996 hardtops

[steve lyden brown]

This may be a dumb question, but so be it. Tomorrow I am looking at a 996 Cab that has no hardtop. It is a C2. I also know of a 996 hardtop for
sale, but it is off a 996 C4. Is there any conceivable reason why one shouldn't fit the other ? Also, if it is OK and do buy both car and top, what, if any, securing fittings etc. must I be sure to have when I take the car to collect the top ?
Cheers,
Steve.

 

[Rotorhead]

When the hard top is fitted at the factory it is carefully adjusted to ensure a neat and tight fit. If you buy one afterwards it may not fit. You'll get it on, but the catches may not lock, so you may need to take it to your OPC to ensure that it is correctly adjusted.

I know this from experience. I bought a new h/t for my wife's Boxster and it took my OPC an hour to get it to fit and remove correctly. Sometime later I tried to put this h/t on another Boxster and it didn't fit well enough to lock the rear catches.

Personally, I don't like the 996 hard top:
- It looks like a poor fit (you can run your fingers between the rear underside and the car).
- They tend to squeak and rattle (I had two on loan earlier this year and it drove me potty)
- IMO the 996 Cab looks better with the hood up than with the hard top
- The standard hood and rear screen are very good for use throughout the year

Mind you, I thought the h/t was standard equipment.

 

[Michael Downing]

Hardtop is standard, and has been since about 2002 at least. I don't know about before then.

Agreed that the car looks best with the roof down, second best roof up, and at its worst with the hardtop. I'd put that down to the changes to the rear windows more than the join between the hardtop & the rear, though. Nevertheless, it still looks VERY good in any configuration IMHO.

I'd agree the hardtop is a precise fit and would be nervous about mixing & matching. Also, if the car & top have had different lives, will the paintwork match?

Anyway, to answer the original question, to fit/remove the hardtop you need a key. It is essentiall a long allen key with a handle. The front of the hardtop locates in sockets on the windscreen frame and the rear has two vertical pins that (should) then locate in steel holes, behind the rear seats. They are normally covered with a round plastic moulding. Once the top is in place, you get in and screw the pins in to a tight fit with the key. Then you lock the mechanism at the front of the roof and voila, coupe!

If you're in the south Bucks area then let me know - I can show you the bits required.

 

[Peter_Bull]

Hardtop is standard, and has been since about 2002 at least. I don't know about before then.

All 996 Cab's came with a hardtop since introduction.

 

[steve lyden brown]

Thanks, guys, for your feedback on hardtops. It has been really useful in making me aware of all the possible problems. I don't live a million miles away from South Bucks. so may well take up the kind offer of assistance that has been made.
Steve.

 

[steve lyden brown]

Message for MDowning. If I buy the hardtop less 996, then I will probably take it to the Louis Vuitton Classics event at Waddesdon Manor on the 5th. of June. I'm not sure if you know of this event, but it is a really fabulous classic car concours. This venue is in North Herts. Any chance of your going to it ? If so, then please reply personally on marlin@spugs.fsnet.co.uk
Cheers,
Steve.

 

[Guest]

the good news is that the hardtop is optional on the 997 - my last cabriolet had the hardtop fitted when it was delivered and when it was sold and never in the intervening three years. the current hardtop is sitting in the garage where it will sit until the next model...
I have always felt that I was spendng several grand on an accessory I would never use - what a waste...

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: Admin


I have always felt that I was spendng several grand on an accessory I would never use - what a waste...

Now you will be spending several grand on an accessory Porsche won't be supplying as standard kit with the new car [] No wonder there profits are sky high []

 

[steve lyden brown]

The 996 I bought this morning does actually have a hardtop, so I am alright now. However, my insurance has gone up from £350.00 for 2000 miles p.a. on my 964 to well over a £1000.00 for the 996 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pleae, please,please come back to me with suggestions as to firms who qoute low prices for 996 insurance, ideally limited mileage cover.
The problem I have is that low mileage policies do not accumulate NCB, so I have none !!!!!!!
Cheers,
Steve.

 

[Guest]

2003 996 C2 cab based on 15000 PA to include business use as well.

Had a great deal from Liverpool Victoria.

Existin insurer Norwich Union £980 - Liverpool Victoria £750...and nobody else got close.

I have 5 years NCD and it is a second car so that may make a difference? It was also cheaper when I added my wife to the policy even though she never uses it. Insurers claim marriage calms men down....sod off, have you seen me drive???[8D]

 

[steve lyden brown]

Many thanks fr the suggestion that I use Liverpool Victoria for my insurance. My existing insurer Carole Nash Ltd. wanted well over a grand but Liv. Vic have quoted £588 !

Getting back to the thread re hardtops for 996. . When I pick my 996 up next week I need to know exactlu what "tools" Porsche supply for removing/refitting the hardtop, Can anyone confirm this please ?
Steve.

 

[Guest]

When I pick my 996 up next week I need to know exactlu what "tools" Porsche supply for removing/refitting the hardtop

you will get an allen key type tool - one end is used for removing the plastic covers to the fixing holes; the other end is used for releasing/fastening the hard top securing pins (instructions in the owner's manual)

Tip (I had this porblem on each of two 996 cabs):
when you first take the hardtop off you will find the softtop reluctant fully to close. It will need help for the last couple of inches so that the clasp can engage with the top of the windscreen - this is a two man job one in each front seat - single handed you run the risk of the hood coming up off centre and mis-engaging the clasp (which can result in the plastic cover to the clasp breaking). Once closed I suggest you leave the hood closed for 24 hours - thereafter, it will work perfectly every time...
hope this helps
enjoy the fresh air!!

 

[steve lyden brown]

Feedback like this is exactly why I joined the club and is worth its weight in gold. Many thanks !!! One thing I found odd about the 2000 996 that I pick up next week, is that the doors are locked whilst the engine is running. This, apparently, is a device favoured by London drivers as a security measure against car jackers. Any comment on the necessity and wisdom of this would be much appreciated. Also, are there any likely downsides about it. I don't live in London !
Cheers,
SGLB.

 

[Mark_Bennett]

I had it enabled on my car.
It locks as you go above 5mph.
Seems a sensible option - it's not just London where someone might try and open your door whilst you are in traffic.
(A common way of stealing purses/laptop computers/whatever you might have on the passenger seat I understand).
And then there is the car-jacking...

If you don't want it any OPC should be able to disable it. It needs to be hooked up to the diagnostic computer to do this.

 

[steve lyden brown]

Thanks,Mark, for your reply re the doors being locked when the engine is on. From what you say, it seems that it is possible to programme the car in order to do this, rather than it being a post production modification ?
I am also interested in the fact that, in your 996 at least, the doors become locked only at 5 mph or above. In my cars case it seemed to apply even when it was stationary, since the dealer ( Portiacraft) held the door open when we changed seats during the test drive. Obviously,
( neither of us being able to change seats whilst the car was in motion ! )the car was stationary when we changed seats, and he said he was holding his door open to prevent it being locked whilst we changed over.
Does this, I wonder, mean that the doors on my car (unlike yours) are locked at anytime the engine is running, even when stationary ? What do you think ?
Cheers,Steve.

 

[Rotorhead]

I'd get that checked as it sounds like you could easily find your keys locked in the car!

 

[steve lyden brown]

Abso-bloody-lutely !!!!!!!!! I must say that that particular problem hadn't immediately occured to me, but my lawyer's mind was just a'twitching and an'itching at the thought that sumptin like that was a distinct probapossibility !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steve

 

[Mark_Bennett]

Well my car is a Boxster, but I can't see it being any different - the cars share so much!

Yes you can get it enabled/disabled at any time.

I'm not sure about the door locking with engine running thing - that does not sound correct.

The way it works (on my car) is you start the car, and when you hit 5 mph the doors lock.
They remain locked (even when stationary) until you either unlock with the switch on the dash, or pull twice on the door release pull (this becomes second nature after a couple of goes). I would think they should then stay unlocked until you go above 5mph again.

I agree that the behaviour you describe does not seem right.

 

[steve lyden brown]

Getting back to the business of 996 hardtops- has anybody got any experience of "Easyhoists". They make what appears to be a remote controlled electrically operated hoist for raising and lowering the hardtop from the garage roof onto the car. Their prices were exorbitant when first they started trading but have now reduced significantly. However, they are seemingly reluctant to provide a brochure and their website shows bugger-all apart from some geezer standing by a 996 and holding something that could be anything from a packet of fags to a garage door remote control !
I know that this is a bit of a wussy enquiry, but there times when even small problems like removing hardtops are best solved by chucking money at them. Not only that, but at my age and with my flagging sex life the last thing I want is a hernia !
SGLB

 

[steve lyden brown]

I forgot to ask the dealer when buying my 996 earlier this week, but on a Cabrio do the small rear quarter light windows stay up when the hood is down ?
Cheers
SGLB