Glass window top for '97 to '02 Boxsters

[ddb]

Originally Posted by CA_Boxster

DDB,
Sounds like you've got a good thing arranged. It was going to be about $400 for parts and labor (ballpark estimate) to wire up my 2000 Boxster. I suspect Mr. Lee is correct and the pre-2003 Boxsters don't have the wiring. The only reason I can think to have had it is if it was related to the hardtop.

However, I never actually looked. I guess it's possible Porsche threw in a few extra wires just in case hardtops were attached to the cars. It' worth a phone call to a dealer, I guess.

The shop supplied mine. I had actually called to ask if they were aware of these new tops and to see if they'd install one if I bought one on my own - it turned out that they were just starting to offer it themselves.

CA Boxster,

I think it is worth the effort to see if you already have defroster wiring. I don't know where exactly the wire is located, but I think I read it was somewhere in the back on the drivers side of the car. My car is a 2000 as well. I will let you know what I find next week (if I'm able to get an appointment). What color is your exterior and interior? I'm sure my new gray top will require more effort to keep clean, but I love the look of the white exterior with gray top and gray interior. Did you have to spend a lot of time cleaning your old gray top? How do you like the look of the black top?

ddb

[Brucelee]

Keep us posted. I was under the assumption that all Boxsters had pre-wiring for rear speakers too. Turned out that was not true and I had to purchase a harness and wiring to install rear speakers.

PS-I will be a dealer tomorrow and will ask about this.

[ddb]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Keep us posted. I was under the assumption that all Boxsters had pre-wiring for rear speakers too. Turned out that was not true and I had to purchse harness and wiring to install rear speakers.

PS-I will be a dealer tomorrow and will ask about this.

Thanks for checking Brucelee. I'm looking forward to your followup tomorrow. It will be next week at the earliest before I can confirm.

I wish that all Boxsters were pre-wired for the rear speakers. I have a PNP kit to install as soon as I get the time. It looks like the most time consuming part is running the wire from rear to front.

ddb

[CA_Boxster]

I have side mirror defrosters? I've just got to get me one of them owner's manuals...

I got my car last June with the grey top and it had already weathered by then, so I can't attest much to maintaining it. My car began its life in Indiana, and I think someone just didn't keep snow, ice, salt and shovels off the roof.

My car is now silver, Boxster Red and black. I like the black. It looked weird to me yesterday, but it's grown on me already. My car's in great shape and replacing the top made it look new. I also really liked the grey, though. Even though mine was grunged out, it looked great from 30 feet away. Unfortunately, I had to get closer than that... I chose the black just to be on the safe side, and because I think that looks pretty good, too.

Just take care of it and I think you'll be fine. Get UV protectant, wash it often enough and, if you can, garage it. Those fold lines you see at the back corners on all Boxsters do seem to be more prominent on the lighter colors, but that won't be a big deal.

[Tool Pants]

All US car have the wiring and plug next to the rollbar for the rear defogger as that comes with heated/electric mirrors which is standard in the US.

No cars are pre-wired for a rear speaker retrofit kit.

[Brucelee]

" It looks like the most time consuming part is running the wire from rear to front."

Indeed it was!

[Brucelee]

I stand corrected. Dealer says all Boxes are prewired for rear defroster. Weird, no pre wire for rear speakers, but pre wire for defroster.

Go figure!

[RandallNeighbour]

That assumes the car has side mirror defrosters as an option, right?

[Shortbus]

I think that's because of the hardtop. (have defrosters)

[Tool Pants]

All US cars have heated and electric mirrors because that is standard in the US. For this reason all cars have the plug next to the rollbar for the defroster that prior to 2003 was used only for the hard top. You still have a working plug even if the car did not come with a hard top, and of course the dash button is there on all US cars.

The early ROW cars are different. Heated and electric mirrors were an option. If you did not have the option then you had a manual adjustment for the mirrors and no button on the dash for the heater. However those cars are wired for the defroster, but you need to add a relay and the dash button.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=3959&hl=trivia

[ddb]

I received my top today. I still haven't had a chance to open the box. I'm anxious to see the gray material (the box is marked "Graffiti Gray") and the glass window. On the other hand, I don't want to risk compromising the integrity of the packaging and possibly break the glass when I transport the top to the installation shop. Tomorrow I will pay a visit to the top guy to see when he can work me in. Hopefully he can do the job early next week. Can you tell I'm excited?!?!

Thanks to all for the clarification on the rear-window defroster.

I will keep you informed.

ddb

[porscheguy05]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

I would doubt the pre-wiring on any pre 03 Boxes. Since they all had plastic windows up till then, don't see how the wiring would be there.

Make sense?

It is there on my 99. It did not come with the hardtop from the factory, but it still has the hookup, which made me very happy.

[ddb]

All,

I dropped my car off this afternoon to have my new top installed! We opened the box for the first time and looked at the top. The color (Graffiti Gray) and overall quality is beautiful. The installer said the folding creases would be more visible due to the light color; but I don't have a problem with that. The horizontal electric defroster lines are very small (1-2 mm) and are black (or some other very dark color).

The installer raved about the quality of the GAHH products. I saw several big catalogs as well as several boxes in his shop and office. He said he uses a lot of their tops and interior upholstery kits.

The car will be finished late on Thurday or early Friday. I will post pictures as soon as possible.

ddb

[porscheguy05]

I got my GAHH top yesterday through cabrio world, and after recieving it and also instructions from the factory porsche manual on its installation, I decided to take the plung and install it myself. This is my second top I have put on, so I was not going in totally blind, but the other one was on a 61 vette and was a two piece setup that required more adjustment and was a totally different setup. To make a long story short, the shop wanted 9-10n hours of labor, and in six hours of work I was done. It turned out great, and looks like it came from the factory with the glass window. GAHH did a really nice job. They use the same German material as the factory tops, and from the inside the pattern on the fabric even has the same tecture and design. If anyone is considering installing one, it was not too hard, but I would only attempt it if you have some mechanical know how. On my scale of 1 to 10 I would rate it a 5 as far as difficulty, just a little time consuming though. Cabrio World provides a copy of the installation instructions from a porsche factory repair manual, and I only paid 695.00 instead of the GAHH suggested retail of about 950.00 USD. Overall, I am very pleased and would recommend the product to anyone. Please let me know if anyone has any questions.

[MLegere]

Well then.... how about some pic's!!!!!!!

[porscheguy05]

Here are some pics. The lighting was not the greatest, and these are actually pictures of the originalpitures I took. Evidentely I had the resolution set too high when I took them because when I went to upload them to this message it said the file size was too big. So I pulled them up on my computer screen and took lower quality shots. I will try to get some better shots that I can actually post sometime soon.

[larez2]

Thanks for the pictures, and thanks for the cabrio world info - that is a great price!

Hey a few questions:
Did you need any special tools to install the top?

What did you feel was the trickiest/hardest part of the install?

Any other tips or tricks?

There was a guy on this board that installed his own top a little while back, and he recommended against doing it yourself mainly because he couldn't get it tight enough, so it was always flapping.

Thanks,
Larez2

[MLegere]

Porscheguy05

Wow Looks good nice and tight, did you reinstall the liner?

Mike

[Tool Pants]

His year did not have a liner.

[cyclocross]

Hi, guys. I have a 2001. Is the liner attached to the canvas exterior or to the interor of the frame? I can't tell just by looking at my car. Thanks.