MX5Ireland

im going to make a lightweight fibreglass hardtop for one of my track cars

they will be a bare grp shell with an inner skin

no clamps , seals , glass or hardware will be included -
these will not require mushroom bolts to fit securely although you could transfer your seals and clamps from your softtop over.
also you could get glass through your insurance - windscreen replacement policy

I should be able to make these for circa £250 , if you are interested , send me a message

We should be able to supply seals' etc from old soft tops that we have replaced,lf that helps,

Is the glass in a hardtop not mad hard to replace as it's bonded in or something?

fez wrote:Is the glass in a hardtop not mad hard to replace as it's bonded in or something?

they are bonded and bolted in but in this case its a new hardtop so the glass doesnt need removed

you will be essentially fitting a new screen under insurance for £50 or so , so autoglass or national winscreens will do it once you have it painted etc - the seal comes with new glass

alternatively if you didnt want glass , you could get some polycarb cut to shape and bond that if that was your thing

I would be interested for sure although i have limited knowledge of them and whats needed to fit etc. Haven't looked into all that. My knowledge goes as far as 1 is soft ad one is hard.

That aside I would be interested, have you any time frame in mind?

hoopsbhoy wrote:I would be interested for sure although i have limited knowledge of them and whats needed to fit etc. Haven't looked into all that. My knowledge goes as far as 1 is soft ad one is hard.

That aside I would be interested, have you any time frame in mind?

im starting the moldings after easter

original hardtop is booked in on thursday 4th april to have the rear glass removed , so molding will commence then

I will also be making poly carb windowsp, using the original glass as a template.

Could the front clasps from an old roof frame be used to secure the front of the proposed hardtop? If so, then all you need is some sort of "lip" tab at the rear to slip under the rim in the area where the regular hardtop attaches to the frankenstein bolts. No?? Dying to see how this turns out..should be good having seen some of your handiwork previously.

John

Any update ? I would be interested in one

Bert1150 wrote:Any update ? I would be interested in one

lol today is the 3rd april andthere isnt much i can do until i get the glass removed tomorrow.
this will progress rather quickly

Thanks looking forward to seeing the finished article !! Ps any idea of weight? Thanks

They are not much use with no seals,no clamps ,no holders for Frankenstein bolts and no interior trim and all that for 250 stg.You can get proper aftermarket roof for around 350euro with no heated window and if you sell some and everyone starts claiming glass off their insurance ????Now come on .....how stupid do you think the insurance companies are ??Not a good deal .

autocheck wrote:They are not much use with no seals,no clamps ,no holders for Frankenstein bolts and no interior trim and all that for 250 stg.You can get proper aftermarket roof for around 350euro with no heated window and if you sell some and everyone starts claiming glass off their insurance ????Now come on .....how stupid do you think the insurance companies are ??Not a good deal .

thats cool robert , i guess you wont be wanting any to sell.

Instead of justifying anything i will let the final pictures do the talking, so in the meantime , thanks for ..whatever.

I think the idea of them being racing hard tops is they don't need any of that? Isn't it just for arodynamics? i've seen track cars with the roof on and no glass or headliner etc.

managed to remove the glass myself after the chap let me down
fairly easy to do with a stanley knife and some wire

http://i46.tinypic.com/34fmukp.jpg