xpensivewino

Hello,
I’ve look at two Spyders lately that had their top stitching starting to disintegrate. My last cars stitching was perfect, even at 11 years old. My question is have any of you seen this afflicting other Spyders? Is this a symptom of poor care and treatment? Is this correctable by a seamstress? Or is buying a new top really the only solution. Would it be more cost effective to have a copy made in the color of my choice using the failing top as a pattern? Hopefully these pictures can help illustrate what I’m seeing. Thanks for any input.

Spyder_2011

I would think a good upholstery shop can repair that.

Mine doesn’t show any wear but I’m also pretty careful when handling the top.

islaTurbine

I suspect that it’s indicative of the life lived by the car. My 2011 is low miles and well cared for (concours) and its top still looks new. My buddy’s 2011 is a rebuilt title track car with 60k+ miles and his top looks like your pic.

xpensivewino

I would like to rehab this particular car, but Im sure there’s a lot of other deferred items on the car as well, so $4k out of the gates for a new top is a big ticket item.

DaveGee

See the comment above. Find a good upholstery shop to do the stitching and in the meantime put your budget towards more important maintenance. Your profile doesn’t indicate where you live, but it’s likely you’re not going to be using the top much anyway.

DaveGee

xpensivewino

I live in So Cal, but I always use my top. My last Spyder, I always drove with just the Bimini top on windows down and no back panel. The top of my head is folliclly challenged!

DaveGee

Got it.

Since you’re here in SoCal, you might want to contact Mikes Tops and Upholstery in Mission Viejo. My only affiliation is that they are the guys who reupholstered my seats. DM me if you want to meet up there so they can look at my top to give you an estimate on repairing the one you’re considering. I live nearby.

DaveGee