Picked up a hard top
 

Yesterday was beautiful day for a road trip so I picked up a hardtop about 650 miles round trip. My first though would be it would make a nice contrast, but my gut feeling is it's getting painted black this winter
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Agree. !!!

Have the body shop remove the ears and fill them in. I have them and they make noise at speed and you will probably not use them.

What do those ears do?

The ears are an additional way to mount the Roof Transport System (RTS). My hardtop has them, and while you can use them, you can also mount the RTS with the mounts that bolt in front of the clamshell directly to the body. If anyone else has a RTS, I would recommend this way, and not using the ears as they are not very stable, and will cause a lot more noise than when mounted directly to the body. Kind of an interesting curiosity of the early hardtops. I have not noticed any extra noise from the ears though. :cheers:

1. Definitely paint the hardtop to match the body. Search for images of a black car/black hardtop combination and I think you will agree it is a nice look.

2. I have a hardtop with ears and I had not thought of filling them. It may be something I'll do someday because they do look kind of goofy. I've never noticed any noise from them though. I guess I would have to compare hardtops with and without ears to be sure.

Either paint it black or another more economical and reversible alternative is to vinyl wrap it, either in black or carbon fiber. I've a black hardtop on a white 986 and maybe someday I'll wrap mine in 4D carbon fiber!

evo-r, do you have a ballpark idea of the cost to get a vinyl wrap? My hardtop could use a new paint job, but if a wrap is cheaper, I might consider it.

There is nothing wrong with the present color for the contrast. Painting it black would look good too. I have a black Boxster and if it was mine I would leave it as it is as it is more noticeable and it looks really good....

I just did a quick search on eBay and for a roll of 5' x 10' 4D CF vinyl it's only $68 (shipped) and I guess the labor would be like 2 hours, so it depends on if you gonna DIY or have a shop do it for you. If you'll have a shop do it then my guess would be $200 total (parts & labor).
10ft x 5ft 4D Professional Grade Carbon Fiber Vinyl Wrap Airrealease Bubble Free | eBay

I painted mines Black. It was orig. white.
I wouldnt mind Wrapping it too!
Go with the WRAP. You can try different colors and see what you like.
I'd stay away from the Carbon Fiber look tho imho.

or plasti-dip it, but the color will be flat though. It's cheap and easy DIY

I agree with you. I like the contrast. It makes it different than anyone else and less boring IMO. I have a silver box and if I got a hard top it would be a contrasting color...

Top on car during winter. Remove-paint during summer.

I ordered a roll of the 3M 1080 Carbon fiber gloss Black wrap. If it goes well I post the results if not it's Black Paint.

Can't wait to see the result of the wrap... please post pictures whether good or bad with the CF wrap. Good luck! :cheers:

Well I'm not certain this is a everyone DIY but it done. If I had the time and material I'd do it over. It took a 60" X 60" piece. I bought 60"X 72" piece and the first piece was awful so I took it off

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The top took 39.5" X 37.5"
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2 pieces 18" X 46" Started a 8:30 AM done at 3:00 PM

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If I were to make an observation on the carbon fiber film. It would be better to practice on a regular film first, This is heavy and does not want to mold well. It wanted to wrinkle very quickly because the roof crowns both way and the material wants to pucker as you get to the corners.

Looks great, good job! :cheers: