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Hard Top - What You All Have Waited For!


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First off I would like to introduce myself to all you fellow hoodies as my ID leaves a lot to be desired. My names Simon and I am the proud ish owner of an original 2B, yes the one that did not fit together!

I know a few of you have given me advice on fitting a 2L Zetec, which I have still to do as finding and fitting one in the height of winter was not too appealing. So thanks to all that offered advice.

 

Well there is a point to this post for which I would appreciate lots of feedback.

 

I have noticed that there are a few people out there who seem interested in a Hard Top for the 2B. Well after lots of work and effort I am pleased to say…I have one. :D

It has been fitted to the 2B now for three months now and is remarkably good, it keeps the car perfectly dry and I can honestly say, I think it is by far better than the soft top designed by RHE, although I think an umbrella may be better than that! Sorry RHE but it took me ages to fit and at the end of it there was a hole either side by the windscreen. They made good ventilation holes but when it rained I got wet, and to top it off my head kept hitting the front support bar that held the top in place.

 

Well enough moaning, basically the Hard Top is made from fibreglass and incorporated the use of polycarbonate for the windows., and uses the standard soft-top doors as a means of entry. However Fibreglass gulwing style doors are in the design process and will no doubt be made during the summer months. If we get any this year?

 

The Hard Top uses the pillars that are used to hold the front windscreen in place to secure the front and then fits snugly around the back of the car, where it has been drilled to enable fastening using screws. This holds the top on firmly and makes it incredibly strong.

 

There is plenty of space inside, unlike when the soft top is fitted, with increased headroom, and clears the rear roll bar by about 3 inches. You could be seven foot and still have enough headroom. Yet it still looks aesthetically pleasing from the outside.

 

Where the soft top fits onto the windscreen at the front the is a slight over hang, at a 90 degree angle, which increases the strength, and also means that it can be adjusted to fit, I would think, most 2B’s.

 

Although it cost around £450 to make, I think it was defiantly worth it, sorry about the long essay!! I look forward to you comments.

Thanks

Simon

 

Well after 3 hours of trying to post a picture of the thing, I have managed, please visit

http://uk.msnusers.com/RHHardTop

 

More will follow when I find the will!

post-10-1105693506.jpg

Edited by Big Jim
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Nishka - It's not really higher than the soft top you can get from RHE, overall maybe an inch or two higher. But defiantly not higher than the soft top when traveling at speed. The soft top raised about two inches when traveling at speed.

As it fits nicely on to the car screws are more than enough to hold it in place. They are put into the chassis so its not going anywhere!!

 

Russler - the visibility is good, back window allows enough visibility from the rear mirror, and the port holes in the side allow just enough so you can see what’s going on. You can see what you need to and are positioned so that with side mirrors the visibility is more than adequate.

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Guest TerryBarry

Simon,

That looks great - but I'll wait until the gull wing version comes out

A contortionist I'm not :) and at my rate of build you've got a good deal of development time left

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Thanks for all the feedback so far, keep it coming.

 

Grim - I would happily put it into production, and as this is the prototype would probably sell it for £350, but I do plan to do another and add a few changes. The possibilities are endless, I’m thinking of speakers etc. built in to the top which would be good and fairly inconspicuous due to the head room it provides. If only fiber glass was cheaper!!

 

terry - Hopefully the gulwing version will be out by the end of July, I’m just waiting for some good weather so I can do it properly. These will undoubtedly follow the same design as the soft top doors but obviously the fact the will be open upwards smoothly without assistance and will provide a lot more protection and comfort than the soft top doors.

As soon as I have developed these I will post the photos.

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Guest Steve.G

The hard top looks great and as someone who still has a hood folded and unfitted in the garage it is very tempting - just a note of caution on the "production" issue before everyone gets their cheque book out ;)

 

If you read a lot of the discussions regarding hood fitment it concerns the position of the windscreen and the distance between it and the roll bar - sometimes this can vary by upto 2" from car to car. This to my mind means that much to the "frustration" :angry: of their owners each car is unique. Have you concidered how to deal with this issue of being able to either bridge this gap or s t r e t c h the hard top for an exact fit. Otherwise you could be faced with some of the same leaking issues as the standard hood.

 

As I said it looks great but you may find it might take quite a lot of modification to get it to fit another car.

 

Cheers

 

Steve G

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Guest gordon_macnab

Another alternative on the doors could be to have them opening normally but incorporate part of the roof as per the new GT40. This would allow a lot more access to get in and out.

 

Gordon

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