so we cut the top off my friends gold coupe last weekend... (pics on pg 2)

[jrsink]

true story.removeable hardtop in the works...

UPDATE!!!! PICS ON PAGE 2!!!! peep that

Modified by jrsink at 7:15 PM 1/28/2007
Modified by jrsink at 7:18 PM 1/28/2007

[Nick240sx]

true story.removeable hardtop in the works...

and also removed stability and rigidity. better reinforce the body of that car if your gonna drive it.

[RedEvilRPS13]

stitch welding is your friend. and anything else to stiffing that poor car up.

why would you ruin a coupe like that?

(not trying to be rude, just my opinion)

[Grandpa01]

I'm willing to bet the coupe was a parts car, and he's using the top on his 'vert...

[Eikon]

I think Grandpa's got it right! Can't wait to see the results.

Pics or Ban!!!

[biggie]

If that's the case, there isn't much metal to work with below the rear window is there? Would think a hard top for vert might need a smaller back window to have room for securing the back part. Be interesting though.

[94_240sx]

Interesting project you got there. I googled and ran into this website.

http://www.smoothline.com

They make custom removable hardtops. Called them and talked to Gary. He seemed very nice. He said he can start developing one for 240 only if he can sell at least 100. Price will be around $1500 range and finished product will look like OEM piece. I told him about hard top version of 240 that might be used as a template and everything. Man... I'm very interested, but 100 is too high.

Smooth LineHigh Perfomance CompositesTarentum, PA 15084Toll Free: 1.877.368.4533Phone: 724.274.6002Fax: 724.274.6121

Gallery.http://www.smoothline.com/image_gallery

[biggie]

$1500? Good God. I figured someone could get them sold for a few hundred.

[gabossie]

Pics or

[DeXteR]

do we even have 100 vert people on the forum?!

1500 seems a little steep if he wants 100 of them sold. get it under a grand and maybe try to get 30 or so made... that seems more reasonable.

[ishkabibble]

The vert looks great with the soft top.

[madcowvert]

The vert looks great with the soft top.

vert's look great with no top at all... i think some people for got why they got a vert and not a coupe...

but i can under stand if there's only 3 months out of the year where some of you can actually drive with the top down.. i woulden't know about that i live in the sunshine state

[DeXteR]

but i can under stand if there's only 3 months out of the year where some of you can actually drive with the top down.. i woulden't know about that i live in the sunshine state

screw you, buddy. this is me in MI ->

our local city-cam is down. i was going to post it so you could see all the snow and salt on the roads.

[madcowvert]

i dont know how you guys do it i dont think i would never let my car see the raod that salt kills cars..

[Nick240sx]

i dont know how you guys do it i dont think i would ever let my car see the raod that salt kills cars..

which is why im washing the salt of from today and waxing it and cleaning the underbody on my car tomorrow morning at the shop. HATE SALT!

[KA-Te]

:

[jamied311]

:

[RedEvilRPS13]

ditto.

[biggie]

which is why im washing the salt of from today and waxing it and cleaning the underbody on my car tomorrow morning at the shop. HATE SALT!

Yep, I've gotta wash salt off as well, but just might be more on Monday.

And we do need update/pics on this.

[zenkii]

Pics or

[ishkabibble]

Dexter, you're almost a Canadian, eh?

I love the Midwest, but the weather is unbearable. I spent most of childhood figuring out how I could get out of there.

[jrsink]

I'm willing to bet the coupe was a parts car, and he's using the top on his 'vert...

smart guy! first intelligent comment...

[jrsink]

do we even have 100 vert people on the forum?!

1500 seems a little steep if he wants 100 of them sold. get it under a grand and maybe try to get 30 or so made... that seems more reasonable.

anyone forgetting that miata hartops go fo $1,000...

this thing is heavy as hell btw. at least 150lbsdefinitely going to have to think about fiberglassing a mold in the future

[ishkabibble]

Anyone forgetting that we don't drive Miatas?

[slownslurious]

I could do them for $600 each or so, but at that price I wouldn't be making any money selling them and it wouldn't be worth the effor to make the mold unless I could sell at least a dozen or so of them.

The real problems that I see with making a hardtop for the vert:1) rear window. A plastic rear window would be much lighter and is what many miata hardtops use. It could be curved to improve the massive blindspot verts have with the top up. This would have to be molded. I don't have the equipment to do that. Outsourcing would be expensive. Also, plastic scratches a lot easier than glass. What could be much cheaper/easier is to identify a vehicle with rear glass that is capable of working and that is common enough in the junkyard to secure a second hand supply. For thos in the snowbelt this option could even provide a power defroster in the rear. Pimp. It would also make the top a lot heavier though, and probably limit the top to a smaller squarish rear window approximately the same size as the rear one. one option I have eyed in several junkyards is the RX7 convertibles. They used a folding top with a hard roof section over the occupants, and the rear window is heated glass approximately the same size and shape as the vert rear window. Only thing is, the yards here want at least $100 per for the rear glass, and I have a feeling rx7 verts are rare enough that I would only be able to get a handful of the rear glass units.

2) fitment. How would the top fit? Would it fit OVER the stock top (with the stock top folded down). This would be less than ideal for a few reasons (stock top gets moldy etc when folded down, hard top would have to be especially bulky to flare out over the folded top, and the folded top eats up extra trunk space).Would people want a hardtop if they had to remove their soft top to install it? I think this would limit its appeal....Furthermore, If I was selling things for the vert I would also want to produce a hard boot cover and a hard tonneau cover. The hardtop could be much smaller and more lightweight if it was designed to be used in conjunction with the hard tonneau cover, but would those of you with children etc be willing to purchase it if it didn't allow the use of the rear seats while isntalled?

3) attachment. No where on the stock car is there any convenient fitting to mount the top to. I dont know what to do about this except include acceptable hardware with the hardtop designed for permanent attachment. Would people be willing to accept this solution?

What about attaching it to the windshield frame at the front and sealing it around the doors? For the top of the window seals you could use regular weather stripping, but because of the stock hook system in the front the easiest solution would be to use a 240sx convertible header bar as the front of the hard top. There probably just aren't enough header bars in the junkyards to make this option available to everyone that might want one, and making a custom front header bar would increase the cost.

4) costwould people really want one if I completed it and it ended up costing $600? $800? $1000?I really won't know how much the parts and labor will run until I do the first one, so i couldn't set a price. I probably wouldn't want to start a mold until I had pre orders but I'm not sure what the price would be.

5)compatibility with aftermarket upgradesThis is a huge area of concern for me. My car, which would presumably be the model I would use to design the top, has no rear seat, coupe doors, and I am planning on removing the stock top. There is no way I could assure that the hard top would fit other cars without having other models to test fit during the design process. In addition, a roll bar that clears the stock soft top would probably not clear a small top designed to work with a tonneau cover. A full size hard top that allowed rear seat access MIGHT work with some roll bars but probably not all.

As you can see, these are many important issues that hinder the development of such a product. There are far fewer hard tops for 2+2 convertibles than for 2 seaters because of these reasons. The easiest, lightest, cheapest, and most convenient top would be a hard tonneau and a small "2 seater" top that covers the 2 front seats.

[Logan76]

That smoothline is about 20 minutes from me if not less, Ill have to go check it out sometime. I dont even own a vert im just curious.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

anyone forgetting that miata hartops go fo $1,000...

Ya and S2000 hardtops go for almost 3 grand.

Mugen & Seibon CF tops...expect to pay over that.

A custom 240 hardtop for $1500...you can't really go wrong with that..considering that it's custom.

[TIMELSS_vert]

good meetin ya man, ill be lookin forward to seein the cage and hard top!!!

-Mike

[sil_eighty86]

The easiest, lightest, cheapest, and most convenient top would be a hard tonneau and a small "2 seater" top that covers the 2 front seats.

If you do this I would buy one for sure.

[cmkelly]

Every after market hard top I've seen looks like crap! There I said it. I love my vert both with the top up and top down. I strongly recommend moving to the south where practically everyday is a vert day.

Seriously I'd be interestsed in seeing how this mod turns out but would never consider one for my ride.

Can't wait to see the pics...