[bodysurfin child]

As you might have guessed, a failed rear window seal triggered this inquiry . However, I have decided to just replace the top, as part of a general refresh to the car, and put any window glass concerns in the rear view of time.

I already glued the window back in place once , and was very satisfied with the outcome, which lasted about six years. I was wondering at the time if I was too casual in the adhesive surface preparation, and it looks like I was.

To get to the point, it looks like GM no longer supplies this part., after a brief internet check. I generally follow the advice offered long ago by a panel of corvette restorers, "if cost is not an objection, always get the GM OEM. part".

But, in this case, cost is an objection, primarily because of the quality of the Robbins replacement top, which would look identically to the OEM, but offer a lifetime warrantee against the back glass falling out. And do it without the visible rubber surround GM adopted as a solution, which I consider unsightly. Last time I found a GM top for sale, years ago, it was around $1200. I'll leave that stuff to the restorers who need it, I am planning on driving , and a new top would be nothing but positive, from the looks of things.

I am trying to gather as much information as possible to inform my successful change out of the top.

I have installed a convertible top only once, and it looked good. I made a mental note to myself at that time, to never do that again. Robbins supplies a list of qualified installers, so no problem there.

I trust the company, I used t go over once in a while to check a cars for sale cork board they had on the wall when they were just a very large and specialized top shop, no other upholstery work, just tops. The top I installed had a very small Robbins top insignia on a window panel, but I bought it from sears, who always seemed to have very knowledgable buyers selecting their products. which kind of seconds my favorable impression of the company. but I also know things can change quickly, companies can get acquired to loot them, not to run them , so past reputations might not mean much today.

Any advice couldn't hurt. I would rather not have a , "Gee, wish I had known that earlier " situation, so am asking for tips or general knowledge, since I will not have any previous experience with the installer, going in on just a recommendation from the top company.

I would like to inform myself what's up, since car repair is one of those situations where it pays to be an informed consumer, A lesson I learned the hard way, and screwed up a good old car in the process. I called the state's consumer car repair agency on the guy, where the case worker said they can't really unwind mechanical results , the best they can do is check for correct paperwork, I was told the guy got a paperwork fine. That machine deserved better.

I certainly want to avoid untangling a problem that could have been prevented with a little foresight. I have never had a top of such sophisticated construction, and don't know what else is commonly replaced along with the top on a C5. I think with these parts, one can pretty much tell by looking if it is too worn to go back into service, unfortunately, with the projected future labor cost when the part becomes unusable being a critical decision factor. So I seek advice.

Of course, I will follow the advice of the installer, but would also like to understand enough to judge the situation should decisions be needed about completing the repair.

I don't want to be like my wife who went to a Valvoline oil change only place, and got sold a $35 dollar smog valve she didn't need, plus an inferior oil, simply because she didn't know better. ( in my state the old parts are required to be given to the consumer, and the smog valve was easy to check for function). At least they remembered to replace the drain bolt.

I would like to think I am not a big enough jerk to question a working man's honesty at our first meeting. I just want to have a little info to better understand the deal I am getting into. I well remember being at a party, standing in the kitchen as a professional mechanic cracked open his beer while proclaiming, "some people are just begging to get ripped off". Of course, a man with the nick name of Johnny rotten is probably not your best example of typical behavior.

 

[Triple dizzle]

Research the shop on the interweb for positive reviews. Go with cloth top stay away from vinyl. Harts makes a good convertible top.
Put one on an MG midget in my youth took about an hour. Now wouldn’t touch an install with a 10’ pole. Everything has sensors to tell the computer the position of the top, mess one up and the nightmare begins. A job best left to a pro. Find an established shop that’s been in business for years that means they do good work to have survived that long.

 

[bodysurfin child]

dude, are you a web bot? I heard they don't do math, because it opens up too many complications in the program. Perhaps you could ease my mind about a reply that seems to have completely passed over my content, and just gave a generic reply, except for the errors.

Specifically, the C5 top is manual, it has no sensors . Perhaps your spell check misspelled Haartz, which supplies the correct C5 top material for the manufacturer I mentioned as my choice, but does not sell completed tops. I will, as mentioned, use the manufactures recommend installers, because most businesses won't recommend anything beyond what they personally do, they want no part of another's work performance responsibility, making the list exceptional, and because of that, it seems very tested and valid.

 

[Triple dizzle]

Look no mention of a manual top in your long winded post did not use math in mine. Did replace a midget top in an hour no cables cut the old one off and fasten the back stretch and fasten the header done. What makes you think your important enough for someone to bot you. Troll maybe but bot, come on man.

 

[bodysurfin child]

I posted in the C5 corvette section, all c5 tops are manual , thus I assumed some familiarity with the C5 convertible top among the readers and the responders. Just as a poster in a VW bug forum might logically assume there is no need to state he was asking about an air cooled engine. I had hoped the suggestion that web bots do not use math, would have resulted in a reply containing math, thus answering my curiosity about how this place functions .


My desire was not conflict, it was enlightenment, because I post here once in a while, receiving some very useful and informed responses, but the traffic is significantly lighter than with other forums.

I was simply curious about offering such a generic post, that issued advice about product and installation already covered in my post. I assumed a robot would not grasp some posted details , and would respond without noting them . I have read, from multiple sources, that general and non specific responses are one way to identify web bots. I am not an expert in the area and am bound to make the mistakes of the uninformed , not the vain. I am not without vanity, but not about my quest for a more informed corvette stewardship. Indeed, some have publicly criticized some of my posts as notably obsequious.

The C5 section is a forum that seems, with all respects to my hosts here, pretty dead, with many topics on the C5 general topics front page being years old . I asked about a possible robotic response , wondering if such a program was employed to, perhaps, generate more content to support public interest, or advertisers spending decisions.

One doesn't have to be special to have robots on your tail in 2022. they are everywhere, this commonly known fact alone generated my curiosity, not the quality of you reply, The clear disregard for salient points covered in my post drove my curiosity, not a need for conflict and victory. I was interested if the response was generated by a man or machine, while trying to avoid the discourtesy of questioning a human person's sincerity to a posted response. I have used Internet forums before and know stray responses come with the territory.

Everyone using a search engine receives a customized search response to every inquiry, and all Email has a built in spam section for mail that is identified as bot generated, while letting other ,more specific to ones needs, computer generated mail through. I am under no delusion that this makes me special . I am kind of surprised at the mention of such thought, that this is considered special in 2022.
I regularly pay my credit card bill with assistance from a very high function robotic program, and recognize such things are common with modern living. I somehow, without asking, can now purchase from target with no more input than a single click, a program does the details.

recent headlines have reported a multi billion dollar deal being trashed because the percentage of robotically generated twitter accounts could not be accounted for to the buyers satisfaction. I am sure this might have caught your attention, along with all the other automatic stuff that happens with computer use. I was disheartened when you chose to interpret my quest for information into a personal attack , saying that I think I am superior , special in my needs.

if possible trolling is your happiness, please find someone else. I come here only for friendly conversation among people with a shared interest in corvettes, and helping one another when possible, even if that help is just understanding a diverse viewpoint though a common interest in cars. I hope this response has clarified my query .

If victory is your agenda, I concede , you win. please, If I might ask a favor, just skip my future posts, they are easily recognizable at first glance by the very unusual and regrettably excessive length. I regret the loss of a responder, but not the eagerness for stridency, you were often the only reply to my posts.

P.S. 20 divided by four is five, so you know I am not a bot, just a man trying to interpret my reality.

 

[Triple dizzle]

100 words or less please. You mean they made the Caddy with power hard top in that chassis and couldn’t make a C5 with a power rag top. That sucks.

 

[Kevin_S2021]

I replaced the top on my C6. I knew that I wanted someone with expertise to install. I shopped around and met with several installers. I was able to check out their current projects while meeting with them. I eventually went with a shop that was recommended. I ordered an aftermarket cloth top (not sure who manufactured it). I wouldn't make it any more complicated.

 

[bodysurfin child]

I replaced the top on my C6. I knew that I wanted someone with expertise to install. I shopped around and met with several installers. I was able to check out their current projects while meeting with them. I eventually went with a shop that was recommended. I ordered an aftermarket cloth top (not sure who manufactured it). I wouldn't make it any more complicated.

yeah , I consider it just a normal repair, with the slight added complexity of it being a cosmetic repair. it's not like I'm planning a space launch, and learned the hard way that it is not about the cost, but who is doing the work. I was just trying to cover all possible bases, trying to avoid disappointing results.

Plus I was remembering a guy at a local corvette show who asked me to use this forum, it seemed important to him, so I said I would.

 

[Kevin_S2021]

I hear ya. I do a lot of my own work. I surf this forum and Corvetteforum.com. Learned some good stuff in both. When it came to my top, I had zero interest in trying to learn. 😊 Drop a pic when you get it installed. Here’s mine with a new top. Most of my pics are with the top down 😂

 

[bodysurfin child]

I hear ya. I do a lot of my own work. I surf this forum and Corvetteforum.com. Learned some good stuff in both. When it came to my top, I had zero interest in trying to learn. 😊 Drop a pic when you get it installed. Here’s mine with a new top. Most of my pics are with the top down 😂

View attachment 105798

your car is looking good, with the additional benefit of having a body color that allows for a light colored top without it looking mismatched.
I was gifted a sway bar from a nice guy with a factory reddish orange C5 and his OEM colored tan top looks like the only reason that the poorly coordinated color is on top was that the color was on sale, it just looks a little off. My all black car is getting a black top, which will be folded away unless parked or it rains. Out of the three available stock colors, I hardly had a choice, just like with your car, and the guy with the reddish orange color. You have three color choices, and two are bad.

I would wish that everyone who enjoys cars could have a red convertible sports car at least once before the big sleep. I wasn't really shopping beyond not getting ripped off when I bought my used car, but didn't mind all black, the color I got, thinking the more conservative color choice might better befit an old guy like myself, but now I think it a bit dull, and having an all black low visibility situation is not a strong choice in a land dominated by drivers on the phone piloting large SUVs. I'm thinking of adding a stripe for better visibility , but that would be way down the list of needs as I refresh the car.