Any top replacement DIY'ers out there?
 

My top window finally cracked. It looks like you can get a replacement for 300 on eBay but according to Pelican it takes 16 hours to replace!! 6 more hours than it would take to remove the engine. I feel like I could widdle a top of a wheat in 16 hours, what could possibly take that long. Has anyone done it?

Yes I did it. Yes it takes a long time. 16 hours is a bit high. It's relative really, it is not just bolting a new anything on and checking torque. It's an art, and takes a bit of skill to get done quickly.

Oh, spend the extra money on the glass upgrade. Absolutely worth it.

I did mine in a day and at best taking my time I was able to get through it in about 5 hours. Just a note on going with glass if you have an earlier model Box the glass can limit your ability to access your engine as comfortably as you can with a soft top.

Now with that said, there are a couple of parts you want to order before you start your project. You will want to have these in place:
left slide 986.561.669.03
right slide 986.560.670.03
right clamping piece 986.561.559.01
left clamping piece 986.561.560.01
pins 986.561.597.00 (get 2)

Note: I found that I was able to salvage most of my older tops parts which fit better in the new top than the replacement parts...but that was me. You will break a pin, so while it suggests 2 get 4 their cheap. Here is a really good how to thread from Pelican. I used this along with Mike's webpage instructions. End result is I have a perfectly tight top.

This is the site you really want to study:

https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/replacingthetop-adiy

Here is his main page:

https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/mikesporscheboxsterwebpages

Here is Pelican's

Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Convertible New Top - 986 / 987

Good luck!