I love to top. Some say I top too much., current topic: sourcing targa top seal track Options

[ahycaramba]

I know there is a difference in tops from early to late. My questions can the tops be interchangeable if the internal latches and fasteners are swapped? is it only the latches that make them different or is the structural also different?

Thanks in advance.

[ClayPerrine]

I have a lot of recent experience with this.

The top must be matched to the type of window regulator. If you have early regulators, you have to have an early top. If you have late regulators, you have to have a late top. It has to do with the seals and how they meet up to the top edge of the windows.

I know this for fact. My red six conversion (Igor) is a 73, and the top (painted to match the car) is an early top. So the seals don't fit right, and they leak. The top on the Blue 70 914-6 (Elwood) is a late top on an early car. The seals don't quite reach the top edge of the windows. So I added an aluminum strip between the top and the seal mounting track. They actually touch the windows now, but they don't fit right either.

I actually took the top of the red car and put it on the blue one. The seals fit fine when I do that, but the car looks really funny... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I have a early top that I am going to get refinished like they did at the factory for the blue six.

Also, a 70 914 didn't have a headliner on the underside of the top.

Clay