

The second picture is Henry's 2000 2.7 with the plastic window.

Someone on the UK Boxster board is having one put on.

[Tool Pants]

These are before and after pictures from Steve Evans.

Justin on the UK Boxster board had the glass top put on yesterday. Here are his pictures. He has a 2000 2.7.

[Dale Zelinsky]

That looks fantastic. We just need a place in the US to sell them.

[Tool Pants]

Pictures of the glass window top being put on.

[mee]

Way cool! Keep an eye out for any comments on rearward visibility or glass dimensions. Thanks for the posts...

[lwc]

I was curious about the window size and made a comparison pic . . . I like the new top and am looking forward to it becoming available.

[Tool Pants]

Justin sent me some more pictures.

I asked Steve about having a strap to hold the back of the top up in the service position. In one of the pictures above the top is being held up by hand. Porsche uses a strap on the glass window top except the strap goes around the side.

Top in the service position. Looks like enough room to work in the engine compartment. You can see the black strap at the very top of the picture.

Another picture of the strap holding the top up.

The strap.

[MLegere]

Sweet, Sweet, Sweet does anybody know if this will be available with the head liner that comes on the 01 abd 02 top?

Mike

[Tuffty]

Sweet, Sweet, Sweet does anybody know if this will be available with the head liner that comes on the 01 abd 02 top?

Mike

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:unsure: What's the difference between this head liner and the 02?

I would appreciate knowing fairly quickly if possible - many thanks.

[Tool Pants]

I do not know about the liner. Justin's 2000 2.7 in the picture did not come with a liner. I do not think the base Boxster got the liner until 2001.

I would assume if your car has a liner then it is reused with the glass window top. Would have to confirm with Steve. But since this top is so new he may not have done the retrofit on a car with a liner

[Tool Pants]

Steve has confirmed that if you have a liner it is reused.

Another UK Boxster owner, Jon, had the glass top put on last week. He has the black car. Here is Jon's report:

"Last Frday I had a new roof including a rear glass window fitted by BAS International in South Wales.

Rob (BAS) showed me the blue Boxster they had completed the swap on the week before so that I could see the quality before I handed them mine. It was useful also to compare the windows side by side, the glass window is a bit smaller, it doesn't however impair your rear vision, in fact, the clearer view through the glass compared to the plastic improves it. He also showed me around the premises, believe me, they a wide variety of hoods. So while Rob and his staff got to work on the car, I took the short train journey to Cardiff.

Any doubts I may have had about putting an aftermarket product on my car soon went when I saw the completed job.

Having driven over 500 miles since, with the roof up and down probably more times than normal, I feel now that I can offer you a better opinion of my new roof. The quality of the new roof is the same, the material looks the same and the stiching cannot be faulted. There have been no problems opening and closing, which while I suspected I might, I do alot more than I used to.

I also took the car to the local OPC in Sutton Coldfield who were really impressed.

I will try and post some pics once the weather improves again.

A big thank you to all the staff at BAS who were great.

Jon"

This is the BAS Inernational site. http://www.bas-international.com/ Funny, but it did not have USA at the bottom of the page when I contacted Steve 4 weeks ago. ;)

[Stefan]

Is it my imagination or are the defogger strips in that window big and ugly? The 2003 glass rear window and the hard top (all years) have nice thin unobtrusive defogger strips.

[0586slb]

Is it my imagination or are the defogger strips in that window big and ugly?  The 2003 glass rear window and the hard top (all years) have nice thin unobtrusive defogger strips.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My thoughts and questions too... It may be just flash bounce from the picture inside the car. Would anyone who has seen the new top 'in the flesh' comment please?

[frogster]

Is it my imagination or are the defogger strips in that window big and ugly?  The 2003 glass rear window and the hard top (all years) have nice thin unobtrusive defogger strips.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i totally agree. it's the first thing i noticed. they should make them less visible. i would be very interested in this top but not with those ugly stripes.

[Tool Pants]

The problem is, the defogger stripes look like an orange color from the outside so you notice it. Porsche uses a darker color. But you cannot always have everything.

For owners in the SF Bay Area, I was show 3 pictures of a glass top replacement at Stevens Creek Porsche after being told about it by CA Boxster. The only connection with Stevens Creek is that a customer brought the car in so people could see what the top looked like. I did not have a scanner so I took a picture of the pictures. The original pictures were taken on April 19th.

This top was put on by Premier Upholstery in Santa Clara. This top looked different than the BAS top. Must be 2 companies making a glass window top.

The first pic is the BAS. The second is Premier.

[98Boxster98]

I saw GAHH as a possible good source for a new top in a previous post.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=680#

I was confused when I saw a glass replacement listed as a possibility for a 98 Boxster and thought it was an error:

http://www.gahh.com/boxster-roadster-1998-...7_341_3003.html

Maybe it's not an error.

Edited April 22, 2005 by 98Boxster98

[CA_Boxster]

The top on the one in TP's photo looks faded, but I don't recall any of the pictures looking bad. That may just be the color or the lighting. Don't be put off by that. The shop (Premier) offers it in Black, Grey and Blue. They wouldn't say who their source is, but did say it's a N. American company and it's not Robbins (their usual source and generally regarded as the best aftermarket source).