Jon Bradbury
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| posted on 29/4/03 at 07:25 PM |
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Anyone tried to design a folding softtop or hardtop yet?
Hi
Has anyone tried to design either a hood with a proper folding frame or a hardtop yet? I ask because I have a few ideas on how this could be done
(well the hood, anyway) based on one of my neighbours' cars - he has an old MG TF with a very similarly proportioned hood to the one you'd
be putting on a locost, and I think the way it is designed it would be relatively easy to copy. Dunno about the doors, though... might have to stick
with the existing arrangement.
As to the hardtop idea, this seems to be fairly easy to do, given a MIG welder, some box section steel and some stainless sheet. However, I envisioned
a design that had as few seams in it as possible, so precision folding of the stainless would be necessary. Adding a tailgate or boot might be hard
too.
Anyway, I spent a lot of time whilst waiting for my kit to arrive dreaming up ways of doing all this (the hardtop design has gullwing doors because
you can't really hang anything heavy on the existing window frame) but am now wondering if anyone else has tried to do it before.
Answers to the usual address...
Cheers
JonB
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Markp
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| posted on 29/4/03 at 08:35 PM |
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soft top
Sounds daft, but, have you looked at the catalogue from robinhood?? At the back there is a lolocost bit that shows different parts. Look carefully
and there is a soft top frame you can get (pictured) This might give you an idea??
Hope this is of help
Mark
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Jon Bradbury
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| posted on 30/4/03 at 08:04 AM |
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That is not a folding frame...
Mark,
I already have the Robin Hood soft top and frame (it came with my kit), and I can tell you it is not a proper folding frame like you'd get on
say a Spitfire or MG. What I am talking about here is a concertena type frame that provides better support to the centre section of the roof than the
RH design, which really is as basic as it gets. Now I'm not saying it doesn't work, although I have seen many pictures of Robin Hoods with
sagging roofs on the net. What I want is something better, and I know the principle of operation and could design (with wooden prototypes) and build
it.
Having said that I'll probably fit the Robin Hood softtop when the car is on the road and leave it at that. But I just wondered if anyone else
had had a go at this.
And what do you think of the hardtop idea?
[Edited on 30/4/03 by Jon Bradbury]
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macspeedy
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| posted on 30/4/03 at 10:15 AM |
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something like this
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dave.graham90/hardtop.jpeg gull wing doors would make this more practical, they discontinued production do to costs,
looks good though.
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carnut
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| posted on 30/4/03 at 10:32 AM |
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That westfield hardtop looks great but i can see that it would be expensive. It seems to do to a 7 what bmw have done with the z3 to make it a
roadster.
Its easy to make a cheep car until you put on doors and a windscreen. So im not having either.
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Mark H
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| posted on 30/4/03 at 04:33 PM |
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It doesn't look bad does it? But it'd be a twat to get into with the roof on...
I was thinking of making a spray deck for mine (like canoes use) but then realised I'd look like an arse.
Driven my locost twice now, both times in the teeming rain. 
Mark Harrison and
Q986 KCP back from the dead...
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Dave Ashurst
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| posted on 30/4/03 at 06:42 PM |
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Mark
Sorry to hear about the rain.
A giant canoe spray deck elasticated around your waist and press studded around the cockpit would be great....
until you want to start the engine, hold the steering wheel or change gear.
So how about a cycling cape fastened around your neck and fastened around the cockpit!
Cool! Wouldn't look like an arse at all.
Let's go into business with this!
You could have an optional transparent section if you want to see the instruments and an optional hole for the passengers head too...
Dave
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 09:20 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by macspeedy
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dave.graham90/hardtop.jpeg gull wing doors would make this more practical, they discontinued production do to costs,
looks good though.
Strange.
three bits of glass, three fibreglass moudings, some hinges and clips and they can't make money for 1600 quid sales price.
wallys
atb
steve
[Edited on 1/5/03 by stephen_gusterson]
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Alan B
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 01:38 PM |
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Yep, agreed Steve.
Obviously we can only guess their costs, but I find it hard to see more than 35%/40% material and labour in that price.....
Still it's their business I guess, they must have their reasons..
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Alan B
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 01:41 PM |
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Of course there is the tooling and design/development costs to amortize....but if you stop producing you'll never recover them......hmm?
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 02:40 PM |
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tooling.....
even with the little bit of fibreglass I have grappled with, I can see to make a buck and mould for that wouldnt be outside of what Im already
attempting.
I wonder if locoster types just dont want a roof cos it doesnt look as good, and is a pain to fit / needs to be fitted before you leave home.
As a product idea it looks a synch and is a lot easier to design and make than the machines I specialise in!
atb
Steve
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Jon Bradbury
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| posted on 1/5/03 at 07:38 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by macspeedy
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dave.graham90/hardtop.jpeg gull wing doors would make this more practical, they discontinued production do to costs,
looks good though.
That looks OK except the door window line does not naturally match the rear windowline. Also the downward slope of the roofline towards the front
makes it look like a crushed beer can.
The result is a horrid kit car look. Surely someone could do better than that...?
(PS, Mark : Is that a picture of Rick Waller you have as your avatar? If so, why?)
[Edited on 1/5/03 by Jon Bradbury]
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macspeedy
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| posted on 6/5/03 at 05:59 PM |
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softtop hardtop mix
got these from superformance web site i think
 
Rescued attachment pic_weatherprotection2_734x.jpg
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macspeedy
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| posted on 6/5/03 at 06:00 PM |
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and
 
Rescued attachment pic_weatherprotection1_734x.jpg
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eddie
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| posted on 6/5/03 at 10:18 PM |
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the above pic, looks all wrong, still if it works and you stay dry....
theres gotta be a better looking method...
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Spyderman
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 posted on 7/5/03 at 12:15 PM |
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Why has it got two steering wheels?
Is it a learner car?
Otherwise looks good!
Terry
Spyderman
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Jon Bradbury
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| posted on 7/5/03 at 02:34 PM |
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A good effort but it still looks a bit odd. Note the curved windscreen. Interesting. It must be a big omprovement on the 7-type "wind
jammer" screens. Where are the gullwing doors?
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merkurman
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| posted on 10/5/03 at 09:41 PM |
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why not have a simple folding top with a zipper leading edge above the glass (frame designed a little heavier) and soft zipper doors? jeeps have used
this for decades and it works fine for them. the top could be even basic enough to hook onto the rollbar and use snaps around the boot area so that
no spport bars are really even needed. that leaves you with a top that can be rolled up and stowed easily.
nick
1962 fairlane with a 200" six and T5 5spd, shaved trim air ride, t3/t4 turbo and soon to be EFI
-- looking to put a offy tripower intake on soon
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kiwirex
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| posted on 15/5/03 at 01:13 AM |
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If you do come up with a nice folding soft-top, I'd be really keen on the details.
Most of the softtops I've seen I don't like the look of much, mostly (I think) because the rollbar is higher than the windscreen, so you
get the unfashionable ducks-arse look.
Not sure how you could work around that though.
The spitfire had a fairly good folding softtop, but it's been a long time since I've had a good look at one of them. What they did though
was have a bar at the front of the front end that mated with the windscreen.
- Greg H
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Mave
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| posted on 15/5/03 at 12:33 PM |
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Something like this is also helpfull:
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/darrenclark/Build/Dax%2024.jpg
Make it with gull-wings panels, foldable, and you can drop it in the boot..
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Jon Bradbury
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| posted on 18/5/03 at 08:25 PM |
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"Fore!"
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've seen a picture of that car. The roof makes it look like a golf trolley. Plus, it wouldn't be keeping the
rain out, would it?
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Peteff
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| posted on 19/5/03 at 07:15 PM |
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Couldn't you get one off an old pram and just widen it a bit.? Silver Cross used to do some really big ones. Or a lift up hard top hinged at
the back to make it easier to get in and out. Like a wheelie bin . Make sure the front is fastened down well or it 'll look like a combover on
a windy day. It's not my fault, he started it with that Dax roof.
yours, Pete.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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Jon Bradbury
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| posted on 20/5/03 at 08:23 AM |
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Its do-able - honest
It must be possible. After all MG did it with a similar shaped opening and that was > 70 years ago.
The roof on these cars is something I think that has been neglected. Let's face it, we're all going to get caught out one day in a
downpour.
I lke the idea of a foldaway hardtop but reckon it'd be too complex for me. So I am going to do a proper softtop frame for now.
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