|
So I bought my car with the plastic window pulled out, and a previous owner had bought the "kit" off ebay for $50-100 or whatever to do it. My wife and i replaced it, I'd do it again. A few lessons:
1. The instructions indicated you should glue a seam, come back, then stitch. I did not, and opted to stitch. it is not as taut as it could be, because trying to stretch it WHILE stitching just resulted in the stitching holes in the window stretching. If i were doing it again, I'd start on on end, stitch it, keeping it taut, and gluing it. Then, once one side is glued, you can use that to apply tension, do a section, glue. Rinse & repeat.
2. The kit itself came with some adhesive, it was yellow when used. E6000 is much better. I'd just start with that. Dries clear, no issue.
3. You NEED a speedy stitcher. doing this with a needle and thimble is insane. We pulled interior, wife went in the car, I was out, and we did a speedy stitch.
4. My top did not have a "sandwich" construction - it was just an external layer. We stitched and glued the window in, then used some cloth adhesive tape to create a trim inside and cover the plastic window flap.
Overall, it took about 4-5 hours of stitching, then periodic gluing and another hour or so applying cloth tape. It came out pretty well. It's got a little bag to it, but when I'm using the car the top is down anyway. The top is for emergency rain only! I'm sure if doing it again we could do a better job and have it come out better.
With respect to your question? No... I would not pay $1100. If your cloth portion is also toast consider a complete replacement top. I'd expect you could get one installed for not much more than that if you pay for the labor. Less of course if you DIY.
|
Hybrid Mode
