Surrey top on ebay

[roofman]

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayIS...atchlink:top:us

Check it out.

 

[rooster]

Hi,

Does any one know anything about these tops? Is it the one availlible from Remington?

I'm very interested in this one.

Hard tops are hard to come by up here in Canada and very few e-bay sellers want to ship them up here (don't understand why though).

Thanks

 

[SCguy]

I don't know anything about this particular top. The oringals were made of metal though.

 

[TR4nut]

I'm not sure if this top is still made, I think the original business in Mitcham closed doors a long time ago. The molds may have been sold off so the design could very well be what Revington uses now. As an aside, here's one of the kit bodies Microplas made in the early 60's:
Microplas Mistral

The surrey parts on this sure look to be original style, not a bad kit.

Randy

 

[Got_All_4]

I've got an uneasy feeling about this one. Too many problems. I'll explain. About 3 years ago I and about 5 other guys got caught up in a guy selling these hardtops on E-bay. Said he purchased a warehouse and there were 10 new tops in boxes. They were suppose to be the fiber glass kind. If I recall he called them Seberings. Well after I discovered he was a fraud after doing some home work and discovered that no one ever got one that won an auction. I started emailing the bidders to warn them. After he caught on, he started doing private listings. Just like this ad. I and only 1 other guy got our money back through Pay Pal. We turned him in to E-Bay and the listings finally stopped. I found he purchased the top for his TR250 from a seller that parts out TRs and auctions the parts on E-Bay. A English guy in New York state. He essentially sold the same top over and over. His name is Hector. Pallet I think is his last name? He lived in his summer home in New Jersey. Where this top is at. He also lives in Texas. Listing looks too familiar and for selling it for a friend he does know a lot about them. Just be carful and do your home work. He only has 1 feedback on an item he purchased in May of 06. If your interested do your home work because it might be legitimate. I would contact that seller and see what he purchased and ask him his name and location. Most are very forthcoming especially if your up front with them and suspect a fraud.

 

[PeterK]

I purchased my Surrey from Hector on ebay and I know of 1 other person that also received one. Hector was slow shipping as his father was dying of cancer sometime during this period, and he was on the road alot to take care of his dad. He was also slow in responding to email.

Mine was in two custom made crates; apparently (from what he told me) he farmed out the crate construction and the person that built them, built them too small the first time to fit the tops.

I think Hector's intentions were honest but he just got over his ability to ship the tops coupled with personal problems and gave up.

Still, people unfortunately got screwed.

Btw, the top on ebay is similar but a different backlight frame from Hector's. The new ebay listing has the label on the back, mine doesn't. Otherwise, looks the same as an aluminum backlight.

 

[roofman]

Any guesses as to the final price? I guess $2500

 

[TR4nut]

Since I'm still wanting to buy one (not this one though) - I sure hope it goes for less than $2500. These prices are killing me.


Randy

 

[PeterK]

My guestimate:

I've seen the real McCoy go for $2500 a couple of times although the last one went crazy to over $4K.

Since this one is a repro of the big parts, has a flat cut plastic rear window (not even formed Plexi) and missing all the hard to get fittings and weatherstip ...

But since we're talking crazies on ebay, then $1476 ... then sniped in the last 4 seconds at $1477.02 ?

If it goes over $2500, I might consider selling my cache of surrey goodies. OK, maybe not. Well, maybe.

lol.

PK

 

[RobT]

I was thinking the Revington TR one may not be a bad option - especially the "integrated roll-bar" version. Not cheap, but given the prices of repos on e-bay, not that bad really. Anyone seen one of these in the wild?

Rob.

 

[PeterK]

Rob,

The shipping would probably kill the deal. Maybe if you just bought the backlight but still the crate would be huge. As far as freight, they don't really care that it's light, just how much space it take up in the container.

Do you know anyone that sells English antiques and ships over an entire container at a time? That would be the best bet for getting it over the pond.

 

[roofman]

PeterK the add shows the curved glass, not flat, and seems to indicate that it has the weatherstrip. Up to $1525 already.

 

[rooster]

Well it's up to 1500 now. That's past my budget.

As for the Revington ones Lee Jansen got the Revington backlight and then got the glass from TRF. He mentions this on his site, but dosn't metion the shipping cost. It's probably a comparable way to go price wise to getting one like this off e-bay.

It's too bad about most of the ebay sellers not wanting to ship up here. There was a factory TR6 hardtop a couple of weeks ago but the guy selling, but didn't want to ship it up here. I have shipped stuff to the US and it's not a big deal. Just fill out a form, takes less than 5 minutes. The buy is responsible for any duties, taxes ect.

Ah well.

 

[PeterK]

TRF doesn't have the glass anymore. I asked Charles and he said if he can get enough interest then he can have them made up. VB sells plexi for $400.

The ebay ad doesn't show the rear window separate from the frame. That's why I think it's flat. Mine is this way - just a 1/8" piece of Lexan the you bend around and push into the seal.

There are MANY pieces of weather stip (and hardware)needed to complete the installation. The picture showing the weatherstrip ONLY shows the rear backlight seal and some other small profile piece. I think the small one may fit the bottom edge of the fiberglass backlight between the rear deck. But, no furflex, no side trim, no window trim, no winshield cap or seal, no base seal, no escutcheons for attachment. Also the soft top frame doesn't show the rear retainer bar. It all adds up.

If you are interested, expect to pay some more to get it right.

 

[PeterK]

It's too bad about most of the ebay sellers not wanting to ship up here. (snip) I have shipped stuff to the US and it's not a big deal. Just fill out a form, takes less than 5 minutes. The buy is responsible for any duties, taxes ect.

Ah well.

Here's probably what happened:

I've been burned 3 times shipping to Canada because the buyers refused to pay the duty and customs back charged my shipping account for a brokerage fee ($30 each) in addition to the duty. That's why I won't sell outside of the US. Two items COST me to sell - the brokerage fee + duty charge was greater than the selling price of the parts. I listed the items as "antique auto parts" on the form too. They delivered the parts anyway and charged me (the shipper.)

And these were just parts I was selling to another TR person to help my own projects, not a business, just offloading spares.

Sorry the few spoiled it for you honest folks. If I can ship a part through the postal system, all is fine. But UPS or FedEX is another story.

That's probably why you couldn't buy the top you were bidding on. It sucks, I know.

 

[ALLAN]

Boy did TR3ATR250 refresh my memory, this was the guy I bought mine from, it took 2 months to get but others got completly scamed. It came with no seals or hardware. He had a son in NJ and Im guessing this top could be off the sons car (dont know for sure). Hectors friend listed the tops three years ago under the Ebay name- airnolan--the friend was supposed to be some kind of Priest living in Washington state. I didnt believe his stories, several never got the top and were taken for $900. In the last email from Hector he said he was in Mexico, never got ahold of him after that.

 

[PeterK]

Allan,

I think you and I exchanged emails about Hector back in 2004 when we bought our tops. I bought mine first and you contacted me to ask about the seller. I still have the emails in my archive folder. The story was that his father lived in Mexico and Hector traveled there to care for him.

We were lucky. I think that I paid $780 w/shipping.

 

[ALLAN]

Peter,----I remember that, also I was in contact with a guy name Floyd, he was one of the group that never recieved a top. One of Hectors stories was that he was developing a new soft top and was having them built, he was going to send me one for free because of all the trouble he put me through. He kept telling me that untill right after I finally got the top and then I could never get ahold of him again. I gave his Priest friend a negetive on ebay and he retaliated by giving me one!!? It will be interesting to see what someone comes up with on this new listing.

 

[Guest]

What ever happened to the good old days on Ebay when black was black and white was white and nobody ever really got screwed? Or did those days ever exist, even from the very beginning?
I no longer buy off of Ebay, even pulled my info from them (took me 6 months of agony to get Ebay to release me, they were not nice). I guess when you are dealing with faceless people and the anonymity of the internet, scam artists come out of the closet.

 

[rooster]

Sometimes you have to wonder about the I.Q. of these scam artists. I'm sure some of them spend a lot of time to perpretrate their scams. Probably just as much effort as us honest folks put into our jobs. And for what? Are the payouts really all that big?