Cost of Soft Top?

[zippyzoom]

Hi guys,
I have grown to love the 280sl - the classic lines, compact proportions which fit in almost any setting and am ready to buy.

I am interested in buying a pretty much mint 1971 280SL, however the soft top was removed and only has the hard top. (Owner doesn't have soft top frame anymore) If I do purchase the car, I would like to install a soft top of decent quality (not show) and wonder whether it fits my budget. Basically the frame and cloth needs to be replaced.

Much Thanks, Responses are Greatly Appreciated!!!!!

[jameshoward]

The California coupe did not have a top originally. If the car you want did have a top at one point, then 'all' you need to do is buy a new frame, fit it, and then fit a new top. However, frames are very expensive and you should, in my view, factor this significant bit of missing kit into the price of the car you are looking at. On average, frames seem to go for around $3K the same at least in euros; there's one on Ebay Germany (www.ebay.de) now). The new material is about $500 or so for original material. Lots of stuff on the site about good suppliers. I am about to re-do my softtop and will document the job on this site. Most of the work will be done over the Christmas holiday.

JH

[France]

Hi James,

Really looking forward to your wiki on the soft top job.  I have stored Carling's frame in bits for almost 5 years.  Previous owner bought an original-style black cover and never installed it, so the job has fallen to me.

Trice
1968 280SL US, signal red/bl leather, auto, kinder seat
Sarasota FL; Alsace France; Switzerland
Think of your Pagoda as a woman with a past...

[zippyzoom]

Thanks alot for the reply, it has put me into perspective. I didn't quite realize it would cost that much!

[Fernando]

http://www.schmude-hardtop.de/home.php?page=1#loop-start

Use to be a goos source , some guys in G forum related that he had some problems to export to US because US security laws.

Fernando
.....................
G500(06),300GE CAB(91),300D(83)Turbo

[114015]

Hello Zippy,

It all depends ...
Basically on how the car looks, what condition it really is in and finally the price. Especially the second is not easy to judge for a newbie. Good looks does not automatically mean that the car _is_ really good ...
Please look & read the buyer's advice here on the group's homepage first.

Eventually, you should put about 2-3000 $$ down of the usual price for a given condition if the softtop is missing. If your car is the California coupé (with rear seat bench but without softtop compartment) it's much less worth.
Most important is the overall condition of the car, not the missing softtop itself. If it's really mint and somehow reasonable, you should probably go for it.

Good luck!

Achim
(Magdeburg, Germany)

[Chad]

James:  It's great to hear that you are going to document your work on redoing your softtop on the site.  I will be tackling this job at some point down the road, starting with a new GAHH top and the existing top frame which will need cleaned and replated I guess.

1967 230SL