I believe this is going to be a story that no one has heard of. I'll make it short, because it pains me to talk about it. It started out as a sunny day in Nor Cal. So I decided to take the cab out with the top down. As I pressed the switch for the top, boom. What the F@#^%*K! As I take the rear panels off to see what had happened, I hear little bits of metal falling. What the F^%#%#K! The metal case that held the gears ripped off, on both sides. A few bolts ripped out of the body. I don't know how much this is going to cost, but its looks expensive. I hope the had never happened to anybody else.

 

I had something very similar. Was putting my top down and hear what sounded like a gun shot. Looked around and the left side arm had snapped in two. I managed to nurse the top back on again, but it would notlatch down, it was all screwed up. So I drove home holding the top on with my left hand. Took it to the top shop and they had another 911 cab in with the same problem. Ended up putting in one new motor, the arm, and replacing the top. The old top would have worked but I decided to replace it while it was off. Total bill was $4,000. Who said these cars are cheap?

 

It's when I read or hear stories like these that I am thankful I have a manual top.

 

Sheesh...glad i've got a coupe....with no sunroof to fail either.!

 

I've got a maual top on my '87 cab and it works just fine and doesnt take much time or effort to put up/down.

Has anyone considered the idea of converting a power top to a manual version- dont know if its possible but maybe worth considering?

good luck!

Dan
(no desire to put my top down lately- we have 9" of snow on the ground!)

 

Realtime, I am seriously thinking out it. Has anybody out there converted a electric top to manual?

 

[quote]Originally posted by cab&guy:
<strong>It's when I read or hear stories like these that I am thankful I have a manual top.</strong><hr></blockquote>


Me too!

 

Hi Mak: What a Bummer. I wonder what would cause a failure like that? I don't have a cab but am curious. It must have been something binding??? I'm surprised theres not a breaker switch that might prevent this kind of damage?
<img src="graemlins/drink.gif" border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" />

 

This is perfect evidence for the idea that the cars produced today will never make good classic cars. That is just a basic powered top. Imagine the tops in today's cars with a gazillion different motors, gears and whatever. Heck my mother's 93 500SL is complex engough already and it's nearing 10 years old. How about the rest of the electrical gizmos. As a matter of fact, electrical and hydraulic gizmos are what kills the value of cars like the Mercedes 600 limousine. People are petrified of maintaining them. I'll take them as simple as they come thank you. Cabriolet, yes. Power this and that, no. Give me AC and power windows. They can showcase all the other unnecessary electrical gizmos on someone else's time and money. Not mine. Since I already have plenty of time on my hand not having to hunt for my food daily like our forefathers did, I will do the work of raising and lowering the top on my own. I learned a couple unexpected valuable lessons when I stripped out my 911SC. First is that the only crucial item for comfort is AC. The other is that I have never had to look at the car again in terms of fixing little gremlins. Since it has now become as simple as a kitchen knife, if requires the same maintenance as one. We have to stop accepting this unmaintainable complexity in sports cars, which not only adds to their price, but their maintenance costs also.

I hope you can take care of that repair for a decent price.
<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

 

When I was searching out my 911, I contacted our local Porsche dealership for guidence. They warned me to be careful with the power tops because they require alot of maintenance and cost alot to repair if needing service. The advice paid off, I purchased a manual top and saved $3K in the purchase price of the car.

Good luck with your repair and let us know how it works out.

(1988 911 Cabriolet)
<a href="http://www.carcrafter.com" target="_blank">web page - carcrafter.com</a>

 

I converted my power top to a manual top because I was anticipating this "issue".
You can at first try simply loosening the bolts to either side of the rear passenger seats. That worked for me for awhile. Then the relay setup under the passenger footboard went and I had my mechanic bypass the damn thing so the power latching things are powered by the switch.
I agree with the simplicity point of view posted earlier. My Boxster, with all of it's modern techno-wizardry, will probably be a maintenance nightmare when it is 15 years old. That's why my baby, my '87 911, gets the garage, and the Boxster gets the carport! <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />