rear window is torn :(

[Mark_T]

I used clear packing tape applied to both sides of the split as a temp fix before I changed out my top. Doesn't look quite as scabby as duct tape.

Putting a 4-bow top from an 03-04 with the glass window can get complicated on your model year. Search this forum and Renntech and you'll see what you are up against. It can get expensive. This is personal preference, but I think the older 3-bow top has nicer lines.

An aftermarket glass window top to fit a 3-bow creates engine access issues. That, and I think the bright orange defroster lines are heinous.

A sewn-in replacement window will never look quite as good as the original, and may leak through the stitching.

After working through this thought process I replaced my top myself (a day's work for me and a buddy) for about $500. I stayed with the plastic window as it is much bigger than the glass one and rear visibility is bad enough to start with without further reducing it. A plastic window will remain clear and last a long time if you look after it.

I don't know what your insurance deductible is, but doing it myself cost about the same as my deductible would have been and I would have lost my claim-free discount had I gone the insurance route.

Decisions, decisions.... good luck!

[JTP]

That does look more like a cut, that's a bummer. Check with forum member tonycarreon. He replaced his top with a GAHH and he was offering his old top for almost nothing. From the pics he posted of it the top was in perfect condition. Black too.

[yellowboxster01]

Keep in mind that the GAHH glass window top has a smaller back window than stock. I didn’t realize this until after I got my car back with a new top. The GAHH window is considerably smaller so rear visibility through the rear view mirror is changed drastically. I had to adjust mine to “night” mode to get visibility back.

If you switch to a stock 03’ Boxster top with the rear glass window this wouldn’t be an issue. I would’ve gone this route had I known about the window previous to having it installed.

[tuanle16]

o/d. let me know if insurance will pay for it. if so, will someone cut my window too, please?

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by Mark_T

...Decisions, decisions.... good luck!

Indeed, Mark. Thanks for all the advice from your post. I did decide to go with clear tape after finding that the duct tape's adhesive failed miserably in the sun and heat we've had from this beautiful weekend...literally just fell off of the window inside and was taken off with my hand with no resistance on the outside. I did the clear tape on the outside yesterday, but need to go back in there and do the inside and more on the outside too before tomorrow afternoon when the rain's supposed to come back...and cover the car back up with my rather useless car cover (working on replacing that with a better one, as well). The clear tape held up well to the top being down pretty much all day today for a solid 7 hours or so (my school's car show ), but I did have to kind of push it back down in a few spots once I returned home and put it back up. I think I'm going to lay a couple of chamois (plural?) down behind the roll hoop just in case any water still finds a way in.

I did also take the time yesterday to zip tie my wind deflectors in the roll hoops (though just the night before I did find out that they stayed put while topless without so much as a rattle up to ~125mph ...and the interior was nowhere near as turbulent as I was expecting it to be at that speed), but better safe than sorry since I hear of people randomly losing them in the 60-80 range, and it really doesn't look that bad since the interior's black. Since I was checking the tape staying in place through a few top cycles, I also checked my drain holes under the clamshell...it was suprisingly super clean under there overall, though there was some really awful primordial soup-type stuff blocking the right side drain, just nasty black muck, but a finger poke into the hole cleared that right up and both sides are free and clear...same was done for the drain by the battery. So there are some positives from the affair.

Ok, tangent over.

Originally Posted by JTP

That does look more like a cut, that's a bummer. Check with forum member tonycarreon. He replaced his top with a GAHH and he was offering his old top for almost nothing. From the pics he posted of it the top was in perfect condition. Black too.

Thanks, JTP, I'll look into that.

And tuanle, I truly hope no one ever cuts your window, whether you want them to or not, lol. Just the feeling of not knowing if that's what happened or if it was just age and wear really bugs me, because if it was a cut, I'd at least like to catch the jerk in the act so he can receive his silver bracelets from the city's finest.

Just to give some updates on trying to resolve the matter, I actually went and talked to a local company here that does automotive upholstery that my friend referred me to (mentioned this earlier) called Redan. He looked at the picture on my phone and immediately attributed it to a stress break from age and likely from temperature drop because it split right where the top folds at the middle (you can see that horizontal break in the picture in the original post). They happen to sell GAHH tops, and the gentleman went straight for them, explaining that, for what I was going to have to pay in labor and parts for them to put new plastic on the original top, it was going to be the same amount of labor for them to put a new top on the car. Of course the GAHH top rang in to the tune of just shy of $1100, and I'm pretty sure autotopsdirect has the same one for somewhere around $700. So with somewhere between 7-and-$800 worth of labor, That was looking to be a rather hefty investment for a glass top that has some shortcomings that I'm not inclined to put up with.

I've got a family friend in a local car club who has a lot of contacts since he and his friends have done a lot of modification to their cars in all aspects, and he is looking into seeing what it would cost to have an upholsterer he knows stitch in a new window if I remove the top and bring it to him. I also have a friend from school who works at an upholstery shop who was telling me to buy the top direct and he'd help me install it, but I figure I can also approach him about getting a new window put into the original top.

I definitely agree with those of you who have said on here that a 14-year-old top should just be replaced, but unfortunately it's not really in the budget for me right now. I've been trying to set my money aside for this car, but this came a little too soon, darn it. I'm lined up to start a new well-paying job at the end of the month, but in the meantime I'm having to be more frugal than my usually frugal self having had to leave my latest job in the middle of last month. So the band-aid for now may have to be just getting a plastic window put in and take better care of it than the one that's coming out until I can get my hands on a hardtop for the same amount of money as a replacement top (or less).

Sorry for the page-long post, folks. I'll keep you all posted about how things progess and what results from it all. Thank you again for all the advice.