One convertible top opinion

["Todd Schinell" <alfatodd@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I ordered my convertible top from duettomotors, and here's what I think:  I
installed the top myself (this is my first top installation on any car) and it
took awhile but I ended up getting it to fit pretty nicely.  No unsightly
pulls and everything's nice and tight, and more importantly watertight :)  The
top was nice and cheap and I got the twillfast canvas upgrade free.  It also
seems to have made the car alot quieter compared to my old ratty vinyl top.

Now the bad stuff: I specifically asked the vendor if the area around the
windows was the leathery stuff I've seen on alfa factory and certain
aftermarket tops that seems to seal the window edge so well.  He said he
wasn't sure but he would check, when he got back to me he said yes that area
is a different material than the rest of the top.  He also said "he's had many
alfas and they all leak around the top of the window" which was rather
disconcerting.  Well this ended up being wrong!  The padded area around the
windows is the same canvas that the rest of the top is made of.  This was a
huge disappointment for me because I really wanted a good seal there in the
form of the other aforementioned tops I've seen.

Another small gripe is that the material sewn onto the inside of the top to
wrap around the bows seems to be pretty crummy and not long enough to fully
wrap the bows.  It leaves annoying strings hanging down and falls apart pretty
easily.  I'm not sure if this is a common theme with other tops as well.  I
can live with these two things, and I was thinking I might be able to have an
upholsterer sew a strip of leather or something along the window padding but I
why should I have to?  The top should've come this way IMO.  On the whole
though I must reiterate that I'm generally happy with the fit and quality of
the material as a whole, the stiching appears nice and it's a vast improvement
over my moldy leaky tan vinyl top.  Also, as I said earlier the top appears
watertight, although when I had my brother spray directly by the windows with
the hose, water did come in (which I feel it wouldn't if the leather strip was
in place)  The top was also shipped quickly and duettomotors is repsonsive on
the phone which is very important as many of you have already found out.

One more thing, Do not bother to buy stiffening wires for tops online for
ridiculous prices.  Your local hardware store has the same exact thing for 29
cents a foot.  Multiplied by 3 feet that's pretty damn cheap, the guy at my
store even crimped the same style end on to the wire for me for free.
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