greenmp

Anyone out there that has updated their bayonet receivers or just has a set that would like to sell them email me at greenmp@msn.com.

Thanks.

Hurdigurdiman

DITTO 99C2

tdurden032

I'm so envious of the hard top owners out there - '04 cabrio with the "delete" option - so I'm needing the receiver kit/hardware and the top to help with the Midwest winters...

babylonboots

The hard tops really are great in winter. Keeps the heat in and the cold out. Works well in summer too, if the heat gets to be too much.

donking

+5. My 03 cab came with the hard-top. Even though it is parked in a garage and I don't drive it much in the rain, it is nice to have and is easily stored. Also, the aero-dynamics are better with the hard-top, as it starts to float at about 10 MPH less with the soft-top.

BTW, A buddy who recently got a 4-door J**p with a hard-top spent over $8,000 for a soft-top and half doors. Other cars can be expensive too.

sjg1138

No need for the hardtop out here in sunny California. Mine sits in a basement year round gathering dust. We don't get snow and it seems to rain mainly at night so I see no reason to put it on. Maybe if I was taking the car up to the mountains to ski.

Chesmet

Hardtop is pretty cool for winter (indeed quieter and it protects softtop)
And of course, when I go on trackdays I prefer to set it it's heavier but safer.

Fishstock

Does anyone know if the Hardtop mounts were standard in the car whether or not you took the hardtop or delete options from factory? I bought a hardtop for my 2004 996TT and the mounts are NOT in the car. Bummer, thats another $400.

zachsdad1

My 2002 had the hardtop delete option, but the mounting hardware was present. I picked up a hardtop off of CL.

Orient Express

All 996 Cabs up to the 2003 model had the rear receiver hardware installed regardless of if the car had the hardtop or not. Starting in 2004, the hardware was not installed if the car was not fitted with a hardtop at the factory.

It is an easy retrofit, but beware that there are two types of rear mount receivers, a twist-lock version on cars up to 2002 and then an screw-in version on the 2003 cars or earlier cars that went in for a TSB to address hardtop rattling.

If you get a used hardtop, be sure to look at the rear mounting pins to see what type they are so you can order the right receiver mounts.

Here are the two types of rear mount receivers. The older version is on the right.

rwiii

I got a hardtop with my used cab and have had it on a few times. It rattles across bad roads. I built a lifting harass for $20 or $30 worth of pulleys and rings from HD so it can be taken off and on by one person. Never the less, we have too many nice days in Texas all year (like today--12/14) to justify putting it on. It has been hanging on the lift for several years.

Fishstock

Looks like my 04 did not come with the mounts. The hardtop I have has the bayonet style pins. Ill order the correct mounts and then keep my fingers crossed that its not an ordeal to attach them.

fullthrottle52

That is a shame. I have a hard top and it goes on at thanksgiving and comes off at the first sign of spring. I drive mine year round and enjoy it. (Of course not on salt days).

k9cbw

Seeing as this is a CABRIO thread, do any of you guys have water ingress from your hard tops?

I've just taken delivery of a hard top, but I'm getting damp carpets, because water is coming in from the window seals. The soft top is totally water proof.

Any advice on how to fix it?