Sean:
I will share with you my experiences to date. My top is sitting
in a corner waiting for me to finish the car so I can complete the top
to put on the car. You know the drill...
I paid $550 for a hardtop. It was the shipping that chewed me
up, about $200 to crate and ship from southern CA to Portland OR.
The headliner had one small rip in it, and I thought about
repairing it, until I discovered that the headliner had more or less dry
rotted, and that the slightest touch would cause it to tear. I had my
sister in law stitch together a new headliner for me, but you can buy
them from TRF for about $140 last time I looked. So we are up to $900.
Then there was lots of missing bits (I had all the chrome trim
though) which added another $50. The paint was shot, having been
repainted twice already, so I had it stripped and repainted when I had
my car repainted. I don't know the separate cost for the hard top, but I
am guessing $350 minimum for bead blasting and painting. Probably more
like $500. So say between $1,250 and $1,500 for a complete, restored,
ready to use hard top if you tear it down and reassemble it yourself.
The gaskets, glass and chrome trim on my top were in good shape,
and will be reused. There was no sheet metal repair needed, so that
saved a few dollars. Most of the mounting hardware was too rusty to
reuse, or was missing. The headliner looks like cake to install. It has
these metal bows to tension it, and looks like it will just fit right in
with some tugging and good glue. I am going to do this myself, but I've
got some rattles to chase on the TR6 before I start on the top.
By the way, I had my top painted gloss black, rather than
matching the car. I figured the convertible top is already black, and I
drive around with it on the car all the time. Plus, if I decide to sell
the top separately, I thought it might be worth a bit more in a
universal color like black. I still am not sure I did the right thing by
getting a hard top, as most people live without them just fine. Too much
time on my hands, I guess.
Cheers,
Vance
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of Sean OBrien
Sent: August 30, 2005 10:11 PM
To: 6pack
Subject: Hardtop Prep
Deat List,
I have been considering buying a hardtop for my '75,
but as a novice to the whole TR6 experience, I am
unsure of the actual workload involved in getting the
top to proper useage condition. I know that it will
need a new headliner (I was told that I probably can't
install this myself... I'll need it done
professionally). Additionally, the top is the wrong
color so it will need to be stripped and painted...
and I expect that I'll need to remove all the windows
and seals to do this.
All in all, I guess this could cost some serious money
to get one to match my car. Has anyone out there done
all of this yourself and for a reasonable amount of
money? Help me make the decision and thanks for you insight.
Sean O'Brien
1975 Topaz TR6
http://www.triumphowners.com/679
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