GAHH Top, Engine Access - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

tonycarreon · 04-04-2011, 02:37 PM

it honestly wasn't too bad. i wouldn't want to have to do a lot of work through it, but getting the air filter out and the MAF out wasn't too much trouble. ended up having one hand come from outside and the other went through the inside and behind the seat. looked through the glass to see what i was doing.

was able to get the air filter out (wasn't bad after a year and a half (1 yr with no snorkel)) and was able to get the MAF out, clean it and put it back in.

as a side note after cleaning the MAF i've noticed that it seems to idle better (it used to "hunt" for a few seconds upon start up. now it just goes right to 800) and the exhaust doesn't smell anywhere near as "rich" as it used to.

jaykay · 04-04-2011, 04:09 PM

Thanks for this Tony.....doesn't look too bad. What do you think ...20 percent reduction in access?

tonycarreon · 04-04-2011, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaykay

Thanks for this Tony.....doesn't look too bad. What do you think ...20 percent reduction in access?

yeah, 20-30 tops. depending on where you stop the top you get a little more or a little less. i found that opening it further than i did with the plaatic gave a little more since you can push the glass in a little, but then the z top kind of gets in the way. for smaller jobs not an issue but like i said i would hate to do a lot of intricate work.

2TrunkSteve · 04-04-2011, 08:43 PM

I did the GAHH top about 18 months ago. I would concur with the 20-30% reduction in the workable opening. I like the top much better though and the clear glass is 90% better than my old clouded plastic window. I'd say it was a great trade-off.

shlim8 · 04-05-2011, 01:35 AM

Fantastic pictures... thanks ! This settles one of the fears that I had about changing to a aftermarket glass top....

The other worry I have is about the smaller rear view... can I bother one of you guys to measure the size of the glass window ? Just wanted to know how much smaller it is... Thanks..

Ideally I would like to have original 03/04 boxster convertible top, but it's impossible to find one locally, might wait till I travel to the US in Oct to hunt at the scrapyards....(if I can wait that long, it's abit bothersome to have to polish off the cloudiness every few weeks - hot sun here... and doing the chop everytime I lower the roof).

Mike_Yi · 04-05-2011, 04:40 AM

Thanks for the pictures! That made my mind up. I'll be replacing the vinyl or getting an '03/'04 factory top.

tuanle16 · 04-05-2011, 10:48 AM

thanks tony!

tonycarreon · 04-05-2011, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shlim8

Fantastic pictures... thanks ! This settles one of the fears that I had about changing to a aftermarket glass top....

The other worry I have is about the smaller rear view... can I bother one of you guys to measure the size of the glass window ? Just wanted to know how much smaller it is... Thanks..

Ideally I would like to have original 03/04 boxster convertible top, but it's impossible to find one locally, might wait till I travel to the US in Oct to hunt at the scrapyards....(if I can wait that long, it's abit bothersome to have to polish off the cloudiness every few weeks - hot sun here... and doing the chop everytime I lower the roof).

i don't know how much whole tops are going for over there but for me, the cost of replacing the old top with the GAHH was worth it. the window size is more limited (than the plastic top) but not so much that i ever feel like i made a trade off or really had to sacrifice anything. i would not be patient enough to find one in the right color that was not sun damaged...

went out and took a few snaps of the old top (with plastic window) over the new top. you can see the difference in size. it seems (and i can confirm from driving and looking in the mirror) that most of the height reduction was taken from the top. looking in my mirror i see mostly the grills / bottoms of cars and rarely into the driving compartment itself.

also found a before / after comparison

Andrew McD · 04-06-2011, 01:39 PM

Sorry daft question, but how have you held the hood open?

Thanks, Andrew.

Frank M · 04-09-2011, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonycarreon

it seems (and i can confirm from driving and looking in the mirror) that most of the height reduction was taken from the top. looking in my mirror i see mostly the grills / bottoms of cars and rarely into the driving compartment itself.

You probably have to somehow mount your rear view mirror on the dash for better rear visibilty.