Transmission is being torn down as you read this post. My mechanic has a tranny in his garage that has 2nd and 3rd gears out (or the piece that engages these gears) and is going to take the main shaft and 1st gear (welded together, from what I hear) out of his and put it in mine. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that this works as it will be a cheap fix... he's only asking $1100 including parts and labor.
have you tried cabrioworld? Their offices aren't far from me, I've ordered from them in the past. They have the best prices on quality tops. Actually they are just a distributor but on a very large scale.
Their boxster tops start at $450