So i just bought a 1991 Black RX-7 it's tons of fun and it sure is nice being a convertable in the hot california summer.

Anyways, while i do enjoy the wind in my hair during the summer, when the winter rolls around, i would rather have a hard top. So my question is: Is there some type of hardtop conversion kit that i can buy for my car that will allow me to switch between the hard top and the convertable top, and if so, where could i buy/find said kit.

Thanks



hope this is in the correct forum.

 

This has been discussed. You can search on it. The answer is no, there is no hard top availabole. Furthermore, IMO, there is absolutely no need for one.

The RX-7 Vert is like no other on the market, and is not susectable to wind noise, rain leaks, or heat loss (if the seals are good).

 

I own a vert shell(I say shell because im doing a rebuild) and it has been sitting outside through rain and wind. I(because i am obsessed) sat in it a little during both to see how it would be and it seemed perfect, i agree blacktop in that, if the seals are good, it should be perfect.

Also, from what i have noticed and i might be wrong, but the actual piece above your head is a hard top, you know, the one you have to take out and either leave in your trunk, or at home. It is not like on say, a miata, where the top is soft, all the way down.

 

I'd say you're half right- the targa section is a hard top, but it isn't necessary to remove it when the top is down. It's designed to lay down on top of the folded up soft-top, and even has nice built-in resting places for the front latches in the back of the car. The convertible top boots for our cars is also designed to cover everything with the targa section still attached.

Personally, I've never seen a reason to remove the targa section- it just seems like unnecessary work, and if the weather changes suddenly it would really suck to not have the complete top and have the interior get soaked.

 

Hah...thats wierd...the only reason i said it was because thats what it says in the orig. owners manual. It has a picture of the guy lifting it off, and setting it in the trunk, then moving the top the rest of the way down.

However, because mine is only a shell, I haven't been able to move the top down yet because it has no battery, or no motor to turn on and supply power to mechanism.

When i get it working better, ashy, i will try it both ways and see which is easiest
thanks

 

vert top is pretty good, im in colorado and i drove mine sometimes in the winter - it has never leaked on me and the glass rear window is a+ but on the exterior there is small tear -- but ya its been covered in snow and rained on and what not but its able to handle it, just try and park it in a garage when you can

o and as for the thing hes putting in the trunk it is probably the targa section of the top which is hard, the rest of the top can fold all the way down - there is also a cover for this piece and a cover for the top when it goes down.

 

Oh, you can definitely take it off- if I end up autocrossing my 'vert (haahaahaa, yeah I'm gonna get blown away by everything else, I know) I'll probably be taking off the targa section to save a bit of weight. It's a neat option that the Mazda engineers put in, you can drive the car with the top up, all the way down, or take out just the very top (targa) section and have just the open top.

The back (soft top) section folds all the way down flat- the targa section sticks up initially when you put the top down, but it hinges where it meets the soft-top and folds down fairly flat. I don't have any good pictures of mine without the boot covering it, unfortunately.

 

My 88 has not leaked at all even in heavy rain, and for a vert it is pretty quiet..I have rode in different makes a the tops do not seem as heavy as the 7's...I have the top up without the targa once in a while, just for the hell of it.........like the looks I get frome people trying to figure out what kind of car it is....I was really irked one day a woman thought it was a Lebaron

 

The only thing I would change about my 88 roof is to install the pleats from the later model that prevents rain from washing off the roof and into the car when the window is open.

 

I also have an 88 Vert and I gotta say for the age of this car as a Vert it holds up way better than any other I have seen on the road. I'd stick with that Vert top, its great...just rips and is expensive to have replaced.

-Max