2nd gen Hard Top
 

I have a 89 convertible but I want a hardtop on it. I think I saw a hardtop like the Honda S2000's but I don't know where. If anyone knows where I could find one let me know please.

I dont believe a hardtop for the convertible has ever been manufactured.

If you want a hardtop, why don't you trade for a coupe? These cars are dirt cheap.

Where I live there are only 4 RX7s and I have the only covertible. Phantom Performance owns two of the coupes and my friend owns the other coupe. They won't sell. Maybe I can get Vulcan Specialties, a metal auto shop to build the top, then have an audio shop cover it in fiberglass.

autotrader.com

I vote for having a custom hard-top made. That'd be kick ass.

it would be neat to see....but I sure as hell don't wanna be the guy to foot the bill for the first one...

It looks like I'm going to be that guy because I can't find one. Oh well when I get it I'll get so many show wins it'll be crazy. While I'm spending money maybe I should have it built out of metal, covered in fiberglass, then sent off the be covered with carbon fiber weave. I should start starving now for this one lol.

that would weigh as much as the whole car!! lol

If you're going to that extent, have one made of steel and bondo and make sure the fitment/finish quality is great. Then simply have some moulds made of it and do them in F/G. You'll probably need some type of skeleton/bracing on it to prevent flexing, etc. at speed.

What I was thinking was have the top built out of 2in. angle iron since thats strong but light and having it covered in sheet metal since that is light also but I live in texas so the first hail storm (chunks of ice falling like rain) that came through would destroy it if I got caught away from my house. If I covered it in fiberglass the hail would screw it up also but it would take more hail to do the damage. Another down side would be the wieght. Monday I'll go ask Vulcan Specialties what they think. On the inside I'm not sure how I could make that look decent but I want the top to be permanent so if it has to be fiberglassed in on the inside that would be ok.

If i went that way I might as well send the mold somewhere to be made with carbon fiber. That would eliminate the speed flex and wieght issues plus it would look cool.

waste of money...............what do you want the hard top for???? the vert was specifically made as a vert (as opposed to celicas or 240s which are hard tops with top chopped off) and is 1% less rigid than the COUPE with the top up.......your vert top can also be made into a targa top.........seems to me that you have a cool car, extra cash and nothing better to spend it on. If you really are building a show car then I suggest you look into other "cool" mods.


edit......you're sig violates forum rules.........it's been reported.

I was considering making the back half of the top metal/fiberglass and leaving it as a targa but making it fiberglass also. I want a hard top because I hate convertibles and no one that I know of has made theirs a hard top.

Its pretty obvious that my sig was blocked but thats just my opinion after being robbed by mexicans two times in one night. Its America that means I'm free to say what ever the hell I want and if someone (booty-hurt mexican) has a problem with it they can deal.

but when you signed up here you waived your right to offend ppl based on race, sex or gender ( you can make fun of stupid people all you want because some choose to be stupid)..........you don't see my sig saying all white people are knuckle dragging pricks with small dicks do ya??? Just because SOME people of one group do shit to you does not mean ALL of them do..........quit being ignorant......

Excuse the shit out of me people say stupid shit about white people everyday and I don't get all mad. And how do you know I'm not black your being ignorant too.

I changed my sig so I won't get banned just for you so stop arguing with me :fawk:

yeah.......I shouldn't assume..........we're both asses now.....welcome to the club.

Thanks nice to be in it lol.

the only way it would be COST EFFECTIVE and worth anything is if you make it into a roadster.........remove all the motors and soft-top and them fab a hardtop the way you want it........I suggest you also invest in a rollcage or bar for the car if you're going to be rolling it.

i think that would be a cool project to make a hardtop.

Agreed, that would be kickass. Personally, I think you should make the top from kevlar. With carbon prices the way they are nowadays (tripled in the last year), you woudl probably savemoney and you would come out with a tougher product for a given amount of weight.

The best of all would be carbon/kevlar hybrid weave with the kevlar dyed roughly to your car's color (red, green, etc). It looks sweet, and gives a nice combination of the properties of carbon and kevlar. But that stuff is even more expensive than carbon.

Or how about turn it into a hard top with a targa roof? Have the rear section be a removeable hard top and the 'roof' have a targa top. :-p Maybe I'm overcomplicating this....I like my Coupe` with a sunroof :)

What the fuck did you buy a convertable for then?

This has been done. Someone asked about it a couple months ago and someone posted some pics of a vert with a fiberglass(I think) top. To be honest it didn't look very good. I bet if you do a search you may be able to find the thread.

i was going to ask him that but i assumed the answer was going to be "it was all I could find"

RX-7s are very rare in some states...like mine....

Even the vert was hard to find. As far as I know it was the last RX7 that was around and would be sold in the Lubbock area. I found it by driving down the street and saw it in some dudes garage - lucky me.

I was thinking of making the hard top and having the targa top also. I could know what it was going to look like because my brother draws really good and I can tell him what I'm thinking and he can draw different styles of it. I'm thinking of making it look like the Toyota MR2 from the late 80s, that design on the top would fit the car nice.

dood.......don't waste your time......build this:
http://www.mazdatrix.com/faqpics/roadrace/ep01123lb.jpg
http://www.mazdatrix.com/faqpics/roadrace/ep0902c.jpg
http://www.mazdatrix.com/faqpics/roadrace/ep01123ab.jpg