In article <000001c1dce5$4f926420$172186d9@g6a2g8>, James Carruthers
<j.carruthers@rave.ac.uk> writes
>Well I do have everything already on the hard top. (except for the chrome
>finisher) - I'll take a look at it tomorrow - and see what I might want to
>replace.
>
>But what I realise now is the main question: Will all the seals etc come off
>and then go back on again?
Mine came without any seals on, so I don't know how hard it is to get
them off. I assume that they can be ripped out without damaging the
channels. Getting the new ones on (especially those that go around
corners) is a pig of a job, but I got them all on eventually.
>
>Can I take out the rear glass and then put it back in again safely?
Logically this should be possible; again, I didn't try this.
>
>I guess things like the headlining could do with just cleaning up - there are
>no rips - but it should be fine - perhaps some sort of spray paint for
>material?
The headlining is some sort of vinyl, I think. That being the case, I
would be wary of trying to paint/dye it.
>
>And I'm certainly not going to buy one of those new hardtops that Rimmer sell
>- they just don't compare to the real thing. I'd say the original is worth at
>least the amount of an original (even if you do have to do it up yourself like
>Mike did) - probably worth at least 1 1/2 times more IMHO.
That was my view before I started to restore my original hard-top. I
preferred the look of the original, and simply hadn't realised how much
it was going to cost me, both in terms of money and sweat, to restore
it. I now think I made the wrong decision.
>
>I do use my spit all year round - and the hardtop is important to me. It has
>that added cosy factor when it's on.
Me too.
>
>And hopefully the spraying will be super cheap - as the friend of his that's
>doing it is doing all the bodywork and paint on my uncle's mk2 jag he is
>completely restoring from a pile of bits.
Excellent. That makes a hell of a difference to the restoration cost.
>
>
>Oh and my car-o-scope results:
>
>
> 1. Peugeot 505
> 2. Volvo 244
> 3. Saab 9000CD
> 4. BMW 2002
> 5. Oldsmobile Cutlass
>
>
>
>Apart from the Volvo and Oldsmobile I think thats a pretty good result.
I'd be very happy to have the Peugeot as my second car. I already have
a Saab 9000 as a second car!
>
>It said that Im frugal and a bit of a snob. That other spitfire owners make
>more money than me - I would hope so!!
>
>But if I don't make very much money - I ticked the lowest number - how come it
>picked the Peugeot, Saab and BMW then??
My Saab cost me GBP500. A complete new exhaust system cost me GBP400.
A set of new tyres cost me GBP350. A replacement alternator cost me
GBP50. That is pretty-much all I have spent on it in the last three
years. This is definitely the cheapest car, in terms of purchase price
and repair costs, that I have ever owned. It is also the most
expensive car, in terms of insurance and road tax, that I have ever
owned, but you can't have everything! It does about 25 mpg around
town, and about 40 mpg on the motorway. Overall, it has still been
cheaper to run than the Spitfire, by about a factor of two.
ATB
--
Mike
Michael Hargreave Mawson, author of "Eyewitness in the Crimea"
http://www.greenhillbooks.com/booksheets/eyewitness_in_the_crimea.html
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