> Dammit, Kevin...I'm living that myth here in KY and want to
> drive the B this
> fall/winter!
> I'm tempted to buy the generic Robbins and do the work, but I'm
> contemplating a company called Caribou Canvas too....Don't
> start telling me
> I'm made of sugar, I'm not, but the SO is. ;) Plus, I'm tired
> of bailing out
> my bulged tonneaux (rain collector under the cover) every time it
> rains...(no garage, you see)
> Haha...as an Arizona guy I'm envious.
>
> Dan
I just had a Caribou Canvas top (the top is canvas, BTW)
installed. I polled the list some time ago about putting it on myself
and, after reading the responses, decided to have a local MG shop put it
on. The guy who did it said it was the hardest top to put on that he had
ever done. Apparently, it's not cut as precise as a Robbins or Anco top
- he said he had to do a fair amount of trimming (although I've looked
and can't see where said trimming was done). He also had to deal with
some DPO hacking (quick - what do we call a shop that does hack work?).
The top came with the lift-the-dot fasteners installed, but the female
"standard" snaps (i.e. the two snaps on the top corners of the
windshield, the two snaps on the base of the frame behind the doors, and
the two snaps on the straps that go over the frame above and to the
sides of the rear window)were neither installed or included with the top
when I got it. It also took two months for the thing to show up - and
yes, they charged my credit card the day I ordered it. I ordered a top
cover at the same time, and it took even longer - I was so pissed about
the delay that I decided to repair the old tonneau that came with the
car from the DPO and sent the top cover back when it finally showed up.
On the positive side, the top looks great. The shop that did the
work had just put one of the Robbins canvas tops on another car. When I
went to pick mine up, the two were parked side by side, and you have to
look real hard to see any difference - certainly not $300 worth, which
is the difference in cost between the two. I just picked it up last
Friday, so I don't know anything about durability or fading yet - I'm
sure I'll know by this time next year.
To sum it up, at this point I'm satisfied with the product. I
could do without the slow-ass service, and they really should have
included the snaps even if they didn't put them on. I'm sure if I had
called and bitched they would have send them - but I, or anyone else,
shouldn't have to do that. Of course, YMMV.
Dan Pockrus
'74 CBB
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