Darn Cab plastic window separated today...

Until this afternoon my 2001 top looks very good for 14 years old; the plastic has some scratches, but it was not yellowed badly and was perfectly functional. So today I drove to work and put the top up after parking; when I came back the window had separated at the bottom and slightly at the top: Has anyone had something like this repaired? How did it turn out - can you tell that it was repaired? If it will look good for a few years I would consider it rather than springing for a new top. I know there is a DIY, but I'd rather not get into upholstery repairs. Finally, does anyone have any recommendations for a repairer in central Connecticut? thanks

Yep, that happened to me two years ago. I went out to lunch and when I got back noticed that the window had separated. I found some DIY repair threads and patched it up. It looked pretty bad and I wrecked my hands in the process but it did keep the water out. After doing a lot of research I found that the labor for having the window repaired is the same as for installing a whole new roof. I decided to get a new roof and then debated whether to get a plastic window or glass. I went with plastic for a few reasons. 1. I think the roof with the plastic windows more closely resembles the lines of the coupe. 2. The newer roofs have the plastic windows double-stitched in, so they won't delaminate down the road. The glass window, though clearer, is really tiny. I went with German A5 canvas which is what was originally used. I paid about $1800 for the top, installation, and sales tax. Well worth it. If you spend $750 to have your plastic window professionally repaired, you'll still have a 15 year old top.

Yeah, if it looks like $750, I'll do a new top. I have looked at the glass replacements and I would go with plastic for the look and visibility. Does yours look just like the original top, or is the window size different?

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Simply from curiosity question. Was the car left in direct sunlight? Just wondering as my top is original from 1999 and some times I have places to park in shade which I would certainly use if that was the case. Thanks

Hurdi - it was indeed parked in the sun on a 90 degree day when it let go.

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Thanks for your reply GDI. Yesterday I parked up on a friends drive in 90F sunlight but left the side windows down after seeing your posting. I do have a front window shade which I always use but the heat inside the car, with windows closed, must be well over a 100F on such days. No doubt in my mind that was the cause of your 16year old glue 'letting go'. I can see my window looking very tight and hope that leaving it in the shade with windows down a couple of inches, prevents mine from 'letting go'. Again thanks for your posting and I hope you get things sorted out soon.

I had this happen to my '01 cab a couple of years ago as well. Took it to a local specialty shop here and they fixed it by stitching a double row around the plastic. I was skeptical at first, but it was a good fix and have had no problems at all. If top and window are in good condition, consider this as a fix. It wasn't super expensive, but I can't immediately recall the price. Wasn't $750 though.

That happened to mine, and seems to have been going on for a while before it finally gave up. Going to get some canvas glue and some clamps (or will make some clamps) and that should do the trick. If not out come a needle and thread along with glue. Not sure if the back window is great or not, I think plastic sucks no matter how "good" of condition it's in, but it's not worth replacing the whole top just yet over what could be $50-70 worth of clamps and glue. I'm sure any shop that does auto upholstery would be able to fix that. Haven't looked around here but I think there are more than a handful in my area, and seem to be pretty common. Not to mention the shops that would work on boats...

I talked to some auto upholstery shops today and all said to forget trying to get it fixed - just replace the top. One guy told me that people usually screw up the zipper when re-gluing the top, and then it will require a new headliner as well as a top when replacement is inevitable. For a shop to repair it they say they have to remove the top completely and then reinstall it, so that is about half the cost of installing a new one. So, for the time being, I am using the hardtop.

The plastic window looks exactly the same.

Get the cheap eBay top. Mine has been on 18 months and looks great. Fris had a great write-up hear (search it) that held me off for a year but the inevitable arrived and I replaced the whole thing. There have been threads on new tops in the last week or so.

Last fall I noticed the folded back canvas edge was starting to separate, I tried to use high strength double sided tape on the inside of the folded back portion, didn't really work. Then I noticed a couple of days ago there are more separation like the second picture but not to the point of the headliner though. Guess the glue is only good for about 14 years.

That's right. The new ones are also sewn.

Well, contact cement mostly works, going to go at it again next week. I bet a person could also staple it in if they wanted. Doesn't have to be a really "nice" fix as if the top is doing that it's years away from replacement anyway, just enough to keep things going down the road for a little while.

Glue didn't work, but $7 worth of a needle set and some heavy thread and a few hours of my time sewing it up seems to have solved the problem. =) Have to see how long it will last.

In the end I decided to go with a GAHH glass window top. Maybe I'll try to repair my old one and put it on ebay!

I've bitten the bullet and ordered an eBay replacement top, sourced out two potential local outfits to install, going to cost a little over G-note total, not too bad and I will have a new top.

Go with glass! We did this with our 99 cab, and u can do it yourself (replace the zip out only -- but if whole top, have a top shop do it). Yes the glass window is smaller, but IMO it looks cooler, kind of like the 50s Speedster window. I can give u the name of where to get a good deal on the glass zipout (no affiliation)-- very helpful folks.

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Hmmm, I don't understand how you can just replace the zip out window with glass version when the glass window has to be smaller? Plus the vinyl window is glued to the canvas top. However feel free to post the info of the product you used as well as the finished installation on your 99 Cab so we can have a better look.

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There is color coordinated canvas surrounding the glass. This is a complete zipper job, canvas and glass. I'll have to check if I still have pictures. We sold the car about 4 years ago. It's probably best to check with the company that makes the zip out glass.

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That would be great! Can you share any website link to the product?

The windows are not zip-out, zip-in. They are bonded to the top, and zipper is to secure the headliner.

There have been a couple cab top threads going, and I have not been good at keeping track -- also, my memory of the replacement is sketchy. However, in looking back, the top with glass is best priced from AutoTop in CA. They sell on EBay, but I'm not sure if they go by "AutoTop" there. However, Google check for them. I spoke with the owner -- seemed to be an elderly fellow, and I think his daughter works with him. There are several threads about their tops. They are very good quality -- so this is one of the cases where expensive does not mean better. Here are a few links: https://rennlist.com/forums/boxster-...placement.html https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...ement-diy.html https://rennlist.com/forums/boxster-...ith-glass.html

Picked up my 2001 with the new GAHH glass top today. I think it looks great, but the lessened visibility will take some getting used to.

My car will get done next week. How much was your finished product parts + labor if I may ask?

It was around $1800 with the defroster hookup included.

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2 weeks now, it's been hot here and I park it outside all the time, and what I did is holding up just fine. Under $10 for the needles and thread, and then yesterday I borrowed some of my friends silicone sealent and put a bead across it. Going to be fine until the point where the top really needs to be replaced.

Thought I would post a pic of the installed top... GAHH Glass Window Top by gdi2003 , on Flickr

Looks very nice. My experience hasn't been the greatest so far with a different brand of top I picked up from eBay to have a local shop install, the new top appears to be well made when I received it, however the shop called yesterday to say the top is not wide enough by 1/4" and very tight, they said they are going to stretch it and let me know this morning how it looks. I picked up the car today, and am not satisfied with a few things, some of which could be material but some are probably with the installation, I see a notch on both lower rear side edge of the top material with the driver side more pronounced, I see some slack and wrinkling, I also see exposed stitching thread on the passenger side behind the rear quarter window which alarms me when I raised and lowered the top as it seems to be at risk of becoming caught on the frame rails rather then go behind it, undoubtedly this will likely cause damage. There are some surface scratches on the driver side top frame rail which did not exist on the pictures I took the night before I dropped the car off with the shop, there is also a light scratch on the paint, which I think I can polish out. The installation was done by a shop which a major local Porsche dealership sends this type of work to. I am in dialogue with both the eBay vendor and the installation shop to have this resolved, if I can't, then I will be identifying the eBay vendor and installation shop pending on which area I think are their responsibility but did not resolve to my satisfaction. Sure hope this does not become an expensive lesson.

I've posted my top before. New Image Interiors installed my top. They're located in Toronto. In and out! Super great guys and real car lovers!

Bmantdot, Thanks, I found out afterwards while communicating with the eBay vendor that New Images is a shop he has sold product to, and would have recommended it had he known I was in the same city..... The ironic part is New Image was the other shop I considered based on your inputs, but it's further out of my way, which was the only reason I didn't go there, they may end up helping out fixing the issues if the first shop could not. BTW your top looks perfect now that I've known the potential issues with these tops.

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Sorry to see that. To be frank, it looks like a very sloppy installation, or a poorly designed top. That's why I went with GAHH, I talked with them and they suggested the installer based on the number of their tops he had installed and the lack of complaints (they were very direct about a closer shop that had done few tops). The installer ordered the top and installed it, so there is only one person to deal with. I still have a couple of issues - one is that now I have to figure out how to deal with the defroster when I replace the hard top. I guess I'll have to unplug and plug the connectors when switching, but the installer is getting clarification from GAHH on it. Hopefully, there is a "Y" connector I can get. As for the other, I am not sure is actually an issue. It seems the top, when open, leaves a larger gap between the front edge and the rear fabric panel (the one with the roll bars under it) than I remember. I'll have to check other cabs to compare, but since the top operates perfectly and is nice and taut, I am losing no sleep over it. Good luck with getting things sorted out.

Yah, you have a problem with your installer. They probably used either a new guy, or they were rushed, but I guarantee that they will blame it on the product. Typical. I'll bet that if you get another top from the exact same source, they will install it perfectly, now that they have the experience or that they know they cannot blame the product.

I've been away for a bit, and just catching up on threads. For what it's worth, I sewed and glued the window on my top 5 years ago. I have a '99, and it separated back in 2010. The sew-and-glue job is still holding up like a champ. The plastic window is looking a little worn, but I might try to refinish the scratches soon. I wrote a DIY a while back... https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...epair-diy.html

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Or both, that will be the worst case, to be truthful the top is actually very nicely made, the surfaces generally looked very nice when I looked at it under the strong sunlight, I would have been perfectly happy if not for the visible notches on both side, and the passenger side showing some threads. I tested out the top today, the passenger side fabric is slightly catching the frame rail when the top is closing, this can probably be adjusted as there is supposedly a strap that pulls the edge of the fabric in just a bit while the top is being closed. I wished I had done this, I would have gone to the other shop Bmantdot mentioned, and I may never know how bad things could have gone. That's normal, it's the same with my car.

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I ordered my top from auto tops in California off eBay. I've had zero problems with my top or installation. My shop did other tops for me recently. None of which have any issues.

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There seems to be several convertible top manufacturers in the California area, the one I bought is also from California, perhaps the heat in California causes earlier failures with the convertible tops in general. I strongly foresee ending up at New Image shop to at least have them look at this top to tell me if it's the top or the installation being the cause of the issues.

I should have listened to Bmantdot. Someone mentioned ENCO shop on Dufferin and Lawrence as being used by Downtown Porsche although he had no direct experience, I called Downtown Porsche and the person who I thought was a "service advisor" said yes Downtown Porsche has used ENCO in the past without issues, so I decided to use ENCO since it's about 20 minutes less travel for me. An EPIC mistake. I was told by owner Lou at ENCO two days will be required to replace the top, so I left the car with ENCO for four days (Tuesday to Friday), I had to call him Thursday afternoon for status, Lou said "the material is not wide enough" and they need to stretch the material overnight. It was painfully obvious when I picked up the car Friday that the brand new replacement top I had purchased from German Auto Top https://www.germanautotops.com/ and brought to the ENCO was not installed properly, issues included: 1. A visible notch at the bottom of each side 2. Wrinkles on the driver side edge area 3. Exposed stitching on passenger side 4. Distorted vinyl window bottom edge in the center 5. Numerous fine scratches on the convertible side frame trim, the scratches were not there in the pictures I took the day before dropping the car off, it was from ENCO technicians prying with tools without protecting the trim or the tools with painter's tape. Over the weekend I found out from the convertible manufacturer that New Image shop has installed this top numerous time without issues, the manufacturer said he would have recommended New Image to me had he known I was in Toronto. (He couldn't have known, as I had the part shipped to Niagara Falls for pick up) I contacted owner Lou at ENCO on Monday that I will take the car to New Image for assessment and possible repair if the material was not faulty, he tersely replied: "Go ahead, you bought a cheap top, it's faulty, it's not genuine German fabric, it feels like cardboard.", every excuse except his guys didn't do the job properly. I should known then nothing good will come out of this. New Image was able to rectify all issues with 3 to 4 hours of work, proving there was absolutely nothing wrong with the material, which they confirmed is genuine German convertible top fabric and perfectly fine. I paid for the repair work, then returned to ENCO to discuss compensation. Lou at ENCO flatly refused to acknowledge the material was not faulty, or accept responsibility that his shop installed the top poorly, or refund any amount of what I had paid him, he insisted the price I paid for the material was "cheap" implying it must be inferior and/or faulty. He then began to curse, ending up screaming obscenities at me, at which point I left. I have since attempted to contact Lou/ENCO three separate times through emails to try to work things out, no response was ever received. There is no prospect of getting any refund back from ENCO, however I will share this experience so no other Rennlisters in the GTA will suffer through the same misfortune I did. DO NOT USE ENCO on Dufferin St., go to New Image Auto Interiors in Scarborough. The ironic part is I had fully expected ENCO to perform a stellar job, had the owner Lou's permission to take images so I can endorse them after the job was done, never thought I am now highlighting ENCO as the shop NOT to go to. Here are a few images of the work after ENCO had the car for almost 3+ days: KLIN9922.jpg KLIN9923.jpg KLIN9930.jpg KLIN9926.jpg KLIN9937.jpg KLIN9944.jpg KLIN9947.jpg KLIN9948.jpg KLIN9939.jpg KLIN9957.jpg And after New Image had repaired the issues of poor installation by ENCO: (I'm missing a driver side view, but the hardtop is already on, so please accept my words that the driver side looks perfect now!) KLIN0165.jpg KLIN0157.jpg KLIN0164.jpg

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And not to hijack this, and the job I did doesn't look all "that" professional, but it still works and doesn't seem to leak or show signs of pulling apart.

Just an fyi, if anyone wants to try a DIY glue and or stitch window repair, let me know. I have a beautiful original top with very little wear - just the separated plastic. Includes headliner - cheap. I thought I would repair it a throw it on ebay - but never got around to it...