Hi everyone,
Name's Kim and I live in SoCal. Had my Carmona Red
Boxster S
for close to two years with no significant issues until the other day. The rear glass on the top de-laminated from the bottom. Most of the upholstery shops I checked on said to replace the top. Not a cheap fix. Found one fella that said he'd give it a go for $275 but no guarantees.
Being a self-taught knucklehead, I decided to repair it myself. The videos I found were sketchy and not confidence building. I spoke to a close friend of mine who's a whiz with British cars and he suggested Gorilla Construction Glue.
Tried it and after application and compression of the glass to fabric, it looked super. That was in the morning. As I said, I live in Southern California. October can bring some significant heat. I went out to check on the car at around 2pm and found the
Gorilla glue
separating from the fabric. Not good. The surface temp of the car was 168°F. Glass a few degrees lower.
More research for an adhesive that could withstand heat. 3M Window Weld was the frontrunner but was not readily attainable and I was worried that using a caulking gun in the cramped space was an open opportunity to dispense a premium adhesive to parts unwanted.
So I chose
Permatex
81158 in black (maybe that's all it every comes in). High heat resistance, fair tensile strength, weak shear but that shouldn't be a significant stress given the operation of the top. Removed all of the remnant
Gorilla Glue
(90 minute job!) and applied the 81158. Clamped using wood clamps (those suction clamps would have to have been mounted on the inside of the glass (cramped space). Let it set for 36hrs. Released the clamps and waited with bated breath. The sun rose, the heat came and the
Permatex
held! At least so far. I haven't experienced temps of 168° yet but did record 148°.
Will keep all posted if it continues to work.
Good info, thanks! The shop in my area that
Porsche
recommended indicated that this is the sign of a top that simply needs to be replaced. They were very well regarded by
Porsche
for this job, and from the history I saw they worked on many high end vehicles as well as boats and such. Too bad they shut down (owner passed away).
That said, good to hear there may be other options. If you have any pictures of what you did, that would be great. I'm sure many of us would be happy to try these types of fixes instead of replacing a $3k+ convertible top!
What year is your
Boxster
, and how many miles on it?
Oof, close in age and mileage as mine. Hopefully I don't have this problem. But my car looks to have been garaged, and I keep in the garage now so the top looks to be in good condition.
