It is near perfect.

It is so good that I am able to id all the seals. I will be sourcing seal matches and when I have them all I will offer replacement seals to others.

I will take and post pics this weekend.

Glad to hear it came as described. If this was the one for 350 on craigslist described as new in the box, that's great. I almost purchased the lid when it first came out but changed my mind.

Bad move on your part, good for me.

That is Great, I had one offered to at Hershey a few yrs. ago for $300.00 ,

dumbass me didn't jump on it. So you really need test vehicle for fit and looks.

Centerville is not that far from Wauseon, bring it here and I will test it for a few

years for you. My generosity know no bounds, why I won't even charge you

for doing it. Seriously, Do you have a source for seals, if needed. I mite have

a few leads. Dave

I really want a Saratoga for use in the UK, if anyone knows of any please let me know..

Saratoga tops will fry your brain. Miles had one....case in point.

Pics, need some pictures....those tops were kind of interesting and I have never seen one in person.

Pics.....

I have one that I bought 18 years ago. It was advertised with a 914 that had 2 tops. I called about it and asked some questions. Turned out to be a Saratoga top but the guuy didn't know much about it. When I got there, he wouldn't sell the top by itself....you had to take the car too. It was a real rust bucket. Couldn't open both of the doors or it would fall in half. I paid the $350 and hauled it off. The top was like new so I polished it up, boxed it for storage and put it away. I kept the car for a few years and pulled some parts off and let it go.

I may need some seals as well. I haven't had it out of the box in quite a while. I'll keep an eye here.

For $350 these days, that sounds like a fantastic price based on what others have sold for in the last few years on EBay.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Those are so cool...

I want one

They are the epitome of cool in the roof world.

I had a beautiful Saratoga top that I got with my 914, I saw that someone was looking for one and told him that I would sell it. He offered me a reasonable price and we made a deal. I took several hours packing it up to make sure that it was secure, had the UPS supervisors OK the pack job. On it's way to Colorado, the UPS idiots either dropped it off the belt or the tracks through the box prove that it was driven over. Cracked the top about 3 inches over the drivers side almost impossible. UPS did'nt try to fight the claim or anything, what a waste of a great aftermarket piece. These show up from time to time on EBay and are now commanding prices over $1,000. The last one I saw had the original advertising pieces from the company in Saratoga, New York. Anyway UPS after they agreed to pay the claim took what was left of the top, but I kept the hold down levers.

The top are nice but I here that they did sqeak quite a bit the fit was very good.

Vysoc

So someone start making a similar top now. It would be worth $400 for a new
one that was well made.

John

.....but cost you $50,000 in tooling just to get started. You would have to sell 2000 of em probably to get close to breaking even if you didnt pay yourself for development. Just a guess but that is probably why we don't see new ones in the works.

Jim

Do you know where I can find replacement seals for the Saratoga top ??- Mel

.....Just take the damn top off!....

If I drove my car in the winter I think I'd have to have a Saratoga ... I have no heater in my car (Kerry Hunter header).

email me when you got teh seals sorted out, i want to replace the seals on mine.
thanks

I assume that the original tooling was destroyed or its whereabouts are unknown...

Man, those are nice... but $$$....

I googled "who makes the Saratoga top"....got a link to the x/19 crowd. They are making new ones. Maybe they got the molds.

Wear your foil hat....

Different roof, but looks like they're tooling up to do one for the x/19.

If a Saratoga top owner could take some good pictures of the edges, corners and other manufacturing 'trouble spots' then I could get an idea of if production is possible. I was reading about some techniques the other day that would be applicable to this...

Lot's of research was done on the original molds; short story was they were tossed. Had one for several years, then sold it to Meng in Singapore. Hope he didn't have it on during the accident...

While I enjoyed the top, and really liked it when the weather was cloudy, it always seemed a little flimsy and storing it was not as easy as say the original top.

Several years ago, I approached a local marine plastics company that made winshields for yachts. After reviewing my top and the original top, they siad a better one could be made--start up costs were the issue.

It would be nice to see an updated design...

...

,,,

:::

///

Mark,

I *think* I've got them in high-res, as well. But I'd have to do some digging. Can bring them to you on a CD when I, uh, make it up there.

When do I have to get there by again? Slammed here...

pete

Pete, maybe I'll just come to you and your car can 'wear' the top that day and I can look at it in person. I'm actually more interested in the underside (where the seals are), although your pictures to illustrate a few things I didn't realize about the tops (such as the slope on the rear edge).

Oh, and you could come by on May 1 - Limo Build Day.

Can anyone give me some ideas on what to do for replacement window seals for a Saratoga Top ????

Ah, good plan — except I sold this one. And then I got another one from an old friend (who I think wants me to have a Saratoga top). So, yeah, I've got one to check out, and it was NOS when he got it (still very nice).

Seals are one of the biggest problems with the Saratoga top, right after the outer front edges, which don't fit flush and cause more windnoise than I'd like.

That said, nothin' beats a Saratoga top in some conditions and esp. around town. You feel like you're in a cockpit, so thin are the A pillars and top-of-side-window-seals.

These S-tops are only good when its too chilly outside to take the top off, that can be either moonlit nights, or clear mornings or days if its not too hot. On hot days fogeddaboudit, they make the cabin an oven, just take the top off or leave the stock top on as a sunshade if you don’t want a roasting.

I had an S-top a few years ago, sold it for G-note. It needed TLC when I bought it, I replaced the side ‘chrome’ plastic edging with standard black U-channel trim, the front edge and rear edge rubber weatherstrips (all from JC Whitney), painted the metal hardware and buffed out scratches in the plexglass. Some of the following are photos of my top which was in pretty good shape when redone, with its original side window top rubber, plus others I have right-clicked into my archive when found. I have seen a couple variants on the top hardware and weatherstripping from different 914 model S-tops, maybe reflecting improvements Ferrigan-Obrien made over time. The curved plexiglass panel may have been heat formed in a vacuum chamber over a mold which I think is possible to do low-tech, but needs R&D and the tooling. F-O did it for profit for years, so I bet it did not take an insurmountable investment for the tooling, it is standard technology. If someone were to invest the effort to make the mold and vacuum chamber and figure out the hardware/weatherstripping, I think it would be a hot seller if affordably priced.

It might also be worth considering just modding OEM tops and fitting sheet plex infill panels with rubber marine gasketing. The OEM tops with stock hardware/rubber are available, we each probably have 2-3 cores in our stashes, it’s a no brainer and it saves fabbing custom latches and hardware and weatherstrripping. Just cut out the entire center part of the OEM top panel up to about 2-3 inches from the edge. That edge is covered by rubber weatherstripping anyways, it’s an easy approach. Another possibility might be to use an OEM top to make a mold and cast, not vacuum form, new tops using a clear acrylic resin, then just mount the OEM hardware. 2 models could be made, one for the early, one for the late cars. This has the advantage of losing the S-top mounting blocks to create the depths needed at the edges and mounting points, a stock top has rain gutters and other strengthening profiles in it that the S-tops don’t have. My S-top flexed a bit off the car, because it did not have any real stiffening ribs to keep it planar.

That chromed plastic edging is a J-shaped piece that should be continuous on the sides all the way to the front and also around the rear edge, this one is modified, it probably broke off and the chrome easily ckinks up and delaminates and often looks bad. On the lower photos you can see the complex curvatures needed for the plastic and the common aftermarket U-shaped edging (black) that I used as a replacement.

Here you begin to see the edge/hardware details. This photo shows the lower front male edge, notched around the center block, similar to the OEM top, that is inserted into the front 914 windshield hoop recess slot. Also note the two rear mounts. These are simple thick cast acrylic black blocks glued to the plex top, with a modified common galvanized hardware eyebolts screwed into it to emulate the male prong on the OEM rear mount. All hardware the mounted into plastic had embedded brass threaded inserts. The eyebolt mods were to cut the eyebolt to a J-shape so the stock Targa latch hook on the car could grab it. The eybolt was so cheesy you could see the hacksaw marks and the lack of galvanizing at the cut surface.

This bottom photo shows the front lip which is nothing more than a 0.125 in. thick aluminum sheet powdercoated black. It is mounted on spaced cast acrylic blocks (black) that are glued to the plex top. The lip slightly curves to conform to the tops curvature. The front latch hardware on my top looked very much like OEM 914 latches but were not, they were custom. The rear mounts are as previously described – cast acrylic blocks with modded eye bolts. Note the side window rubber on this top, much lower profile than on mine, also this top is missing the rear edge weatherstripping that wrapped around the edge of the Targa bar. The 1st three photos here show an even different front edge detail it looks like a formed fiberglass Z-shape to match the tops contour, see later posts. There should be a foam rubber square gasket stuffed into that linear slot to keep wind/rain out. Looks better than the aluminum plate to my eye.

This top (hi George ) has the aluminum plate front lip, but has a different rear mount that looks similar in its polygon form to the OEM mounts. These photos are the best I have of it. It also shows how the rear end of the side window top rubber slants to conform to the slanted top edge of the stock rear side Targa rubber, and the rear edge weatherstrip.

This photo is the S-top front latch, it has a cast aluminum mounting base and seems slightly larger proportioned than the standard 914 latch, but otherwise pretty similar. Note the side window top rubber. On my S-top, this weatherstripping was 2 individual stacked profiles glued together and were a couple inches tall – ugly to my eye. The rubber shown here is similar but a little less bulky.

Another photo of the S-top front latch mounted to the aluminum plate front lip. The side window top rubber here is a different profile than on mine, but conceptually the same. See how bulky it is? My sections were solid dense foam rubber, these are chambered. This shot also shows the square front gasket in the linear slot, with a concave leading edge to compress aginst the 914 windshield hoop. This profile was identical to one I bought aftermarket as a replacement. I am certain acceptable pieces of standard rubber profiles can be sourced and used, but they probably need to be bought in bulk.

This is the latch and side window top rubber from my top. See the aluminum plate front lip mounted on stand-off cast acrylic blocks? See the two piece side window rubber and how tall it is? If I remember right, the lower rubber piece was a medium sized J-shaped profile with the longer leg dropping inside window into the cabin. The upper rubber piece was more of a wedge to fill in the space between the side curvature of the plex top and the lower J-ribber piece. I am pretty sure this side window top rubber was the original supplied with my top. This is also the only photo I have of my top that shows just the end of the front foam rubber weatherstripping between the aluminum plate and plex S-top nested against the side window rubber. The weatherstripping is simply glued to the plex with contact cement. This front rubber was about 1/2 in square in profile and had a concave leading edge to gasket against the 914 windshield hoop. This rubber was for keeping wind noise and rain out. The rear rubber profile I also replaced with a stock profile piece, I found both standard profiles at JC Whitney – they matched the originals exactly.

Here is the rear latch on my top. See the modded eyebolt? See the 2-piece stacked side window top rubber and how it slants up to mate with the Targa side edge rubber?

Looking up through my S-top, primarily to see the front aluminum plate mount and support blocks and the tall side window rubber

I figured I'ld keep this quiet until it was a little further along, but I have started on these about a month ago. I've had a top that I've used to work out the new one. As usual I am making some changes that will make it a better product. I'm redesigning the seals for the sides to do a better job in keeping the water out. The attachment hardware is a higher quality and will have some adjustment to allow the owner to get the tension just right. This is important in the rear as the I bolt can separate from the top at the block. This one I have has been repaired in that area at least 2 times.

I've actually been looking at this one for quite some time and I'm collaborating with a few other individuals here to make a better product. It has kind of been hush hush as the start up costs on this product is pretty high, and I've been taking bits of it on at a time.


I didn't want to post anything until I had more of it together, but I've just started on the main piece (the roof itself), and didn't want to drop the bomb until I had my first piece in hand. Pricing can vary depending on how things go and how everything comes together but,...........................

Target price is $650, and it looks attainable.

WOW! You are developing quite a catalog of 914 parts!

Well you know that I'd send a deposit for the first one Mikey

Hi Real Red! Not sure if you’re gunna see this, and an attempt to PM you failed. Box is Full. If you (or anyone else) happens to have a set of seals for a Saratoga top that you’d be willing to part with, please send me a PM!

Thanks!

M.i.M.

Wow, 10 year thread delta - perhaps a record?

I also have a top that is in need of seals -
If there are any available, please contact me as well !