What is the best inexpensite soft top out there?
 

Someone cut my window last nite all the way across. Time to replace I guess...

I know there are tons of different tops out there from cheap $200 ones to $1000+.

I need some input as to what the best bang for you buck is out there. I don't need the greatest one since it's only for sunny summer use but I don't want a pile of shit.

I think I want to go with a top that has the window and top connected (non-zipper) and something canvas like the S2000 top.

So? Input? Pictures?

I bought my cloth non zipper top from a company on Ebay. All I can remember from them is the main picture was of parates. It was around 400 shipped IIRC

I bought three from Davehouze on ebay but they aren't selling them anymore. They sold Key tops cheaper than anyone. Go to Key's website and email them to find out who sells Key tops. They are a good top for the money. They have an ecomony no-zip plastic window top. IIRC, it was right around $200 shipped.

http://stores.ebay.com/daveshouze

That is who I bought mine from also :)

I got the vinyl economy NA top from R Speed. It's okay, nothing fantastic, but it fit okay and seems reasonably well made. For the price, I'll be satisfied if I get 4 or 5 years out of it.

The best top for the price is a used one. :D

You should have checked out my top when you were here. It was ~300 bucks on ebay. Has neat rain channels above the windows like the NC tops. Rear window is part of the whole top rather than separate. Its actually a really nice top, just different than the OEM design.

Not real fun to replace but having done it once I can definitely give you some pointers on what to do and what not to do. I swore I would never do one again however once I saw how easily the top frame is removed from the car i'd do it again with the frame on a bench. I replaced mine with the frame in the car.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Miata...Q5fAccessories

Cheap, it fits, it works, it looks sturdy, and it feels sturdy. It was a pain in the ass to install on the frame though.

What I got. Includes the rain rail for $400 shipped.. I think this place sucks though, they sent me a $30 car cover then gave me the run around for a few weeks.

http://www.miatamania.com/Shop/ViewP...eIndexID=73522

I got a daveshouze vinyl top, just installed it on friday and it looks great and fits great.
It was a little under 200 I want to say

My daveshouze/Kee top is on its 3rd year and still doing great

i had a shitty time with daveshouze (kee), but that was a glass no-zip window. After that self destructed in a few months, i bought a "prestige auto trim" one. It is higher quality and has been on my car for over a year ( i thiink) and it shows no signs of trouble so far.

http://www.prestigeautotrim.com/usa/...miata_home.htm

Those prestige ones look pretty nice. And there is a lot of information on the site ... not "one line" explanations of thier top.

What fabric/vinyl did you get?

Hmm, the last time that I talked to them they weren't going to do it anymore. Glad they are. I haven't decided if I am even putting a soft top in the V8 car. It needs one but I may just leave the HT on full time.

This. I have a tan NB glass window top in the classifieds for $250+ship.

Your building a car too nice not to have one. It's a street car........ It needs a soft top. The AFR headed ford under the hood more then makes up for the weight directly over the back tires :)

I would get this in a heartbeat if the glass would fit with this Kirk bar :(

I got the vinyl with zip-out window. I like it a lot, so far no problems.

-Tomaj

I have a glass no zip window as well and mine is in great shape still.

What exactly happened with yours? So I know what to look out for and possibly prevent in the future?

the bottom-right corner of the glass ripped out of the vinyl. I on day 1 that it was tight when the top was down, as the design forced the glass all the way back towards the rear of the car, and the vinyl was under tension at all times. After a couple months it gave up around the stitching and a 3 to 4 inch tear developed.

Daveshouze put the onus on Kee, and Kee had 0 interest in making me happy. They blamed me for the problem, said that if i had simply positioned the rear bow 1/4" futher back, the problem never would've happened :)

Maybe they changed the design in the meantime, or maybe it was a one-off problem w/my top. My biggest gripe was with their lack of service / interest in customer satisfaction.

I see.
Thanx for sharing.

I know exactly what you mean: mine gets really tight when I put it down, but not tight enough to tear I guess cause its still doing fine after 2 years. I'll see if there's any way I can relieve it a wee bit just to help it a bit.

If I didn't have a hard dog bar designed for the soft window I would buy this in a second.

white NA + tan top = awesome.

That prestige top is what I have. Zip down rear window with the rain gutters over the door windows. Pretty awesome top. Again, not easy to install but for the price I dont think you can do better.

Dave's no longer sells Kee tops, from an email:
Oilstain, our tops are made by Autotops, Inc. a company that has been building
tops since the '50s. I can not tell you what top will clear your rollbar. I
would suspect that the only tops that might work would be the zip plastic
or zip glass, but it will depend on the roll bar design. Is it a real roll
bar with back braces or just a style bar?. Dave

It's a hard dog single diagonal. An actual bar. I think I'm going to go with a zip plastic one. I like being able to crack the rear zipper a bit for airflow if I want to keep the top up. I don't think I would like a non-zippered top.

*I have a very simile question as falcon so I figured I'd try to reanimate this thread rather then start a new one dedicated to a question thats almost exactly the same.*

My top is fine with the exception of my plastic rear window, which has developed two largish tear in the plastic rear window, one tear in the vinyl just below the rear window, and above the window where the zipper comes together a long rip has occurred just below the bottom zipper. So my question is, should I get something like this which would require me to remove my top in order to mend the rip in the fabric near the zipper, or should I get a cheap new top like this. I don't put my top down much and I'm tired of having a nasty looking taped up rear window.

Thanks.

here is one
http://www.convertibletop.com/miata-...ins-xt-series/