Peter_964C2

My car is almost 15 years old now, and I'm thinking replacing the convertible top. On ebay I could find a store ( Here is the link ) with inexpensive tops. 399 usd cheap. In europe they are about 900 usd.

I have 3 questions now :
1- Does anybody knows of the quality of the top's is good ?
2- Shipment to europe, Belgium.. not to expensive ?
3- I'm a diehard DIYer. Is it possible to replace the top myself ? Do I need special tools ? I know that it takes about 12 hours for a profesional. That's probably because it is not an easy job.

Regards
Peter

Thomas Owen

Peter,
I have replaced several 911 tops, but not a 964. The big difference is that pre-964 are 2 piece tops where the 964 is one piece.

Let me state several things to keep in mind:

1. quality of the top and material will 'make or break' your entire project'. There are many manuafacturers out there with a wide variety of quality.

2. The job will take the first timer much longer than you imagine to complete (properly). My first top on a '88 took me about 30 hours, but I am a perfectionist.

3. Take pictures of the old top as you remove it to help with reassembly.

4. Don't even start the project if you know you need the car in 'x' number of days because you will be rushed in the end.

5. No special tools involved. Be patient and use only quality products.

I only use (German canvas) tops from Autos International. http://www.autosintl.com/ The first one I bought fit and I hestitate to try anyone else since.

EDIT- My mistake, the 964 is a two piece, the 993 is the one piece top.

Good luck -

malc elliott

The 964 top is also two piece, the later 993's became one piece and these can be fitted to the 964 vastly improving the looks. It does need to be 993 style made for the 964, these are availble fairly widely.
I would obtain a sample of the material first to examine the quality.
I had mine fitted for £300, and 2 days, quite reasonable I thought, and well worth getting someone else to do it

flatsixcrazy

Hi Peter,

I've just replaced my 964 two pieces top and it took me about 15 hours to do so. It wasn't a hard job at all. I would echo Thomas' advice and take lots of picture when you take the top off. Start with the front and then the back piece of the top. I did not take any pictures and relied on my memmory. Big mistakes, as I have to use a lot of time to figure out which piece fits how?.

As for the fit of the top, I chickened out and bought a used (excellent condition) porsche factory top that was taken off for some reason. So all the screwholes locations are already present. It was just a bolt on and go kind of job. I can imaging it may be a lot easier than starting with a brand new canvas and have to mark your own screwholes. If you go with a new top, save your old top and use that as a template for the new canvas.

Also, I replaced the headliner and two pieces of canvas retaining straps at the tune of $80 each. If your hardwares are still in good shape, reuse those. The screws and washers are almost $2 each at HBL porsche in Tysons Corner, VA.

Oh, and get a dozen or two of the small c-clamps and alot of those free paint stirring sticks at Lowes, you'll need them to put pressures on the newly glued parts. I use brush on glues as it is a little less messy than the spray on ones (I tend to overspray :-)).

Good luck to you and go for it. Andy

flatsixcrazy

Oops!!!! Peter,
I apologize, I just realized you are from Belgium, so there won't be a Lowes. Instead of the paint stirring sticks I mentioned, you can use any thin pieces of wood strips that will bend slightly and conform to the contour of the top and it was there to protect my canvas from the C-clamps that I used.
Andy

Peter_964C2

Hi All,
Great.. the feedback is very usefull for me.
I think I will go for it. I don't need the car, if nessecary it may take weeks to replace the top.
First of all I want to find a good quallity top.. that's the start.
So if anyone else can give me some hints (europe), that should be perfect.