Advice On A Convertible Top

MustangChris · Dec 9, 2009

sxynerd said:
Eventually, for now I'm going to concentrate on the other looks and things. Since people are too cheap to buy my engine, I'm just going to keep the mustang.

MustangChris said:

sxynerd said:

MustangChris said:

why did you pay $730.00 each time with a lifetime waranty?

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The warranty covers defects and installation, not imperfections. The first time I replaced the peanut butter color top with black someone broke into the car through the top by putting a small hole over the drivers door(well tried to anyway), the second time there was crack in the fold that they blamed on the mechanicals of the top and the third was an issue where they refused to acknowledge was their fault.

It's expensive being picky.

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ah, gotcha.

are you lookin into the terminator top?

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good ;-) lol.

ThePope · Dec 9, 2009

97whitevert said:
The first thing I did when I got mine was replace the top. I called several local upholstery shops asking about tops, and got the same answer from all of them: get an Electron top. 2 of these shops deal solely in classic and show interiors and both told me they would only install Electron tops, that they had the best fit and finish. I gave $180 for the top, as i reused the back glass from my old top. I bought mine from latemodel http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/products/Mustang-Replacement-Covertible-Tops

Do you happen to have pictures of your car with the new top?

Twista · Dec 9, 2009

terminator cloth top

DropTopPony · Dec 9, 2009

I went to a local custom upholstery shop and he does so many Ford tops for the local dealers he was able to make me one out of a better quality Sail Cloth/Vinyl. That cost me @ $800 with labor and new rear glass since i changed colors.

Next top will definitely be the Cobra Cloth or equivalent.
The Cobra Cloth is the same material they used on the Jaguar Verts.

NERD · Dec 9, 2009

DropTopPony said:
I went to a local custom upholstery shop and he does so many Ford tops for the local dealers he was able to make me one out of a better quality Sail Cloth/Vinyl. That cost me @ $800 with labor and new rear glass since i changed colors.

Next top will definitely be the Cobra Cloth or equivalent.
The Cobra Cloth is the same material they used on the Jaguar Verts.

I honestly had never seen a Terminator convertible in person until after I bought my last top. :0(

DropTopPony · Dec 9, 2009

Same here, i had this last top installed @ 05 and had never seen a Cobra Vert with its top up until after i already had this one. I thought they had the same Vinyl as every other Mustang.

duff daddy · Dec 9, 2009

humm i alwasy wondered what the diff was, I knew alot of ver guys go 03/4 but never knew why!!!..

Good info!

NERD · Dec 9, 2009

ThePope · Dec 11, 2009

I also contacted Silver State Ford Parts again to see what a stock 96 GT top would go for. Part # 1R3Z7652700AAB, list price: $953.35 Discount Price: $676.69.

I also looked at the tops Late Model Restorations have as well. I really don't don't wanna go for the Cobra top honestly. Do you think I'm better off with the OEM or the one offered by Late Model Restorations?

DropTopPony · Dec 11, 2009

I'm thinking the tops that LMS are selling are the same you would get from a dealer or the dealers supplier.

GDawg · Dec 11, 2009

When you guys are saying "cloth", you really mean "canvas", right? "Vinyl" doesn't seem to last very long at all.

ThePope · Dec 12, 2009

Anyone care to jump in and help a brotha!!

Late4Work · Dec 12, 2009

ive never had a problem out of my vert

5litrarag · Dec 12, 2009

I say get an Electron top too. Thats the best one out there. If you actually go down to a top shop they can show you all the different materials and tell you the difference. If your car is gonna sit out a lot get a black vinyl top, but if its just a weekend toy that sits in the garage, and you want the better look get the cloth piece.

Mine is in dire need of a top now and I'll be doing another OEM type vinyl top mainly because I'm keeping it all original with its white top and that cloth piece just wouldnt look very good in that color.

ThePope · Dec 12, 2009

5litrarag said:
I say get an Electron top too. Thats the best one out there. If you actually go down to a top shop they can show you all the different materials and tell you the difference. If your car is gonna sit out a lot get a black vinyl top, but if its just a weekend toy that sits in the garage, and you want the better look get the cloth piece.

Mine is in dire need of a top now and I'll be doing another OEM type vinyl top mainly because I'm keeping it all original with its white top and that cloth piece just wouldnt look very good in that color.

My vert is gonna be my daily driver and is parked outside year round. I'm just going nuts with either getting the OEM top or the Electron that's shown on LMR.

5litrarag · Dec 13, 2009

ThePope said:
5litrarag said:

I say get an Electron top too. Thats the best one out there. If you actually go down to a top shop they can show you all the different materials and tell you the difference. If your car is gonna sit out a lot get a black vinyl top, but if its just a weekend toy that sits in the garage, and you want the better look get the cloth piece.

Mine is in dire need of a top now and I'll be doing another OEM type vinyl top mainly because I'm keeping it all original with its white top and that cloth piece just wouldnt look very good in that color.

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My vert is gonna be my daily driver and is parked outside year round. I'm just going nuts with either getting the OEM top or the Electron that's shown on LMR.

Well then I think you know what to do... the Cobra top is nice, but if its gonna be outside a lot, its kind of a waste IMO. Get an Electron from someplace else other than LMR. They are priced a bit high. And if you look around regular top shops they can probably beat the LMR price plus shipping.

NXcoupe · Dec 13, 2009

My vert needed a top about a year after I bought it, had an ugly blue top on it anyway, i wanted black. Got a new top put on, cost me around 600 bucks, guy did a horrible job, lost hardware, took over a week to do it, and wouldn't do anything to make it right.
So, I was living in a not so nice apartment complex and came out one morning to find my top with a huge hole cut in it. I got another one, from a different shop, he took the time to replace all the hardware the other guy lost/put in the wrong place. Cost me 800 bucks.
I came out one morning, saw something on my backseat, opened the door and it was a ray of sunshine, got out and looked the top over and there was a hole where someone was walking down the street and just stabbed it with something. nice. Went to the insurance company, chick wrote me a new top, glass, everything, nearly 1500 bucks at the time, since the top had just been replaced not 2 years prior. I put the money together and bought the cloth top you see on my car now. That was 12 years ago. Car has sat outside on and off before I had the paint redone and it became a garage queen. I learned a valuable lesson, pay for a good top, once. I love this top, get's compliments all the time.

ThePope · Dec 13, 2009

Damn NXcoupe. What a hassle you had to go through. I'm glad to hear the one you have now is holding up well for you.

DropTopPony · Dec 14, 2009

Thats the life of a vert owner sadly... When my car was my Daily Driver i lived in fear of where i parked it. I put an Alpine alarm in with dual zone motion detector and pager etc and only had one incident with someone touching it at a bar. I'm still going cloth next time.... look how purty that fox is with it.