2003 OEM glass convertible top installed on an 01 Boxster

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

We didn't weigh the two tops prior to doing the swap, but I can tell you they both don't feel very heavy. Easy to pick up by yourself with no assistance because of the lightweight magnesium frame. I paid $700 for the complete top and frame.

Cool, cheaper than a GAHH and full engine access.

[ddb]

Nice job!

Were you tempted to paint the rollbar since you had all that access?

[unklekraker]

wow...$700 only awesome!

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by ddb

Nice job!

Were you tempted to paint the rollbar since you had all that access?

haha...well, it was like 90F degrees out at the time or something like that and I was hot, so no...didn't even think about the rollbar. lol. But yeah, that would be a great project.

[KevinH1990]

Congratulations. This is a modification I would like to make to my car.

Where did you find your top?

Do you have any suggestions for searching?

I think I have a couple of years of life in my top, so I can afford to be patient.

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by KevinH1990

Congratulations. This is a modification I would like to make to my car.

Where did you find your top?

Do you have any suggestions for searching?

I think I have a couple of years of life in my top, so I can afford to be patient.

Thanks. I got my top from someone locally who wrecked their car, but the top was undamaged, and wanted to part their car.
My friend who helped me put the top on also just sourced an 03 complete top and frame from a dismantler for a similar price to what I paid. I would check salvage yards every so often because unfortunately people do wreck their boxsters. Finding an 03 or 04 is just a matter of being persistent in your search, and checking with these salvage yards every month or so. Good luck!

[Perfectlap]

I got two words for that:

NICE!!

My plastic window is nearly perfect the canvas is good as new but I now have a nickel size cut in the plastic. grrr....Time to start calling the salvage yards.
How many hours did this swap take? I have a friend who is pretty handy to make up for my incompetence. Although I did just complete the mother of all kitchen cabinet refinishing projects. I need an Advil.

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

I got two words for that:

NICE!!

My plastic window is nearly perfect the canvas is good as new but I now have a nickel size cut in the plastic. grrr....Time to start calling the salvage yards.
How many hours did this swap take? I have a friend who is pretty handy to make up for my incompetence. Although I did just complete the mother of all kitchen cabinet refinishing projects. I need an Advil.

Thanks. Well, being that this was the first time we tried this, we took our time, and it took us from start to finish about 3 hours, but that was because first, we noticed that a clamping rail on the b-pillar of the top had snapped, so we had to replace that first. Getting the old top off was pretty easy. There are only 3 bolts on each side of the frame that hold the top on the car, but you have to remove a couple of trim pieces near the b-pillar that protrude over the base of the frame where the bolts are. That takes about 10 minutes each side, but is pretty easy. Then after putting the new top in, you have to make minor adjustments to the positioning so that everything closes and opens properly without being off. What I mean by that is that there is some play in the positioning of the frame where the 3 bolts are on each side where you can actually move the frame forward/backwards up or down before tightening the bolts, and also the positioning of the pushrods that connect to the top from the transmissions. If you tighten the 3 bolts when the frame is too forward, the top latch hook will touch the windstop between the roll bars when you cycle the top. If the pushrod length is not just right, the ball caps will pop off when you operate the top. However, it's all very straightforward, and we could probably do the job now in under 2 hours.

If you end up sourcing an 03 or 04 top, feel free to PM me, and I can give you some pointers on the install (my friend who helped me put the top on actually is the one with the expertise, so I can put you in touch with him for some helpful tips). It really is a plug and play bolt in, provides a pretty large window, and doesn't limit access to your engine from the top (there's a built in strap on the top that helps hold the back of the glass window up and away from the engine cover when you need access), so I think it's a no brainer over the GAHH top if you can find one. The one thing I hated about my old plastic windowed top was that I never quite knew when it was too cold out to put down the top in fear of the plastic window cracking (which it did one day). This solves it.

Nuther pic to show you how nice and big the window is...oh, and there's PORSCHE engraved in black letters at the bottom center of the heated window.