Damaged Hard Top Worth Buying?

[Gee-Lanty]

I’ve found a hardtop which is very close to me.

It’s in excellent condition apart from damage to the drivers corner along the top, seller is adamant it doesn’t interfere with the seal upon installation.

I would have to get it resprayed to match my car anyway, so wondering if it can be fixed or should I just find another?

I’ve found some old threads of members talking about hard top damage but the pictures posted on the thread are no longer working so I’m unable to get an idea as to what is bad damage vs minor.

Please advise.

Also anyone have a Merlot Hard Top they’re considering selling?

 

[deltasierra]

To repair and refinish that is more work than you think to do it properly, bodging it with filler and a spray can is easy but will look awful.

 

[Gee-Lanty]

To repair and refinish that is more work than you think to do it properly, bodging it with filler and a spray can is easy but will look awful.

Well I don’t intend to do it myself! My car is Merlot so the whole thing will need respraying.

 

[Gee-Lanty]

Unsure what I’m even looking at, is the grey underneath the primer, and the white the colour of the fibreglass?!

 

[kis]

Depends on how cheap it is? It's the glass you want to worry about, as far as I know it's NLA although one member got lucky with a auto window repair company a year or so back.

From my experience you can pick up good condition hardtops between £750 and £1000. It's often much more work going through a re-spray so you're better off just waiting for the colour you want. Black is a good meet in the middle option as this is what the soft top colour is anyway and pretty much goes well with all Zeds.

I've not seen a hardtop with the paint stripped back like that before. Has it been re-sprayed in the past? But yes the white parts is definitively fibreglass.

 

[Gee-Lanty]

It’s not cheap at all, but prices here are ridiculous in comparison to the U.K., they cannot be compared.

I’ve asked around and I can get one in perfect condition for £1500!! I don’t really want to spend that much.

I have a torn roof so I don’t have the luxury of waiting around and there are only two Merlot Z4’s I’ve seen on the island, one of which is mine, and the other I viewed before purchasing mine and there was no mention of a hard top so I’m almost 100% a Merlot hardtop doesn’t exist here.

It will need respraying regardless because of the damage.

 

[Zedebee]

That damage looks a bit more than paint. Unless it’s basically free, then I would avoid. There are a few hardtops come up from time to time, but will be costly for you to add a re spray on top. I have seen a Merlot one (so they do exist) but there weren’t many Merlot cars so there’ll be hardly any hardtops about. Black would seem to be a better option, as all-over Merlot might be a bit much IMO. There was a white hardtop which had been wrapped in Maldives Blue on flea bay recently, so wrapping could be an option for you also.

 

[Gee-Lanty]

Well it certainly ain’t free!

I’m not in the U.K. so those hard tops that are available from time to time are thousands of miles away from me unfortunately.

 

[deltasierra]

I did ask about respraying my hardtop and they wanted £800 in the UK including VAT. Maybe you can get it done cheaper, if there are no other hard tops and you can get it cheap enough to repair and refinish properly.
If I had a torn hood I would get that fixed before I got a hardtop.

 

[Gee-Lanty]

I did ask about respraying my hardtop and they wanted £800 in the UK including VAT. Maybe you can get it done cheaper, if there are no other hard tops and you can get it cheap enough to repair and refinish properly.
If I had a torn hood I would get that fixed before I got a hardtop.

I am planning on doing that too, but again time is of the essence here. The hard top I can buy tomorrow, the soft top I’d have to wait to be manufactured, sent, deal with customs, etc. It may take a long time.

There literally aren’t any other hard tops for sale here. They seldom come up for sale so I may go for it, I will give it until next week before I decide for certain.

 

[Umfaan]

Very Fixable ..make sure stainless gauze is inserted behind the Fibre glass corners…..Fibre glass is very versatile and can be shaped to the original shape.
All this providing you are buying it cheap ..an nice project.Good Luck

 

[enuff_zed]

I did ask about respraying my hardtop and they wanted £800 in the UK including VAT. Maybe you can get it done cheaper, if there are no other hard tops and you can get it cheap enough to repair and refinish properly.
If I had a torn hood I would get that fixed before I got a hardtop.

I am planning on doing that too, but again time is of the essence here. The hard top I can buy tomorrow, the soft top I’d have to wait to be manufactured, sent, deal with customs, etc. It may take a long time.

There literally aren’t any other hard tops for sale here. They seldom come up for sale so I may go for it, I will give it until next week before I decide for certain.

It may still be worth talking to [ref]Umfaan[/ref] about his roof. Yes, it won't be cheap to import, but probably still less than a new fabric made and installed. [ref]Jock156[/ref] had that done so he should be able to give you a rough idea of total cost.

And maybe you could get Barry to stick a spare key in, with buttons that work. :wink:

 

[Gee-Lanty]

Very Fixable ..make sure stainless gauze is inserted behind the Fibre glass corners…..Fibre glass is very versatile and can be shaped to the original shape.
All this providing you are buying it cheap ..an nice project.Good Luck

It is not cheap in the slightest!! I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it. Unfortunately it’s very difficult to understand just how little is available here and the price difference is a bitter pill to swallow.

I recently saw an ad for the cover trim on the centre console with the buttons which open the storage compartment - €260!!!!!! Got it for £35 in the UK!

It is what it is!

Thanks for the advice.

And are you selling yours?!

 

[enuff_zed]

Very Fixable ..make sure stainless gauze is inserted behind the Fibre glass corners…..Fibre glass is very versatile and can be shaped to the original shape.
All this providing you are buying it cheap ..an nice project.Good Luck

I recently saw an ad for the cover trim on the centre console with the buttons which open the storage compartment - €260!!!!!! Got it for £35 in the UK!

I was robbed

 

[Gee-Lanty]

Very Fixable ..make sure stainless gauze is inserted behind the Fibre glass corners…..Fibre glass is very versatile and can be shaped to the original shape.
All this providing you are buying it cheap ..an nice project.Good Luck

I recently saw an ad for the cover trim on the centre console with the buttons which open the storage compartment - €260!!!!!! Got it for £35 in the UK!

I was robbed

Lol Oh yeah I got it from you enuff_zed!

 

[Gee-Lanty]

Just found a Sapphire black hard top, excellent condition however the lining inside is cracked in some places, one corner doesn’t look like it can be fixed as there’s a small piece missing. Looks like they pulled the lining off while it was still screwed on at that location.

Saw it off the hard top as he’d just had it re-lined so not sure how noticeable it is when installed. New lining fabric is also a bit dodgy.

To be honest the other one is in better condition despite the damage.

No idea what to do!

 

[enuff_zed]

Just found a Sapphire black hard top, excellent condition however the lining inside is cracked in some places, one corner doesn’t look like it can be fixed as there’s a small piece missing. Looks like they pulled the lining off while it was still screwed on at that location.

Saw it off the hard top as he’d just had it re-lined so not sure how noticeable it is when installed. New lining fabric is also a bit dodgy.

To be honest the other one is in better condition despite the damage.

No idea what to do!

Why not discuss with [ref]umfaan[/ref] just what it's going to cost to get the roof he has delivered?

 

[raymond.harper]

There is a Merlot 2.2 car for sale with a hard top. Perhaps you could arrange to buy the top