I bought one of the Stayfast tops from Stan with the zip out rear window. I
had it installed
in California by a shop before I picked up the car. There are good and bad
points about this
top.
Good: Living in Texas we get a bit of heat that is really helped by being able
to open up the
rear window and letting the wind blow through without sitting in the sun. The
top looks good
too and after a year, the cloth looks new.
Bad: The workmanship of the top left something to be desired. There were a
couple of seams
where the stitching ran off the edge of the cloth, leaving gaps in the
stitching. Last month
the stitching around the back of the top where the bar goes in to hold the rear
edge of the
top started coming apart. About 3 weeks ago more stitching started coming
apart that used to
hold the zipper to the fabric above the rear window. The top has always leaked
at the front
corners. I took the car to a top shop here in Austin that looked at it and
said that for
about $200 they could redo the part of the top that hangs over the windows to
keep the rain
from coming in. Another thing that I didn't like about this top, but that I
understand is not
a problem with this top only, but matches the factory top is that the cut of
the top at the
rear of the side window overlaps the top by a good 2", causing a really odd
looking fit. The
top shop here in Austin says that they will fix that also. At this time I am
wondering if it
is worth the expense of having this top repaired if the stitching continues to
deteriorate.
This top has been on my car for only 14 months! I am going to contact the
manufacturer to
see what they say, but haven't come up with their name or phone number yet. I
understand
that they are located just South of Los Angeles. I understand that the
workmanship is dependent
on who does the work, but QC should have spotted at least some of the defects.
In all fairness, I haven't taken the time to look closely at the failing
stitching to see
what is causing it. It could be defective or the stitching could have caught
on something,
which pulled it out. I will try to take a look at it later today and post a
followup.
One other thing. Even though I have a low windshield (67.5) car, I paid to
have the covers
added that conceal the top frame above the doors. I would not recommend this
and I plan on
cutting mine out. When the top is up it looks fine, but when you fold the top
the flaps
create too much bulk, making it difficult to fold the top down into the well
where it is
supposed to go, rather, it sits up on top of the lip and needs to be almost
forced down into
the storage space.
I purchased the top and had it installed before I took delivery of my car. If
I had the
car here in Austin and it needed a replacement top, I would consider having a
custom top
made by a high quality local shop, rather than buying one off the rack.
My previous 67.5 has a Robbins top on it that was over 10 years old when I
retired it. Some
of the heat sealed seams were starting to let go, but it didn't leak. As I
understand you
can't get the zip out rear window from then though, and I DO consider it a real
plus in really
hot areas.
Peace,
Pat
--
- Support Habitat for Humanity, A "hand up", not a "hand out" -
Pat Horne, Network Manager, Shop Supervisor, Future planner
CS Dept, University of Texas, Austin, Tx. 78712 USA
voice (512)471-9517, fax (512)471-8885
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