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.
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
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
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]
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 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.
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
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
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.
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..
Of course there is the tooling and design/development costs to amortize....but if you stop producing you'll never recover them......hmm?
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
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.
got these from superformance web site i think
Rescued attachment pic_weatherprotection2_734x.jpg
and
Rescued attachment pic_weatherprotection1_734x.jpg
the above pic, looks all wrong, still if it works and you stay dry....
theres gotta be a better looking method...
Why has it got two steering wheels?
Is it a learner car?
Otherwise looks good!
Terry
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?
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
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
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.. 
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?
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.
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.