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I read this thread with a lot of interest, as I am a Boxster owner, and own an upholstery shop. I primarily do marine upholstery, (tops, covers and interiors), so I have a lot of experience with the various gauges of clear vinyl.
This past winter, I was asked by the local Snap-on dealer, if I could replace the window in his new to him 2000 Boxster. I went over to have a look at the top, and as is usual, the top was still in very decent shape, but the window was cracked severely. I told him to get the top off, and I would see what I could do with replacing the rear window.
The first thing i did, was to check the thickness of the original window, and according to my vernier caliper, 30 gauge is what Porsche is using. I had my supplier send down a yard of clear 30 gauge, and after removing the top from the frame, I began the work. I learned a long time ago, that if you want a replacement window to fit properly, you should NOT cut out the old window. I simply placed the new sheet of clear over the old window, and taped it into place with duct tape. Then it was a fairly simple procedure to run a line of stitching around the window opening. I use a thread called Koban dual-duty, which has a polyester core, with a cotton wrap around the core. This thread will swell when it gets wet, so that the needle holes will not leak.
After sewing in the new window, I then very carefully used some very sharp shears to carefully cut the old window out.
The top was then glued back to the frame using a high heat contact cement (do not use regular contact cement, as the heat from the sun will cause the glue to delaminate).
It's a fairly involved project, but the bottom line was that I charged my customer a fair price of $400, and he has a top that looks pretty much like factory.
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