R129 Car has gone in for a new soft top

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R129mine

Active Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2007
Messages
676
Location
Buckinghamshire
Car
R129 SL500 from 96
Finally about 3 years after first cracks started to appear in the plastic windows the car went off for a new soft top, the windows were kind of soft (but split in the middle) when I last used it but now complete yellow and rock hard.

It was due in last year in March 2020 but we know what happened and I then had the car in bits when things started to open up in September/October.

I did not want the new soft top tucked away in the car while I had the hard top on over the winter.

I had been dreading the 15 min drive to the Trimmer shop with all the rain we have had but it was a glorious morning and I had forgotten how nice it is to drive with the roof down

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Wow I've not seen one that bad before! Mine just went across the window - happened quite suddenly overnight after having tiny cracks at each side (on the fold line) for a couple of years:

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Did yours definitely need a new hood? If the condition is OK they'd normally just replace the windows ... that's what I had done.
 
it was a little worn in certain places, and some of the thread had gone as well, the trimmer recommended a new hood, he was not willing to just put new windows in, I did contact a guy in Leicester a few years ago and he would have been happy to put new windows in, the difference in price was quite a lot but after 25 years I thought a new hood was the best way forward long term (10-15 yrs)
 
The company that did my windows carried out a full check on the hood first to see if it was in good enough condition - I was pleasantly surprised to be told it was fine! The car has had a garage for the last 13 years which helps a lot I guess, and I did use a cover on it before that.
 
Hope you'll let us see the new one ?
 
We seem to have a parallel ownership experience.
I got a quote for new windows in March 2020. Lockdown stopped progress. It took until a few weeks ago to finally get a slot at the trimmers to get them replaced.
I went for replacement windows as the hood still seems to be quite smart. I did wonder about full replacement as I was £300 just for the windows.
My windows were not too bad but every time I used it the splits spread a little further. The biggest issue was not being able to see through it.

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indeed! it was hard to see thru my windows as well, those little tears will get worse and at some point the whole window will just split in half, £300 is not a bad price to get it fixed, about the cost of a headlight wiper arm :)
 
I'm in Bucks, can you tell me which trimmers you are using? Ta
 
Look forward to seeing the results.
 
Absolutely stunning, colour, fitting, everything ! ! Is it normal to replace the headlining ?
 
Absolutely stunning, colour, fitting, everything ! ! Is it normal to replace the headlining ?
Headliner is the same but the inside of the new hood matches the interior. The old hood was blue on the inside
 
Some new hydraulic fluid (first time in 13 yrs at least) for the new roof today. Some of the old fluid at the bottom of the reservoir was really dark. I think I will clean out the whole reservoir later this year as there was still some muck in the bottom I could not get out. 557D5547-31BA-43F8-A2BF-3EEEBD4144BD.jpeg
 
We seem to have a parallel ownership experience.
I got a quote for new windows in March 2020. Lockdown stopped progress. It took until a few weeks ago to finally get a slot at the trimmers to get them replaced.
I went for replacement windows as the hood still seems to be quite smart. I did wonder about full replacement as I was £300 just for the windows.
My windows were not too bad but every time I used it the splits spread a little further. The biggest issue was not being able to see through it.

View attachment 113505

View attachment 113506
Hello there.
That replacement windows look amazing. I have pretty much the samw issue now. The rood is in a good condition but the cracks appeared. Would you be able to recommend someone to do the job. I've contacted one company and they quoted me £750 plus VAT just for the windows. I hope you can help. Thanks. B
 

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