Well folks, I finally replaced my plastic rear window as it was damanged by hail. It had a big hole in the bottom of it. Let me tell you, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. In order to replace the window, I had to take out the seats, rollbars, center consoles, all the trim from the seats back, drill out the rivets holding the top to the window, and a number of other time-consuming annoying things just to get it out. It took me and my buddy about 12 hours I would say in all to get everything done (in and out). We didn't have all the shop tools that might have made it go a little faster, but all in all, it was a pretty time consuming process. Nothing hard or even mechanical needed to happen, just lots of snaps and bolts that needed to be taken out and put back in. There were a few things that the manual failed to mention but overall the book was very very helpful. So anyways, now I got a new rear window and I'm pretty happy. I'll add pictures of the interior gutted and the new window when I get a chance.

Off the top of my head, the only things I would warn people about if they were doing this project is, make sure you have all the tools before you start, including a rivet gun and make sure you line everything up before bolting things down, including the seatbelt when reinstalling the rollbar. I had to install the rollbar 3 times, once because I didn't match up the plastic paneling around it, once because I didn't line up the seatbelt right, and the last time it was right. Also, there are a number of clips on our car that require you to "pop" the center a little to get the clip to come out. DO NOT pop the center ALL the way out or you may lose the center piece.

Oh, and one more thing. The assembly/disassembly requires you to move the top up and down, but DON'T leave the keys in the ignition as my battery almost died listening to the radio and moving the top up and down. Oh, one more thing I figured out while doing this, the switch for the top is connected to the center console, which you will have to remove, but you can unscrew (2 screws) the top switch from the center console and keep the switch in the car so you don't have to have the whole console laying around.

Later,
Nick (RiceBurnerTX)

P.S. Texas weather sucks! We did the entire thing in like 100 degree weather. It was harsh!

Edit (Pics Added)...sorry, I am not a diy guide expert so I didn't take pics of every step as it was taking long enough as it was Just thought I'd share some pics of the car gutted to show you.....IT SUCKED!

 

Hey Nick,

Nice Job, you are brave to try something so involved. I still have my smoked diffusers for 3 months and am to chicken to install them. I would love to see the pics.

Renae

 

Welcome to the club. I did mine too. Although my battery did drain enough to the point where I needed to jump start it. I still haven't hooked up my defroster though. Have you? I love the glass compared to the plastic.

David

 

How much did you save by doing it yourself?

 

Are you talking to me? If so, I didn't get a quote from the dealer at all, but I think they charge ~ $60/hr for labor so I imagine it's somewhere near $720 for labor.

 

Nick: Did you replace the plastic with plastic or glass? If glass, the entire top or just the back panel?

David: Did you just replace the back panel that zips out or the entire top?


OEM replacement parts?

Thanks

 

How much was the rear glas window? I want one.

 

HOW MUCH IS YOUR DEDUCTABLE?

 

Did you get the glass replacement window or replaced it with the plastic again?

I also have a hole on the bottom of my plastic window b/c of the hail, but i'm thinking of getting a hardtop instead of replacing it.

Please post pics.

 

I got the plastic replacement. The way the window works though is that it is entirely riveted and bolted into both the car and the top. So you have to take the top apart from the car, rivet the new window piece to the top and rebolt everything to the car. The problem is that the bolts that bolt the top (and window) to the car are hidden behind panels, and in order to get to those panels you basically have to take out the entire interior.

I thought about getting the glass replacement, but figure I'll just take care of this one and everything should be cool. The replacement window piece was right around $150 I believe. If you need one I suggest contacting HardTop guy.

Sorry, forgot to post pics again at home. I'll try tonight.

Nick