Hardtop hoist

Howdy, Does anyone know where I can look at hoists and hoist prices for hoisting the hardtop off my '86 SL. Thanks beforehand, your info. is appreciated.

Ooops! Forgot to mentions that I wanted to do that online.

[BDBENZ]

There are many options in the market. This is the link to the best and, most likely, the most expense http://www.eztop.com/

If you are planning to keep your car for a long time, I would invest in this model, I have a 87 SL and plan to upscale at some point to the newer 500 SL and this unit can be used for it as well.

Regards,


BD

[G-Benz]

I got mine at

www.************************

but also found that Beverly Hills Motoring www.bhma.com also stocks it, but alas, their link is dead (and URL is up for grabs too).

The electrically-assisted version costs about 4 times as much as the manual. I think the electric is a waste of money unless you swap tops every other day!

I got the manual of course. My wife doesn't care for the hardtop anyway, I've probably only installed it twice in the three years we had the car.

It's a high quality unit with very robust engineering. I could hoist engines with it if it came with a stouter cable!

I would recommend getting a cover for it as well, especially if your top is off for long periods...nothing like getting in your car and seeing some creature crawling along the headliner!!!

[kip Foss]

Try an $11 boat trailer winch, 2 sash pullys, and a length of nylon rope. Whole thing can't cost more than $20 to put together.

[cbdo]

I was just going through the same process myself. I've found four different hoists available, some of which show up at more than one seller. They are:

EZtop: http://www.eztop.com/ (mfr)

IMC: http://removabletops.com/cars/mercedes_sl.html (mfr)
http://www.heavenforcars.com/products/gifts/index2.htm

Fritzi: http://capitolwest.com (mfr?)

Sto'Away: http://home.earthlink.net/~garbiso/menu.htm (mfr)

Personally, I built my own using marine pulley sets (see West Marine or someplace similar) for a 4:1 purchase tackle, nylon webbing and gutter hooks essentially mimicking the Fritzi Hooker setup, and a jam cleat backed up by a standard cleat to manage the line; total investment about $80, but I had a few parts on hand already. I found with careful balancing as you set up the webbing harness the top's really quite controllable. It's reasonable, if not really fast, for one person. The deluxe solution, of course, is a prefabbed electric as mentioned in an earlier post. A 107 top is about 90 pounds, so it's not that you've got to lift something terribly heavy--it's more the need to control it precisely to avoid expensive goofs!

[dmorrison]

I have the Sto'away unit and am very happy with it. I have the manual unit.
I must also let you know that I purchased the unit in 95 when I bought the 560SL. I put the top up on the cradle, inside the cover provided and have not put the top on the car since. When the weather is great I drive the SL. When its not I drive one of the other cars.
But the quality and how the top sits in the cradle are excellent.

Dave

PS. I do occasionally unzip the cover and dust the top of to keep it nice shape.