fc3sna

ok ive read many times if their is a hard top for the vert and yadda yadda yadda. so i decided with my highly know it all teenage skill that im am going to make my vert a hard top. it needs a new top, i have a motor cycle for back up transportation, and i want some thing no one else has.
heres how its gonna be, it WILL NOT be removeable(too much work)
i want to keep it possible to be a targa top, so ill have to modify the locking an mounting for that.
and lucky me i have it goody good with a local air plane company that i worked for so i can get all the materials i need(off course ill have to pay for them)
also the stock top frame will be used as a skeleton, and i will have to weld bar support for the rear window.
hopefully it will work out. if not ohh well.
ill try and keep this up dated but im not going to start the project for a couple of weeks just wanted to see if any one knows of people who have tried this and might have some tips and what nots to add.
thanks

RxFuel

iTrader: (1)

hey man sounds like a good project to start, I have a vert as well with some holes in too, so keep me updated how the project goes

sub9lulu

iTrader: (7)

i would suggest u make it removable,
if its non removable why not get a coupe
i used to have a vert for 4 yrs and been looking for a hardtop all over, i cant find any
good luck anyhow and post pics

schmol

I suggest you trade it for a coupe...

red87tll

iTrader: (4)

****... i have two coupe parts cars that i will trade u and you can keep you drive train and anything else you want......just please dont chop up a vert...thats just dumb.

$100T2

iTrader: (1)

I've been debating removing my top altogether and just building a flat, fiberglass cover for the hole. No top at all = Roadster!!!

pepsiFC

if u did the fiberglass top i want 1 =)

fc3sna

ok i have owned two coupes, one is sitting in my yard as a parts car, and i have the title and all. the whole reason im doing this is not to have a coupe but a targa, it will cost me about the same price if not less as replacing the stock top and would be one of a kind.
like i said before, ive built air planes and have worked with fiber glass and carbon fiber so i know what i need and how to do it. and the targa will be functional still. i paid nothing for the car and im not "chopping it up" but fixing a problem with a unique solution. also ive read thst its been attempted before and turn out like **** so i want to try and make it look nice.

philiptompkins

iTrader: (4)

damn if I had only talked to you a month ago, I would have driven down there and traded you... now I have a vert as well.

phoenix7

roadster > hard top (aka coupe wanna be.) By removing the top oyu'll be destroying the integrity of the 7. go buy another car.

$100T2

iTrader: (1)

OK, if I do, I'll let you know.

phoenix7

hey $100T2: are you doing something like this?



or this?






did you ever bastardize the poor 7? please say no.

ProChemBroTCM

Hey, I have an idea! How about that little bubble hard top that you can get for the Miata? Has anyone ever tried to make that work on an RX7?

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

the miata is a much smaller car, what makes you think it would be even close to fitting?

toplessFC3Sman

iTrader: (1)

plus, with the creases and shaping of the 7, the miata hardtop would look like crap. As long as you keep the structure of the folding top, the car wont loose any structural rigidity. If you're thinking what I'm picturing (basically replicating the shape of the 'vert's top, but in aluminum or FG, removing the motors and just perminantly supporting it in place, it could look pretty cool, and be practical at the same time.
An even more extreme step (but lighter, and possibly a lot stiffer) would be to remove the entire top and framing, weld in a roll hoop to the top supports, tops of the strut towers, and add the appropriate cross-bracing, throw in a rear window (larger than stock hopefully.. as far as soft top windows its good, but overall it kinda sucks for rearward visiblity), and then skin it for aero/looks. Good luck, as long as you thoroughly think it thru & understand the risks/amount of work, theres nothing wrong with going your own way.

micah

Would be easier to make a custom one.... There are other verts that have hard-shell top options.. if you want to adapt one, find a bigger car?

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

typically verts sell for a little more money then coupes, sell the car if the leaks and the top bothers you that much.

maybe a top from a older SL would fit with modifications, but they get $500-$800 easy for one of those used

ProChemBroTCM

I was thinking about the rollcage with a fiberglass or sheetmetal skin for my own car. My only problem is that I don't have any access to any of the fabrication equipmen ro the money to pay someone to do it. Got any updates?

helghast7

iTrader: (6)

this entire thing is pretty much pointless, other than originality there are no gains, you spen all this money and days among days of hard work only to find that something has gone terribly wrong. like massive water leaks, and dont say there wont be im having enough trouble getting rid of water leaks with my s4 coup.

and for those of you that think there will be power gains, there are none, verts are already extra heavier because they dont have a very important structural support aka the roof.

dont get me wrong i would love to see pics of a completed project im just telling you the odds are very heavily against you.

ProChemBroTCM

Wow, very constructive, Mr. Helghast. Now think about it like this: you are posting on website dedicated to a sports car that was built around an engine that makes very little sense. It would have been much easier to throw a little 4 cylinder under the hood. The car would have been more reliable, more fuel efficient, created less harmful emissions, etc, but no, Mazda decided to play around with their funky little rotary engine. Do you see where I'm going? Just because you don't think it's a great idea, you don't have to go around telling us that it is pointless. Furthermore, who said anything about power gains?! Oh yeah, it'll be just like that 2 foot tall spoiler on the back of that Civic over there. That's a dyno-proven 34 horsepower to the wheels! Now, if I were to remove the convertible equipment and replace it with a good rollbar/cage, wouldn't that fix the structural rigidity problem? Now, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see this project finalized, but the odds are against you that you will discourage this project's completion.

phoenix7

but it IS pointless. as far as the integrity of the 7; as I've said a billion times before the vert is 1% less rigid than the coupe versions, 1%!!!!!!!! so drop this topic and let someone with nothing better to blow their $$ on do the hard top.

ProChemBroTCM

What do you mean: Is that encouragement, or what? I've never heard you say that, for one thing, but I haven't been posting here that long here, either. If it's only 1% less rigid than the coupe, then some structural bracing and a good rollbar/cage would fix that easily. Life is pointless; you're only gonna die in the end, so why don't you give up, and quit wasting time here. SPL competitions are pointless: that is so much noise that you can't even listen to it if you are driving, much less in a legal manner. Having a house built on a flood plain or a fire-prone hillside in Cali just for the view is pointless. See, that attitude is not helpful; other people will continue to do what they want to do, whether it makes sense to you or not. Live and let live or die. Besides, it's not like you will lose anything important to you if this happens. Now, seriously, does anyone have any updates? By the way, that red Miata roadster looks like crap, but I like the orange one looks pretty sick. You don't see those wheels too much anymore.

lastphaseofthis

iTrader: (8)

the top photo represents what i am doing to my vert, solctice(spl) style back, i also had the idea of when the top is up having those as roof scoops, but right now i just have a cut outs and papermache replica, sorry no pics, and it will be a year or so before i could sell replacements... but its a work in progress.

Juiceh

iTrader: (4)

Damn that looks cool. Would look absolutely TERRIBLE on an FC vert though.

LOL! What? No one said anything about any sort of power gains... This is a top mod\replacement not an engine mod... The verts aren't heavier because they don't have a structural top support. If you had ever been in a vert you would know that the Vert top does in fact have structural support in the top. But what makes the FC vert heavier is the additional supports that have been added elsewhere..

Well, rather than wait I went out and bought a Solstice!

Personally though, I think that this will not look too good on the FC. It just doesn't go with the body lines.

On another note though, the Solstice is a ******* kick *** car. The NA solstice kicked the snot out of the MX5 in just about every way according to the Keiichi Tsuchiya AKA the "Drift King". The turbo Solstice is, honestly, very much like an FD, 260HP, 2948 Lbs 0-60 under 5.5. Handling is unreal, this is the first american car I have ever driven that feels like an import.

'87 turbo II

iTrader: (1)

I drove a Saturn Sky with all the performance packages (sans redline turbo) and I wasn't impressed. My TII is loads faster. The handling is similar.