Vipair Hardtop not even close to fitting. Please help! Pics inside.

[iownedu]

May 7th Steve sent me these pics of a fiberglass hardtop for an SRT he had sitting around.

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May 8th he told me 1200 for the top with lexan window and a headliner that matches the factory center console lid, 570 for black paint, 288 for shipping. So I sent him $2058 the same day for it, sounded like a very good price to me!

Stated 2-3 weeks to be painted and delivered to my doorstep. June 29th it finally showed up, however it was missing the base tonneau piece! I tried installing it over the factory top and it had huge gaps for air to come in obviously. So then I tried installing it over the OEM boot cover, even worse.

June 30th he said he would ship me the tonneau piece he forgot to send on Monday July 1st. Finally received that after numerous emails on July 31st.

He send an unpainted white fiberglass tonneau! Not black.

Well my loss, I guess Ill fork out to have that painted is what I thought in my head. Threw the tonneau on the car and put the hardtop on top of it to test fitment, excited that I would finally have a working hardtop.

Boy was I wrong, fits just as bad as it did over the OEM boot cover. I can fit two hands under the back corners, the weatherstripping doesnt even touch the tonneau in those areas.

Anybody have any input on how to get this thing to fit? Emails to Steve go unanswered.

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All I have is a huge $2000 paperweight at this point.

Full gallery: http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d75/matpatte/Vipair Hardtop Test Fitting/

 

[Darbgnik]

Without bending your car in the middle? Looks like a no go.

 

[iownedu]

Without bending your car in the middle? Looks like a no go.

Yep that what it seems to me, no way this thing is gonna fit.

 

[Rizzo]

That doesnt even look like the right top?

 

[wikkid]

Well i got my deposit back from Steve for my CF roof. I know he has a bunch of things going on, but i think he needs to have a much better time frame for getting things done. Personally these tops should not be advertised until they are done and fit perfectly. Now its just a mess for guys that paid up front.

The tops do look great in the pictures, but i lost interest after months of not recieving it. Plus we are talking a good sum of money.

 

[ROCKET62]

Gonna try to be factual since I have a love/hate relationship with Steve. He has some good ideas and offers a decent price. Whenever there is a problem he seems to disappear. He offers a decent price because his parts are made overseas and I doubt that they have a test viper to see how things actually fit. Quality control is lacking and it would seem that many of the parts are pulled out of the molds too early - which leads to inconsistent quality and inconsistent fit. I have a hard time tolerating someone when they guarantee something will ship by a certain date - and don't deliver. Do what you say you are going to do - and don't promise something unless you are 110% sure you can deliver.

 

[LifeIsGood]

... He has some good ideas and offers a decent price...He offers a decent price...Quality control is lacking......inconsistent quality and inconsistent fit. I have a hard time tolerating someone when they guarantee something will ship by a certain date - and don't deliver. Do what you say you are going to do - and don't promise something unless you are 110% sure you can deliver.

I agree with all the above.

Steve seems like a nice guy and I have received full refunds for the parts that I've purchased from him and returned...them all. It takes many many months to get the parts and many many months for your money to be refunded. I ordered numerous parts, received some...all had quality issues...and canceled the others. It is indeed very difficult corresponding with Steve and it becomes frustrating when it ends up being months and months and months. I expect the highest quality for parts that I put on my viper and these were not.

 

[PDCjonny]

Gonna try to be factual since I have a love/hate relationship with Steve. He has some good ideas and offers a decent price. Whenever there is a problem he seems to disappear. He offers a decent price because his parts are made overseas and I doubt that they have a test viper to see how things actually fit. Quality control is lacking and it would seem that many of the parts are pulled out of the molds too early - which leads to inconsistent quality and inconsistent fit. I have a hard time tolerating someone when they guarantee something will ship by a certain date - and don't deliver. Do what you say you are going to do - and don't promise something unless you are 110% sure you can deliver.

Where's the love part?

 

[JoelW]

Autoform is the only way to go. Put mine on clamped it down never looked back. Tried and tested to 125mph Enough said...

Exactly! My Autoform top looks good, fits fine, and is quieter and cooler than the convertible top.

 

[VYPR BYT 94]

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In this pic you can see that this top is clearly not designed to fit on your car. It rails straight across the back and doesn't even attempt to follow the curves of your baby.
I'd ask if there is another part number that they potentially screwed up -- if they say this IS the right part for your car... they're totally messed up with their Q/C.
Sorry to hear the news as I know how it is to be excited when something arrives and then it's a big let-down.
Mike

 

[Canyon707]

I have one of Steves hoods and it fir perfectly. I know Steve, he is local to the area I live in. He has a lot of things going on and I know he makes an effort to get things right.

 

[ROCKET62]

The love part is coming very soon . My 2009 project is about 99% complete using Steve's coupe rear end - and everything I said above is still correct. I LOVE the way it is turning out - but had some issues that I felt could have been addressed better and would want anyone considering doing the project to be fully informed in advance and not after the fact.

Where's the love part?

 

[intense5.5]

I agree with all of the above. Canyon, my hood fits well also. There are some blemishes that could be better, but is acceptable for aftermarket. Based on the quality of my hood I would buy from him again, but, he has more than alot going on. He has too much going on and I told him so. He needs to slow down so he can respond to customers in a reasonable time, or get an assistant. As the OP stated, and moundir noted the other member with the c/f roof order, Steve dose'nt respond. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a response within a day or three. My experience went something like this; your hood will be there on x-date. X-date would come and go with no hood. I would email or call and get either no or a delayed response saying sorry, had an issue, it'll be there on x-date now. X-date would come and go with no hood and no response and the fun would start again. Towards the end I got the BBB involved and he ignored them too. This is not the way to treat the viper community. All the while he had $2000 of my money and I was never sent any kind of order/purchase number. Yet the few times I actually spoke to him on the phone he sounded like a genuinely decent guy, and I've seen posts of him helping others like that war vet. Maybe a member local to him could lend a hand in the office or teach him to organize his time better and we'd all benifit.

 

[GTS-R 001]

May 7th Steve sent me these pics of a fiberglass hardtop for an SRT he had sitting around.

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

May 8th he told me 1200 for the top with lexan window and a headliner that matches the factory center console lid, 570 for black paint, 288 for shipping. So I sent him $2058 the same day for it, sounded like a very good price to me!

Stated 2-3 weeks to be painted and delivered to my doorstep. June 29th it finally showed up, however it was missing the base tonneau piece! I tried installing it over the factory top and it had huge gaps for air to come in obviously. So then I tried installing it over the OEM boot cover, even worse.

June 30th he said he would ship me the tonneau piece he forgot to send on Monday July 1st. Finally received that after numerous emails on July 31st.

He send an unpainted white fiberglass tonneau! Not black.

Well my loss, I guess Ill fork out to have that painted is what I thought in my head. Threw the tonneau on the car and put the hardtop on top of it to test fitment, excited that I would finally have a working hardtop.

Boy was I wrong, fits just as bad as it did over the OEM boot cover. I can fit two hands under the back corners, the weatherstripping doesnt even touch the tonneau in those areas.

Anybody have any input on how to get this thing to fit? Emails to Steve go unanswered.

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

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All I have is a huge $2000 paperweight at this point.

Full gallery: http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d75/matpatte/Vipair Hardtop Test Fitting/

Matt,


Well, it looks like a guy can't take the kids fishing for a weekend without something going on around here...



The top you purchased was one that I had sitting around for a year, I told you this when you contacted me for a cheap hardtop.

It fit perfectly on a car I had here so I do not see why it is not fitting on your car, it may take for the top to be pushed down and the latches done up and then tightened up.

Here are pics of it on a car here, (the exact same top before it was painted at your request)









And here is one of the car showing the convert top is there so there is no question that we are talking apples to apples.





I told you this was a top I had sitting around for a year, I quoted you $1200 for the top. $570 for painting it to your paint code and $288 for shipping. You ordered it on May 8th and it was shipped to you June 21st, the day I picked it up from the painter.

The painter took a few extra weeks to finish the top and charged me $1550 for the paint job after I was initially billed $1840 by them. I advised you of this and you thanked me for not increasing the price to you

The tonneau is not included with this top. I shipped a tonneau anyways when you asked for one, I never charged you for one and I never said one was included and I never charged you for painting one either. The glass window on the top in the pics was not included in the deal either just the Lexan one it shipped with (just to point out that not everything in the pics was included).

The top fit on a car here as you can see from the pics I posted above. I did not take the pics to try to show how it fit or didn't fit, I just put the top on the car and took some pics one night to see how it looked with the coupe rear end kit. The top fit fine on this car.

I am sure that the top could be fit to your car as well by just pushing down on the back of it and doing up the latches and then tightening them up.

Even though it should be known by those that post on this forum, these cars are hand built and each one is shimmed differently everywhere so some adjustments need to be made every once and while.

I know for a fact that since the tonneau fits, the roof will fit as the bottom profile of the roof is a little smaller than the profile of the flat tonneau as can be seen in the pics you posted of the 2 of them with the roof sitting on top of the tonneau.

Matt, even though my terms and conditions are very clear about painted parts, I think you should box the roof up and ship it back. If you don't want it to fit, it never will.

Please keep the tonneau for your trouble.

Thanks

Steve

 

[GTS-R 001]

Gonna try to be factual since I have a love/hate relationship with Steve. He has some good ideas and offers a decent price. Whenever there is a problem he seems to disappear. He offers a decent price because his parts are made overseas and I doubt that they have a test viper to see how things actually fit. Quality control is lacking and it would seem that many of the parts are pulled out of the molds too early - which leads to inconsistent quality and inconsistent fit. I have a hard time tolerating someone when they guarantee something will ship by a certain date - and don't deliver. Do what you say you are going to do - and don't promise something unless you are 110% sure you can deliver.

John,

Really?

I shipped pretty darn quick, in fact you were surprised at how fast it got there. If memory serves everything you ordered from me was delivered in 2 or 3 weeks.

You received a couple of the same side brackets, I shipped out replacements (still waiting on the originals to come back though)

In fact , what was it May of 2011, I spent an entire Saturday driving in the rain to a wrecker 4 hours from me to check out a car for you, I didn't ask you for gas money or nuthin, I just did it.

I didn't realize our relationship was a love/hate one. I checked all my emails back and forth with you and I replied to every one of them in a day or less.

Sorry of I've offended you John, but I thought I put a fair bit of effort in to making and keeping you happy.

 

[Lespauldude]

Exactly! My Autoform top looks good, fits fine, and is quieter and cooler than the convertible top.

Same here. I just got my Autoform top delivered on Friday and it absolutely perfect - fit, paint, stripes, the whole deal. Even though it took a bit longer
it was well worth it. Steve Dreyer is a well known vendor with a long history of Viper aftermarket items. He was upset that my build was taking as long as it was.
I'm sure that Steve from Vipair will sort out this disconnect. From your pictures, it sure looks like the fit is way off.

 

[sssammm]

I think that unless you want to pay top top prices, you have to take into consideration that for a much cheaper price for goods you may have to
do work to get top quality results, I purchased a rear wing and splitter, although the wing was nowhere near the quality of my GT3 RS carbon wing,
the work I had done to it has made it super smashing, and unless someone else wants to put their money where their mouth is and manufacture
these top quality carbon parts, i have no doubt the price would go through the roof
You get what you pay for, and the price I paid including my customising still make it well worth the money

 

[GTS-R 001]

Matt,

Here are a couple of the pics from your gallery,

As you can see the front latch is tightened sooo much that the rear of the roof is suspended in the air and not touching anywhere. if you loosen the front (turn it a few turns) and let the rear of the roof down and then tighten the rear latches till the rear is where it is snug, then you can slowly tighten teh front latch till it is at the right tension. Even the guys at the factory when the install your soft top have to make adjustments

 

[Nader]

From the looks of the top on the white convertible, it looks like the top fits under or adjacent to the trunk hatch as opposed to sitting on top of it???? Does the coupe rear end make a difference?

 

[GTS-R 001]

From the looks of the top on the white convertible, it looks like the top fits under or adjacent to the trunk hatch as opposed to sitting on top of it???? Does the coupe rear end make a difference?

Nader,

The coupe rear end fits just like a convert trunk and quarters do, the front half of the coupe rear conversion is a convert trunk, exactly. The pics of the black car are with the front latch so tight the whole roof is suspended mid air, (I guess this shows how strong it is, LOL) it is not touching the collapsed roof like it should be and it will not touch the trunk or the quarters it is not big enough to come anywhere near them.

Here is a zoomed in view, the top is not even touching at teh rear with the front latch sooo tight

 

[prpaster]

I have to go to bat for steve with this thread. He has always picked up my phone call and returned my texts . I have his hood on and turbo kit on the way soon and I will be purchasing more in the future.

For what it is worth I think he trying to make parts that are more affordable by going overseas. No one likes overseas for some reason, when probably at least 70% of everything is coming from there now in days....

 

[LifeIsGood]

I think that unless you want to pay top top prices, you have to take into consideration that for a much cheaper price for goods you may have to
do work to get top quality results, I purchased a rear wing and splitter, although the wing was nowhere near the quality of my GT3 RS carbon wing,
the work I had done to it has made it super smashing...

I think you hit the nail on the head with these statements...the problem is that the buyer needs to know this up front...we aren't all fabricators with the proper tools and abilities to 'play' with carbon fiber, epoxy, resin, etc.

 

[GTS-R 001]

I have to go to bat for steve with this thread. He has always picked up my phone call and returned my texts . I have his hood on and turbo kit on the way soon and I will be purchasing more in the future.

For what it is worth I think he trying to make parts that are more affordable by going overseas. No one likes overseas for some reason, when probably at least 70% of everything is coming from there now in days....

Paul,

You are 100% correct, I have had a few of these cars apart and seen labels that say made in china all over the place in these cars.

I make parts here in the USA, I make parts in Europe, I make parts in ASIA, I make parts in Canada.

Heck even the 6 spoke wheels everyone here loves are made in Taiwan....

 

[GTS-R 001]

I think you hit the nail on the head with these statements...the problem is that the buyer needs to know this up front...we aren't all fabricators with the proper tools and abilities to 'play' with carbon fiber, epoxy, resin, etc.

Your right ken, but Sam just added some clear coat, he didn't fabricate.

And just as an FYI, that splitter that you ordered from me, that you sent back because you didn't want to cut your front bumper and because FEDEX drove over it, I credited you in full for that but since it was shipped back without a claim being filed for the damage on your end, I ended up with a piece if $2500 junk, yet I credited you in full including I paid shipping both ways....

 

[Supratt6s]

Anyone that's complaining actually have a background in body work? Before I joined the army, I went through a collision repair course and I'll be the first to tell you that this is NOT a novice job. You need to take that to a professional shop and allow them to do what they are paid to do. Clearly Steve posted pics that it was fitted just fine on another car so either one of two things is going on... 1) your car's frame is bent or 2) you don't know what you're doing. You might want to give the seller the opportunity to help you resolve any conflicts before posting information like this.

 

[iownedu]

Steve,
Thanks for replying here. Are you saying to basically completely unlatch the front and then crank down the side latches? Then latch the front afterwards?

Also is it supposed to be installed directly on top of the factory latched down softtop? No tonneau in between? The problem with that is there is nothing for the weatherstripping along the bottom of the hhardtop to seal against at the back corners. Does that make sense?
I didn't want this to turn into a bash Vipair thread, I just wanna get this thing to fit.

Thanks!

 

[Supratt6s]

Steve,
Thanks for replying here. Are you saying to basically completely unlatch the front and then crank down the side latches? Then latch the front afterwards?

Also is it supposed to be installed directly on top of the factory latched down softtop? No tonneau in between? The problem with that is there is nothing for the weatherstripping along the bottom of the hhardtop to seal against at the back corners. Does that make sense?
I didn't want this to turn into a bash Vipair thread, I just wanna get this thing to fit.

Thanks!

Why didn't start off by asking Steve this personally before attacking him on the forums with the accusations you posted?

 

[GTS-R 001]

Steve,
Thanks for replying here. Are you saying to basically completely unlatch the front and then crank down the side latches? Then latch the front afterwards?

Also is it supposed to be installed directly on top of the factory latched down softtop? No tonneau in between? The problem with that is there is nothing for the weatherstripping along the bottom of the hhardtop to seal against at the back corners. Does that make sense?
I didn't want this to turn into a bash Vipair thread, I just wanna get this thing to fit.

Thanks!

Matt,

Unlatch the front latch and turn the hook to loosen it and re hook it loosely, that will release the tension to allow the back part of the roof to drop down. Then hook teh side hooks and latch them, if they are loose then unhook, turn to tighten and rehook and re-latch until they get set to the right tension,

Once the sides are snugged down, start tightening the front latch until it snugs but not super tight just try to snug it close to the tension the convert top has.

There should be a drop cloth in the crate to go over your convert top to protect it form the roof edge, if I forgot to put it in there in teh haste to get that thing shipped the day I picked it up let me know and I will fire one out to you.

Let me know if this helps and we'll go from there. feel free to call me tomorrow on my cell and let me know how this works

Thanks

Steve

 

[iownedu]

There wasnt any drop cloth? There was a furniture blanket it there if thats what you are talking about.

I just put the front real loose and cranked the sides down as tight as I can. The top of the bolt gets in the way from them fully latching however. So I basically pushed the latched as closed as I could and put the velcro over it.

Ill post some pics so you can see, it still wont fit quite right, does that coupe rear decklid you test fitted it on have a different contour?

 

[GTS-R 001]

There wasnt any drop cloth? There was a furniture blanket it there if thats what you are talking about.

I just put the front real loose and cranked the sides down as tight as I can. The top of the bolt gets in the way from them fully latching however. So I basically pushed the latched as closed as I could and put the velcro over it.

Ill post some pics so you can see, it still wont fit quite right, does that coupe rear decklid you test fitted it on have a different contour?

The coupe rear decklids have the exact same contour as the regular convert ones, the hardtop should fit i-on top of your convertible top it should not touch the trunk decklid