Why I converted to a manual top...

[Pastor T]

I love this entire thread. The top mechanism behind the passenger seat of my Boxster started making a slight clicking sound about a week ago. Within a few days my top way pretty much stuck in the up position. Long story short, I removed the push rods and now have a completely manual top. I have ordered a few bushings and plan to grease everything good, put it back together and see what happened. I cannot afford a new top transmission on the passengers side right now. I really believe the problem is inside there somewhere. I just reading everything I can find, and I think I can rebuild the transmission if it comes to that. In the meantime and maybe for longer than I intended, I have a manual top. There is nothing wrong with doing that for a while.

[Eric G]

Okay, got a PM about some pictures of the conversion... noticed that the images I had posted were dropped by my host site. Sorry for not catching this earlier.

Take care...

[Gelbster]

Thank you for posting this. As these cars decline in value, we need mods like this to avoid wasting money on repairing perennially troublesome/superfluous mechanisms.There are plenty of other parts to buy that can't be modified to work !
Here are a few suggestions:
Draw Latches:
Stainless steel, optional lockable over-center latches
Southco V7 about $25 each on Ebay
V7 - Over-Center Series Latches - Southco
Draw Latch,Keyed, Southco V7 Series 316 Stainless Steel Electro Polished | eBay

Sugatsune STF series - there are many sizes with concealed fasteners.Expensive

Southco :
Draw Latches - Southco

There is guy called Maurice in Montreal(?) who is the top-fix guru
His screen name is SCHOIR
http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/27912-convertible-top-replacement.html

Hope this helps move this great mod into the "Favorite" category

[shinsaku]

This is my first post here, 986forum.com. I have just attended to this forum to share my idea to fix the clam shell of convertible top compartment without modifying appearance and complicated operations.

Similar to many boxster owners, I had experienced a trouble on convertible top with my boxster (MY2008 987). I loosened a big bolt which fixes v-shaped arm to the transmission and the top can be operated manually. Then I need to fix unshut clam shell to the body because the convertible top of 987 is a bit voluminous with insulators and glass rear window.

Finally I came up with an idea to fix the clam shell by the rear trunk lid. Thanks to the smart hinge mechanism of it, the front edge of the lid goes back when it opens, and there is some space to pass the hook attached under the clamshell through.

Please take a look at the pictures. We can use the screw of the striker to fix the hook, and we do not have to modify the bodywork at all. It is completely reversible. It does not affect to the usability of rear trunk lid.

I have also uploaded a movie clip of the operation of the top.
https://youtu.be/5dsoV3tNz_M

I think this idea works for 986 similarly.

Finally I would like to note some tips to make and adjust the hook.

1. The top of the hook should be aligned the bottom edge of the clam shell. If the height of the hook is too high, it might damage the hinge or panel of the rear trunk lid. It is just for suppression of rattling, so looser is better.

2. The striker under the clam shell is not perpendicular to the surface of clam shell. The striker is placed vertically, and the clam shell is curved. So you need to distort the hook a bit to align the top edge to the surface of clam shell.

3. You can adjust the height of the catch of the striker to compensate the thickness of the hook.

I hope this post will help someone.

[Gelbster]

Shinsaku - Brilliant first Post. The video is excellent. This could save owners lots of money and frustration. Someone should do a video of the modification process.
This is the best mod so far because it does not require ugly external latches.
Thank you for your contribution

[particlewave]

Good first post, indeed.

Regarding the original topic, though, I am appalled. If a headlight breaks, is taping a flashlight in its place a viable option? If a seat breaks, will you bolt down a lawn chair?
If your trunk latch breaks, will you remove it bolt on an old belt? Absurd, right? This "fix" is exactly the same.

If your top mechanism breaks, fix it right.

.

[The Radium King]

fantastic! excellent soln. fyi, to those that question the concept of a manual roof, some remove the motors to reduce weight. and some want the old-school roadster experience which includes manual roof. and some have noted that you have to get out of your car anyway to properly fold the plastic window, which sorta negates the whole automatic roof concept.

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by Gelbster

Shinsaku - Brilliant first Post. The video is excellent.

+ 1

Great video Shinsaku-san, thank you!

[Allegro]

I wonder if you could have used small Nd magnets to hold the clamshell down rather than the latches.

[Oldcarguy]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

fantastic! excellent soln. fyi, to those that question the concept of a manual roof, some remove the motors to reduce weight. and some want the old-school roadster experience which includes manual roof. and some have noted that you have to get out of your car anyway to properly fold the plastic window, which sorta negates the whole automatic roof concept.

Just to note not in the 2003-2004. IMHO, my 2004SE value would be significantly negatively impacted with a manual roof conversion. Great tip for those who want to convert, however - most simple, elegant solution I’ve seen.

[Gelbster]

The cost of repairing a broken ,electrically powered top can be unjustifiable on an older Boxster. This mod is a great way to help those on a tight budget keep their Boxster on the road. The money saved has many other potential uses for repair and maintenance.
The Pelican book has a helpful section on repairing the mechanism. Depending on the extent of the problem and how many prior (unsuccesful) attempts at a repair have been made, it can take hours of tedium to fix. And who knows how long the fix will last. So this mod is very useful for some of us.

[Deserion]

To me it seems most items that break in the mechanism are the roof pushrod end caps, and the main gears in the transmissions. I just replaced both sets for mom's 987 for about $160.

I was going to get new pushrods, but found plastic replacement parts. Then found the transmission gear (plastic) split which was one of the underlying culprits of why the clamshell wouldn't budge. The set of 2 was about $120 on eBay. For the interim it's been a manual roof, though.

[itsnotanova]

I love my manual roof and it's one of my favorite modifications. My box has lots of modifications too. I can open and close it in the same time it takes the electric to just open. I also don't have to turn the car on and set the hand brake to do it. I originally went manual to save weight but honestly I would do it for the other reasons if I ever bought another box again

[Boxstard]

Interesting thread, as I’m motivated with weight reduction. I got hard top on for winter and soft top out of the car to replace plastic window, will appreciate ideas for minimalists.

[shinsaku]

Thank you for your positive replies. Of course I know it would be nice to repair my boxster to the original form. Nevertheless, I still have several reasons to modify my top to manual operation.

The first reason is, as you suppose, the cost. Both transmissions are broken, and the authorized dealer in Japan said it needs around 4,000USD (400,000JPY) to repair. The transmission is supplied as assembly only; and the price is around 1,500USD per a side. We can find the replacement of fragile plastic gear in the transmission on the market, but we need hydraulic press machine to engage the gear, as shown in figure 21 at
https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/BODY_Convertible_Top_Gear_Replacement/BODY_Convertible_Top_Gear_Replacement.htm
So I decided to tentatively fix the top without buying anything. However, after modifying the top as I posted, I was fully satisfied. Since I do not modify the bodywork, I can repair the top to be motorized in the future.

The second reason is the possibility of the next failure at the other part. As far as I know, the top of the boxster has several major failure modes; breakage of four ball joints, micro-switch at the top-front latch, ablation of mechanical power delivery cables (flexible shafts from the motor to the transmissions), control relay, and the transmission. In my case, the top suddenly failed at midnight, and the top stopped halfway. It was too dark to detatch the ball joints, so I gave up to close (or open) the top and drove the car very slowly to the home. Fortunately my parking space has a roof and interior was safe from rain, but I was really disgusted such adamant powered top. So I would like to avoid such challenge in the future.

The third reason is, to be honest, my perverse mind :-) I like to think and present some kind of tricks or contraption. It is also a great pleasure for me if someone would be made happy to hear my idea. This is just an additional option when you have some trouble on the convertible top of your boxster.

Since I am not a native English speaker, I am afraid of unnatural expressions above. Thank you for reading.