I bought an OEM hard top from some guy on this site. The agreement was that he would take off $100 from the price because he didn't want to take off his installation parts from his car.(because he thinks it's too much work) We were both under the impression that the istall kit was less than 200 bones. Come to find out, the install kit is about 500. F#%$ that. I offered the $100 back to him for the parts and he won't return my calls. After new install parts, plus shipping, plus building a crate to ship it in, plus base price I may as well have bought it brand new. It is my impression that all I would need is catchers in the back to make it so the top would stay on. Thats all I really care about. Is that all I will need? Where can I get this crap cheeper since this hoser won't take the time to save me 400 bucks?

 

oh yeah, how hard is it to install and take off these catchers?

 

To remove only the rear catches, you need to take off a bunch of trim pieces starting with the door sill, then the piece just behind it that goes up the edge of the door jam. Then the rear piece with the little "coat hooks" on them, then the side trim piece that hides the catches. From there, the catches are only a few bolts. However, you need the revised trim piece that has the brushes on them or your HT pins can't get past the plastic around the old brushes.
$500.00 seems a lot more than I recall. Contact Hardtopguy to see if he can sell you just the basic pieces.

 

Quit yer whinin' and do you're homework . Prices here.

ron

 

those prices are just extra charges added on the hard top cost. notice there is no charge for 01's. should I expect to get it for free then? I contacted hardtopguy and thats where I got the 500 figure from. for just the basic pieces 175 per catch. thats 350 plus shipping

 

i thought you just need a kit.. and that's around 100+ isn't it

 

The "kit" is only the wiring bits. Each MY of car needed a slightly different kit as the later ones had more of the wiring already in place. The catches are always part of the HT purchase. If he needs the catches and the accompanying trim pieces, then he's looking at buying individual components as a "custom" order. And we know how expensive this can be to order parts separately. In retrospect, I guess $500.00 shouldn't be a surprise.

 

Well those are the prices of the "install kit" which is what you said cost $500. It sounds like you need the install kit and some additional parts that come with the HT itself (latch catches or whatever). The seller should have known better and likely was not being straight up with you. It always pays to do the research yourself before plunging in. Good luck.

ron

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by R11
Well those are the prices of the "install kit" which is what you said cost $500.

 

IMO, you got screwed. The install kit is ~$200 and comes with whatever wiring and switches are necessary to make the defroster, etc. work with a vehicle that doesn't already have those parts installed.

The parts that you're missing, however, include the body side catchers, hardtop strikers, and a few other things that come with the hard top. Those parts will add up to $500+.

The uninstall process is VERY easy. It takes about an hour to remove the necessary trim, remove those parts, and then put everything back together. If you're local to the guy you bought from, offer to help him with the uninstall. If not, try like hell to convince him to do the work. Send him his $100 if necessary.