avslash

So, I'm sitting on a replacement top, window and headliner in the garage.

About two beers into the evening, I can reasonably argue with myself that "how hard can it really be if I'm not in a hurry?"

By morning, I'm back to stone sober and thinking "I would have to be crazy to attempt that."

Any consensus on here. Anybody ever tackled this job as a DIY???

Local highly recommended trim shop wants around $600.00 for the labor, so its not a screamingly expensive job to sub out.

Still, how hard could it be.....

Any thoughts or experience to share???

David in LA

It is possible to DIY but you have to be patient and also have at least one special tool IIRC.

BobbyT

It may not be too difficult to do, but very difficult to get it just right, no leaks, whistles, or wrinkles, unless you have experience. It may be one of those jobs that you can get good at the third or fourth time you do it.

nile13

$600 is _very_ inexpensive is he's willing to use your top. Where is this guy? I'd use him.

avslash

Houston Texas area.

I called him and spoke with him. He claims to have experience with the 993 tops, and based on the pertinent questions he asked, and some of his comments, I tend to believe him.

I kind of think the same about $600.00. Seems pretty fair to me, its just a question of what else I could get for the $600.00 if I was able to complete the job myself.

BSL

I just called a guy in the Chicago area that quoted me $1000 for labor, so $600 sounds pretty good. I have been wondering about the DIY too, but have some apprehension from what I have read in searches and the fact that I couldn't find any DIY instructions/pictures.

As a slight hijack, anyone have recommendations for a place in the Chicago area? I have talked to Riggs Brothers in Naperville so far...

DanQ

I replaced the top on my 67 corvette and it turned out well. However the trick was having access to a VCR tape or DVD with the step by step procedure. While it is not hard to do, the devil is in the details. If you haven't done another top in the past, I wouldn't recommend you do it yourself without detailed instructions. Measurements are important. how far from the rear mount to the middle of the rear top bow? How much material allowance to reserve in various places... those kinds of things. If you don't take the right measurements before you removed the old top how do you know where to staple? Also how much tension do you load at the front bow? you don't want it too tight or the top won't close, you don't want it too loose or you'll have wrinkles..

I could loan you my corvettte tape, but I don't know how much applies to a 911 if any.. No headliner on the corvette. Only pads that run from rear bow to header. start at the back and work to the front

sdcabrio

Spend the $600, get it done right and move on.

I'd have 'em pull out the rear motors and rework the console switch to just power the header latches so it is basically a completely manual top, as well.

DanQ

Here's a link to some online directions for a miata top. Now a 911 is likely different, but it gives you some idea of what you are in for if you DIY it. The corvette was much different, staples, cutting, tackstrips no cables...

http://www.miata.net/garage/MiataTop2/index.html

Just found 911 directions. Way short on pictures however

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/ca...95409_pors.pdf

BSL

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately the 911 description is for the 964 2-piece top, but would probably be helpful for the 993 anyway.

For me, I think I am going to pony up the $ to get it done right. Just need to figure out who the check gets made out to.

jtilden

If it was me....I'd attempt it myself...NO I AM NOT CHEAP (my wife thinks I am)...I just love to work on my car...when the time comes to replace mines I will be doing it myself...I have already replaced the drivers side b-pillar after it snapped while my wife was lowering the top (she claims she did not hear any binding before the snap). That required removing the entire rear section and drilling out rivets...just think of what you could buy with the money you save...if you fudge it up just take it to the guy and maybe he will take a few bucks off the labor since he wont have to remove the old top....

porscheralph

I had mine professionally done about two years ago - $1000. The shop is very high end stuff - MB, Porsche etc. So $600 is a buy if the guy knows his stuff - ask for references/see work he has done on comparable cars. Good luck.

chet

I'm just getting my own diy finished up, so I don't yet know for sure how good a job I did. Having done it, I would say this. I enjoy working on my 993. It's sort of a hobby for me. If I had only been doing it to save the labor cost, I'd probably be shooting myself right now.

Most of my diy's go that way. And then the very next opportunity to do something myself, I do it. Not just the 993. I put in my own hard wood floors when my carpet wore out. I'm not a carpenter. I'm not a mechanic. And I am definitely not an auto trim man. When I replaced my 993 interior, I sewed my own leather seats instead of buying the seat covers (and everything else). That's the only diy that I have been a little disappointed with the work I did. But here I am replacing my own top.

So, if you enjoy the opportunity to work on your own car, go for it. But, $600 sounds like a pretty good price.

BSL

Chet-
Did you happen to take pics along the way? Any special tools that you needed to get (and if so, what)?

Thanks!

chet

I have a lot of pics, but I'm going to need to resize them. They are each over 1 m right now. I also took a lot of notes of what I was doing.

I bought a rivet tool to replace 4 small rivets. I didn't have one before this.