WTB: Gen. I Autoform Hardtop

[jasontiff]

I've poked around Ebay and the classifieds on this site and haven't found any, and I've also found some cars for sale with the tops included and inquired with the seller about selling them separately. So far, no luck.

Last year, the newness of having the car kept my dumb @$$ out in the Texas sun through the summer, but this year I'm a little less tolerant and have resorted to driving at night to avoid cooking. I also drive the car in the winter quite a bit and having a top would serve me well then. I have a soft top, but after losing my last one at 100mph last spring I'm wary of driving with it on.

I know there are a few tops available, but I prefer the Autoform for aesthetic reasons. However, since this is more about functionality than lookin' good, if someone has ANY hardtop that will fit a Gen. I that they're willing to part with, please shoot me a PM.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Randy]

When I had a Gen 1, I wanted one of the Autoform tops also - I wanted the very low-profile top that complemented the car lines, not made the car almost look silly like the factory tops. If thats the aesethetic reasons you refer to, you need to check out either the one-pierce or three-piece tops for both the Gen I and Gen II made/sold by A.P. Engineering. The three piece top comes apart and fits in the trunk. Both tops fit in FRONT of the roll bar, not on top of it, and maintain the low profile of the car much better than the factory or other aftermarket tops. The web site for both tops is A.P. Engineering, Inc..

The advantages of the tops are obvious, and, in my opinion, the 3-piece top is worth it, and I would assume the one-piece top is also. The design and fit of the three-piece top is impressive, especially considering that this is coming out of what I got the impression is a medium/small shop. I have no experience with the one-piece top, which is likely what you are interested in.

So, as the advantages are obvious, here's my opinion on things you need to be aware of, and possible gotchas:

- the 3-piece top is LOW. From the pictures, I assume the one-piece is the same. I'm 6'0" with a 34" to 36" inseam, and my head is almost rubbing against the top, and I've got the seat leaning back a bit. If you are taller than me (or same height with less inseam), you may need a seat lowering kit to make it work. The low top makes for interesting "helmet hair" in some instances.

- While the 3-piece fits in the trunk, it does NOT take up "less space" than the factory soft top, despite their claims - they evidently don't know how to fold the soft top. I can get (small/soft) luggage and a car cover on top of the factory soft top in the trunk, but nothing is going on top of the three panels except a folded towel to minimize the possibility of the trunk lid support end scratching the top - the factory soft-top is slightly wider in the trunk than the panels, but you aren't getting anything in or out of the side-areas without removing the 3-piece trunk, unless its small and very flexible.

- The design is quite well thought out, but you do have to spend time with the numerous adjustment places to get the 3-piece to fit *your* Viper correctly so its tight and doesn't rattle - but if you have a set of hex keys and some time, this isn't an issue. I imagine the one-piece is a lot easier to get adjusted. In addition, the two main rods used to hold the rear of the side panels in place absolutely requires that you put in some soft (i.e. not rattle-able) spacer on each, I use a small bit of folded paper on each when I put the top on.

- The three-piece top isn't quite waterproof on my Gen 2, but does fit the windows perfectly (which might be an additional issue for a Gen 1, as the window seals were always iffy). I would imaging that the one-piece is better. The 3-piece has some interesting weatherstripping design to try to make it waterproof, but the seals along the back where the panels meet aren't quite perfect (or go together perfect every time you put it on). There are ways to deal with this, which any Gen 1 owner has learned if they've done any amount of rain driving (or parking).

- The workmanship on my top wasn't perfect - primarily, the paint was less than perfect (new guy on the buffer, I'm guessing) - I sent email to them about it, but either they ignored me or my email got mis-filtered as spam (not too uncommon due to my out-of-country personal email domain). I wasn't going to risk shipping it back to them to fix the paint, so I delt with it on my own.

 

[jasontiff]

Thanks for all of the input!

I, too, have had a personal debate on which to get too. Some of the things that I've mulled over:

• You can't run a 3-piece at Viper Days, but you can with an Autoform.

• The Autoform follows the rearward slope of the sport bar and gives it more of a GTS look while keeping the curves. The 3-piece follows the upper pitch of the sport bar. Both have their own aesthetic appeal. It depends on what kind of roofline you want to simulate.

• I thought the 3-piece would be convenient to keep in the trunk, but then I asked myself "do I ever drive if it even LOOKS like rain?" and the answer was no. The storage for the top would be wasted on me. I'm mostly interested in protection from the sun and a little bit of insulation for keeping the AC in in the summer, and the heat in in the winter. The 1-piece or Autoform would be better suited for me.

• The Autoform requires some drilling, but the A-pillar arms that come down add another point of contact to the body. That's important to me because I'm scared of losing another top!

• You have to remove the sport bar pad for the seamless look of the trunk top, and if the top's off the car kinda looks ugly without it. If you want to avoid that, you have to pack the sports bar pad everywhere you go, and that would get to be a huge hassle.

When it comes down to it, I think it's mostly aesthetics and personal preference, because functionally the 1-piece and Autoform are almost the same. Heck, they're even priced pretty competitively to one another. The only advantage to the 3-piece is being able to haul it out when you want, but most of the guys down here don't head out if there is a chance of rain. Only the die-hards need apply for the 3-piece!

 

[TexasPettey]

If you don't find a used one, perhaps we could get enough interest for a group buy discount. I'm thinking about changing out my Northwind carbon fiber for an Autoform for use at the track. I like the fact that the Northwind is ultralightweight, but ViperDays allows only the Autoform or factory.

 

[jasontiff]

I've been talking to Steve from Autoform recently, so I'll shoot him an email to see what we'd have to pull together for a group buy. Good idea!

 

[93VIPERBOY]

I might also be intyerested in a group buy.