[chriswufgator]

I picked it up yesterday and am very happy. It really is an amazing thing! Like driving inside a giant fishbowl.

What were the odds of finding one within driving distance and in the exact color combination I needed? Anyone's guess, but I feel exceptionally lucky, and also have to say a big THANK-YOU to the two forum members who were of great assistance:

mb230s, who originally told me about the couple who had sold their R129 and had the top left over because (of all silly reasons) the buyer hated hard-tops and had no storage space. The people I bought it from said they had an argument about it with the guy, and that he had literally refused to take it when he picked up the car, and that it had been sitting in their garage ever since. What an idiot that guy was, since they go for $3k on Ebay. Anyway, the hubby got promoted to VP with his job, and they had to move to CT pronto, so everything in the garage had to go including the top...

And patfarrell, who also sent me a PM pointing out a link that indicated that the price had been lowered to $900, which is what I ended up paying. The woman told me if they weren't able to sell it, they would have left it in the house for the new people to dispose of. LOL. She wasn't the best negotiator, obviously, but still very nice people and I stuck to the price of $900, which was more than fair. Actually, until I read that post patfarrell pointed out to me, I was going to pay $1500, so he saved me $600. Anyway, I already have mb230s's address and was going to send him a Ruth's Chris gift card or some such, and will do the same for you if you PM me yours as well. Thanks to both of you!

Anyway, that's what I spent yesterday doing, driving to lauderdale and back. So, here she is, what do you guys think?

 

[RedLiner]

An excellent addition to your car, it looks great :thumbsup:

Make sure your aircon is fully gassed up

 

[aam]

Now why, I can't find a deal like this?
Regards.
aam.

 

[RedLiner]

Now why, I can't find a deal like this?
Regards.
aam.

Tell me about it! Some people fall into s**t and come up smelling of roses

 

[lynns]

Look good. How much are you going to sell your original top for?
Who know's after all s said and done you may have put out a total of $200.00.

 

[lynns]

I think your car would also look great with the Silver Arrow grill

 

[chriswufgator]

Look good. How much are you going to sell your original top for?
Who know's after all s said and done you may have put out a total of $200.00.

I dunno, I was debating whether to keep the original or sell it. The way it is now, between the solid hard top, the pano, and the soft top, I have so many options I can basically turn it into a completely different car depending on the mood I'm in. I kind of like that!

I have a hardtop storage cart and the fitted dust cover for the solid top, and I guess I will buy another one of each for the pano as well. So for now, anyway, I am keeping both.

 

[chriswufgator]

I think your car would also look great with the Silver Arrow grill

That is pretty nice looking, I may have to consider that, especially since my original grill has an ugly stain in the upper right-hand corner.

It's probably from tree sap or something, but it won't come off no matter what I try, so I have actually been debating replacing it anyway. I am going to try flitz on it, and if that doesn't get it out then I will go with that SA grill. I think it will look stunning on a silver car! $600 though, ouch!

As a side note, the cost of my pano top just went up by $142, since I noticed last night that a rock had cracked my driver's side headlight lens on the highway trip to lauderdale and back to pick it up. Already ordered the part from autohausaz. Oh well, stuff happens.

 

[chriswufgator]

You guys are going to think I am completely nuts. Well, actually, Tech-Tune and Bobterry already think that anyway, so what do I have to lose...

I dropped the pano top off at Sargent's Upholstery today, to get them to figure out the feasibility of replacing the vinyl interior with stitched nappa leather that would match the rest of my interior. It bothers me that it doesn't match the rest of the interior, even though nobody else notices. At the very least, I will probably have them put the stitching in the vinyl so that it looks like the rest of the interior.

While I was there, I had them measure the back windows, and they are supposed to get back to me with a quote on replacing my back windows with strataglass, like I was talking about earlier. I will keep you posted on how these two projects go!

 

[RedLiner]

I dropped the pano top off at Sargent's Upholstery today, to get them to figure out the feasibility of replacing the vinyl interior with stitched nappa leather that would match the rest of my interior. It bothers me that it doesn't match the rest of the interior, even though nobody else notices. At the very least, I will probably have them put the stitching in the vinyl so that it looks like the rest of the interior.

While I was there, I had them measure the back windows, and they are supposed to get back to me with a quote on replacing my back windows with strataglass, like I was talking about earlier. I will keep you posted on how these two projects go!

With the price you got the Pano for, you can afford stitched nappa leather

 

[chriswufgator]

With the price you got the Pano for, you can afford stitched nappa leather

Oh I know! For what I paid for that pano, I could fly in a crew of seamstresses from milan to do the stitching, and still come out ahead of what I should have paid for that thing...

Christmas really did come early this year!

 

[Whiteover Gray]

I agree with Redliner. The price you paid for the pano, go for it...I know I would. What kills me Chris is how close that top was to my house (I live in Davie). I would have bought it in a second if I had a lead like that. I'm going to continue to be patient though. I missed one on Craigslist for $800 down here in my area last year. I guess I'll just wait and I know for sure I'll have one someday.
Congrats dude!

Mark

 

[chriswufgator]

Just wanted to give the update:

Sargents Upholstery called me this morning, and to replace the entire interior of the pano with leather was going to run $1800, so I said forget it on that one.

To replace it with a better-quality vinyl that looks a little less fake and matches my interior better was $350, so I gave the go-ahead on that.

The strataglass back-windows are turning out to be something more of a hassle than I thought originally. Apparently, you have to order it from the factory by the roll, and this shop didn't have any in stock. So they weren't willing to cover the cost of ordering and stocking a whole roll of the material, which they say there is very little demand for due to its high price, unless I agreed to pay $1200 for the job. Obviously, I declined. I am going to swing by the Boatswain's Locker (the place that did the canvas on my boat) and see what they can do, since I know they regularly stock the stuff.

 

[msbarsi]

Oh I know! For what I paid for that pano, I could fly in a crew of seamstresses from milan to do the stitching, and still come out ahead of what I should have paid for that thing...

Christmas really did come early this year!

Well chriswufgator since I'm near Milan and you are willig to fly a crew from Milan and I am near I was wondering if you wanted to add me to the crew. I might like a nice vacation in Florida eheheh.

Nice deal on the Pano tho even if I'm not a big fan of them.

Cheers.