For those of you who have replaced your top what kind did you use? Gm or aftermarket? Tell good stories and bad please

 

When I had my old WS.6 vert, the prior owner had the top redone very cheaply using the cheapie black vinyl type material and a plastic rear window. My remedy, because I could not afford to have it done correctly with the right cloth and glass rear window, was to buy a complete assembly off a wrecked car. I purchased the entire top unit, frame and all for $600. It was a straight forward swap and because it was OEM, the adjustments I had to make were minimal to fit it to my car. You just have to pay attention removing the old convertible assembly, or you will be scratching your head in a couple areas putting the new assembly in.

Not sure what your mechanical skills are, but I really did not find the swap to be hard at all, just a bit tedious and time consuming.

 

I would buy a new one either GM or aftermarket. The newest OEM used top you will find is 12 years old period. I have looked at Topsonline and heard good stuff about them but my car won't be getting one for a few months.

 

my biggest concern is cost of having it installed

 

I've had 2 fbody verts. My 98 still has original top. My 91 had replacement before I bought it. Didn't fit that great in the back. My advice is a top is not the part to go cheaply. Spend the extra and get high quality.

 

someone has to had one replaced. what is the cost

 

Ive looked at TopsOnline and have also.heard good things. I think im gonna go with them for a new black top

 

i doubt you'd want to come all the way to minny to fix your top but premier upholstry in rogers mn near the twin cities does great work. my car club had a tour and they fixed my little problem in 5 min! about 2 yrs ago they quoted me $1800 installed if i wanted a new one. cheers. their ph# 763-424-4693.

 

NicB, I paid roughly $800 total. I went aftermarket and bought my top (Stayfast two piece cloth w/rear defrost glass) from AutoTopsDirect about a year for about $400 and had a upholstery shop install it ($400 labor). If the shops were to order and install my top, it would be roughly $1600-$1800 which is ridiculous. The biggest thing I like about this top is the way the rear glass and top are bonded together with no stitching, which looks really clean, and I'm happy with it.

 

Thanks. Ill look into it

 

Are the tops for Camaro and firebirds the same? I haven't found a definite answer but i assume they are

 

I just picked my Vert up from the shop, i had the top replaced w/ factory vinyl and rear glass with defrost for $1000 out the door and it took them about a day to replace.