I have considered making a fiberglas Hard top for my 89 Vert. Basically it would resemble a C5 Z06 style rear window, the trunk would still function...

The features I would like to incorperate would be:
- Fiberglas top - The shell would need to be painted.

- Plexiglas rear window -
THis will reduce weight to the assembly and 2 easy to produce. THe down side is there would not be a rear defroster.

- install normal headliner material. Obviously it would have window seals.

I considered making a speaker port on the sail panels, but I am not sure that would pull off well.

What do you think, is it a good idea or ust stupid?

John

 

i would buy one especially since my top doesnt have a perfect seal.

 

It would be interesting to see. If you make a prototype post some pics.

 

Ok, do NOT just go and shoot me, this is just my first attempt at any kind of drawing, and its by far what the final product would probably look like...

There are some aspects I do not much care for on this drawing, but it gives a fair idea of what I am thinking...

John

 

take that top, and push the very back end of it as far towards the trunk lid as you can without making the trunk unusable. If need be, make the angle that the top makes with the trunk lid smaller, so it's more of a gradual incline to the roof of the car, which would probably let you push it even farther rearward. I think if you do that, it would give it more of the factory look to it than the pig-nose looking back window that you get from a Z06. Keep up the good work

 

My concern with making it go too far back on the Tonneau is there is nothing to protect the metal. With a gasket on the bottom of the top, I would prefer that it mated up where the Convertible top mates to the tonneau. There is the Vinyl decal to help with scratches, I thought it made sence to let the hard top rest on that.

I made that drawing from scratch with the help of my T-top car for the Door window location... I will have to see if I can find a profile of a Convertible with the top up...

John

John

 

It looks to me like you are more concerned with the looks of it than the functinallity. With that kind of window it would be very hard for a hard top to fold down (unless there is something I don't know about). I would go with a flat smaller window so that its not a hinderance when its folding down.
Also, you probably want to keep everything close to stock since it works great, and its a good design.
So, just think about using fiberglass and making it thin, but I am sure you can add some serious number of layers before it starts being to thick.

I've read this idea on here before, and have been thinking about it for a while. Its great to find something that will replace the soft top. This would be the best of both worlds and cool looking as well.

Some things I thought about were, making the top in sections, just like our soft top so that it has the same folding points.
Maybe, just maybe, extending some of the top parts so they fit more towards the back. ETC...
Good idea overall.

 

Will this help??

 

What do you think of this? Quality is bad, but you get the idea.

 

That might help...

dbs, I kind of like that, it gives a very different feel to the car...

I considered making 2 quarter windows but did not make any drawings. The only potential problem I forsee is the quarter window where it meets the tonneau, I am not sure how it would trim out...

got me thinking...

John

 

I believe he is saying the hardtop would be a replacement top for the winter type months and wouldn't be retractable just come off as one piece. At least thats what I read out of it I could be wrong also.

 

Wow, I must have read that very badly.

LOL. I was thinking more along sides of having the real deal hard top convertible. All the time. The winter idea is great.

 

I was thinking of that too and I know I've seen truck caps that the windows are flush to the bottom of the cap.

The other option would be like the older Dodge Ram extended cab trucks that had a frame between the windows, but it was painted black to match the tinted window.

 

Thats what I was thinking... With just a cap that would sit on top of the car... Kind of like the old Corvettes, or the Thunderbirds...

A True hard top-Convertible like the new G6 would be almost impossible and still have no leaks. The engeneering involved would be astronomical, not to mention the fact that the cloth top barely fits in the boot, I could not imagine trying to fit hard pieces back there...

I just kind of like the looks of the old vettes with the hard top on it... THe neat thing is if you really wanted to get fancy several designs could be made and you can change the feel of the car just with a different top. Granted I am thinking each top complete with headliner and window would cost around $2500 to $5000 each, its not going to be a cheep thing IF I ever made them. Even with that I might not make any money because of the labor involved.

John

 

Although similar to the original sketch, Here is a little closer to what I am thinking... The shape of the top, and the rear window opening would be similar to the Factory Hatchback, and the sail panel would also resemble the hatchback version... THe rear window would wrap around like the Hatch version as well...

John

 

Maybe this profile will work?

BTW I like the one dbs posted above. I dont think it looks good with the same look as the hardtops with a short rear glass.

 

Here are a few other sketches... The one with the portal hasa distinct "Classic" feel... The one with the side window has a unique feel to it though...

 

Delete the porthole sketch and never let anyone see it again!

Seriously, nice ideas ... but I def. would not put a speaker in the sail panel ... wiring sounds like a nightmare.

 

I visted this idea a year or two ago and contacted smoothline about it. They said there wasnt enough interest. But if you see, they just came out with one for the 94-2000 mustang.

This is how it should look:

 

i have been thinking about making a removeable hardtop for my 89 rs vert. i will have one made by the end of winter. i will take pictures of the process to post.

 

I love the idea but you have to use glass for the rear window. Plexiglas scratches to easily and in no time it would look bad

 

Glass is definately harder to scratch, but if your careful with plexiglas it then it shuld last at least 15 years.

THere are some simple tricks to plexiglas:
1) do not do anything to it that you would not do to paint.
2) Dont use "Glass Cleaners" as they are usually not safe for Plexiglas, Amonia is a bad thing.
3) Get Plexiglas cleaners, there not that expensive, usually under $10.00

The reason why I would use Plexiglas is:
1) its a lot lighter and easier to handle
2) I know how to form it.
3) MONEY, unless I use a flat piece of glass I have no good way to form it...

John


John

 

i like lexon.

 

How would it latch up front? Existing latches are tough to find, would you make something to substitute or would the latches need switched from the soft top to the hard top.

 

I think using the same latches and fabing something that would fit and mate up to them would work.
I love the idea of this, since its my only car and I hate seeing snow on the top.
Somebody design this fast!

 

how are you going to make this....

 

fiberglass???

 

1) Yes Fiberglas.
2) Don't hold your breath, I am just humoring ideas at this point. Its something that I really want to do, but between reality, work and family I am pretty busy right now. I have the resources to make it, but do I have the time.
3) Lexan (or Lexon) is not as stable as Plexiglas, it scratches WAAAY to easy and even if I got it hard coated its only good in the weather for 7 years. At least you can polish Plexiglas.
4) I was planning on having a rear pin that would go into the place where the soft tops rear pin goes, There would be 2 really short posts that would align into the holes behind the Doors some felt & a rubber seal that would protect the body and interior from getting scratched from the top. The front clamps would have to be fabricated, There are several designs to chose from, I was considering something like the toggle clamps that they use on the 4th gens, the're slick and way easier to use.
Of course the clamps and the rear post would be adjustable, I even thought of putting the rear pin on a spring so that when you released it it would pop up.

My biggest concern is people who have had wrecked Convertibles and they complain that the top did not fit.

John

 

I love this idea. It sounds really cool. I like your second drawing the best. I think it would look best if you kept the basic lines of a coupe/ttop car. What you could do is cut off the top of a coupe at the b-pillar/sail panel and use that to help mold it. Then you would have most of the lines done for you. I dont know crap about fiberglass but I'm sure you could make a mold out of it and and fill in the rear window/curve area.

As for the interior using a previous hardtop car would make use of the old headliner and trim pieces. Your best bet is to use things that are easily available and are already engineered for you.

You might also want to think about the funtionality a little too. Would you be able to take it off and store it in the car?( I doubt that would even work) Are people still going to sit in the rear seats?(It seems like that shouldnt be a problem either)

 

Actually thats probably the easiest way to go about this, I would take a splash off of the roof a parts car I have and then make my first prototype from that.

I agree, however you must consider that because of the windshield header in the Convertible, a stock Hard top headliner would have to be shortened in order to work correctly. It would need to be mounted somewhere in the front so that it would not sag, either with pop clips or something mounted to the top side of the headliner like the stock type.

The front of the Hard top headliner, and T-top for that matter were held in with 2 clips, The Sun visor assembly also holds it up. For the T-top version there was no other mounts until you get to the overhead light and then there was the rear trim piece and the two Quarter panel trim pieces that hold the rear of it up.

For the sail panels I imagine a Stock interior trim piece from a T-top or hard top could be used and then cut down to fit like the original type, But there are speakers behind the sail panel, although I imagine the different angle may not matter once the panels were cut. and just re-use the speaker panels from a hard top.

The functionality should be fine as it would essentially be the same as a hard top... I considered making a provision for factory T-tops But that idea is more difficult than it would seem as getting them to mount correctly would be next to impossible...

No you would not be able to store the top in the car as the top would be too large... not even going there.

 

You've got an incredible idea and i think the quater windows take away from the look of the car they dont make it look almost like an older sebring or something. and the first sketch with the short back is a good idea because of the way air flows over it. It would createa small vortex on the back given you down force and slight push with out creating alot out drag at highway speeds. As for the latches you can get latches that are pretty much a flat piece of metal with a hooked end that would grab the receiving end mounted on the hard top, they have a screw that has a wing shape on the end and folds flat. I dont remember what they are called off hand but you can get them at a hard wear store or you can go to a bike shop or online store and ask for these fasteners that have a small metal handle with a threaded body that would just fit into a nut on either the top or the window and again you could tighten this then fold it down flat and you could be sure of a secure hold. If you wanted to make it fold down i wouldnt know how to motorize it but ive seen reverse trunk hinges that you could install and this wud allow you to go with a more stock look and have the top drop down into the trunk. This way would abviously be a pain in the *** and I would attempt this on a junk yard car and only ater you've had the expireince of making the solid top for your car. Good luck with the top, keep us posted.

 

I like dbsiroc's but i dont know how it might translate to the TA. I think the sloping nose of the TA might make it look odd.

 

One of the current problems I am having is getting workjed out in my head...

1) I have a hard top parts car I can take the splash off of the roof, unfortunately its a camaro and the sail panels are different than the firebird... Since I will probably have to modify this area anyways, I might just go with what I have for simplicty sake.

2) If I use the stock hard top roof line I will have a problem with back seat passengers as you sit slightly under the rear window, so either I have to put a bubble in the rear window or move it back further to accomidate back seaters, OR just forget about them and let it ride, my kids are still small, but if I sold these I would like to have the back seat to have some headroom.

As for the clamps, I have some clamps that will work, they might not be the most attractive but they will suffice for prototype purposes, its called a Toggle clamp, as you pull up on the handle the patch also pulls up, the design I have in my hand you can adjust the clamp area so that it clamps properly.

l8r

 

has anyone produced this if so let me know i would like to try to get my hands on one of these

 

neat idea, but for all you that want the hard top for winter, for what this top will have to realisticly sell for, you should go get a camaro coup for winter, save the vert for summer..

and my wifes company car is a g6 hardtop vert, anyone thinking it would be easy to duplicate, think abiout this, in the trunk hinges alone there are over 59 pivot points, a buddy and i I counted them one night, yes beer was involved

 

I just purchased a 91 Firebird with a hard-top this one is solved...


Nothing new on this one.

 

im definately interested in this. I think if you keep it along the lines of the Miata's Hard top removable, and use existing mounting points it should be good to go.

Keep us updated on your progress.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/conv...hlight=hardtop



I think any hardtop should follow the lines of the vert top (aside from smoothing roof) exactly. Keep it narrower than the hardtops and end it sooner. Makes it looks like the Mustangs notchback vs. Coupe design. I always wished GM made a notchback thirdgen. And not that imitation hatch replacement.

 

Heyy my ol' hardtop sketch made it in here



Ken

 

so is anyone working toward this?