Removable hardtop?

[jnewnc]

Originally Posted by coleycole

^^^ HAHAHA!!! +1 for someone taking notice. If a hardtop came out for the Zr I would drop everything and buy it. I don't understand the people who say if you wanted a hardtop why wouldn't you buy the coupe. It's not that I want a hardtop year around I just want the best of both worlds. Is that to much to ask?

+ 2 I think with the right design the lines in a hardtop may look better than the coupe! So if VQ and Seibon started...what happened ??? It would even be a weight reduction, you could remove the heavy soft top. Regardless someone needs to start or finish working on it.

[Runninbeer]

When cows fly you will get a new hardtop. To prevent the poop from damaging the interior.

[jnewnc]

Originally Posted by Runninbeer

When cows fly you will get a new hardtop. To prevent the poop from damaging the interior.

[signal34]

I'll also chime in that if someone built a good looking well designed hardtop, I would buy one in a second.

[specialized5223]

I'm working on it. As far as the latch issue is concerned, most of you know how my roadster is stripped for weight reduction; I intend to remove the tonneau to latch the hardtop. So it will be a process and at minimum, a 2 man job to make the transformation. But I don't see any other way in latching it and Keeping the weight down. The tonneau is very ****ing heavy for its size. I intend to replace it not with a carbon fiber one, but with a carbon fiber overlay only and some reinforcements. and a modified latch system similar to the quick release bumpers. The top would utilize these same lock down points.

[jnewnc]

Keep us posted... BTW are you going to market it and sell them after you have constructed the mold ? I'll be all over this !

[specialized5223]

I'm not that guy. I have no problem with a company borrowing it to copy but i dont think my design is going to be the type the average user will want.

Mine is going to be 110% weight reduction intended. Lowest possible weight. It will provide no structural rigidity, no insulation, just a solid roof to help with C/D.

I'veonly recently started designing it with some friends so it's going to be a while...

[jnewnc]

Originally Posted by specialized5223

I'm not that guy. I have no problem with a company borrowing it to copy but i dont think my design is going to be the type the average user will want.

Mine is going to be 110% weight reduction intended. Lowest possible weight. It will provide no structural rigidity, no insulation, just a solid roof to help with C/D.

I'veonly recently started designing it with some friends so it's going to be a while...

Is it going to be Carbon Fiber ? Just keep us posted !

[specialized5223]

If anyone knows someone with a damaged chipped broken or otherwise not new roof overlay I can have please pm me

[Netko350Z]

Check out what Chris Forsberg has...

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/C...Ref=Newsletter

CF top!!!

[jnewnc]

Nice find! I think it could have a longer top... reaching back to almost the trunk would be nice. The s2000 hardtop is total SEX!

[jnewnc]

The Z could look even better... Someone should photoshop it! The lines would look better than the coupe. Maybe that's why Nissan does not support it? They even make top racks for your garage walls. You can remove the light-weight tops and wall mount them...then take off. This is long overdue and someone with the knowledge of carbon or even FRP needs to create a mold!

[jnewnc]

Originally Posted by VQmotoring

We are actually developing a prototype hard top on our orange 350z roadster (some of you have probably seen it on this site) www.vqmotoring.com I will have pics of the finished product within the next few months. We are finishing the block on the car, APS extreme kit and DTA engine managment system etc.
I will post pics of the car sometime this week.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Guessing they got side tracked ?!?

[specialized5223]

yeah thats normally the case...

I do like the s2000 hard top. reminds me of the bmw coupes.

not sure how that would look on a z. s200 shares the same style long engine bay look as the bimmer which is why the top looks so clean.

[ronsupercars]

I too would jump at the chance to have that option to use a hartop and go topless.
As some of you may know, day 2 of my ZR ownership, someone at the place of business slashed my top. It's getting worst as the day goes by.

I would use the hardtop during the week to keep the hateres away and enjoy the sun on the weekends....

Ron T.

[dsmZ]

i planned on making one this summer, guaranteed to be finished by august (mark my word!). making one out of CF is easy after the original one is made (fiberglass?) only problem ive encountered so far was holding it down at higher speeds and also deciding if people would want the tonneau/trunk to stay on or have to remove them to put on the hardtop. obviously u can see i was looking at the longer version design. im a mechanical engineer so im sure ill figure it out.

[jnewnc]

Originally Posted by dsmZ

i planned on making one this summer, guaranteed to be finished by august (mark my word!). making one out of CF is easy after the original one is made (fiberglass?) only problem ive encountered so far was holding it down at higher speeds and also deciding if people would want the tonneau/trunk to stay on or have to remove them to put on the hardtop. obviously u can see i was looking at the longer version design. im a mechanical engineer so im sure ill figure it out.

GL! Keep us posted... update the thread when you have some pictures of it's development!

[na_350z]

I'm interested... my top is crap right now. I have a huge slash on my top. I rather spend the money on this idea rather than spending it on a top and have it rip again later on. If anyone in Cali is willing to do it... I'd offer my ZR for the mold.

[FishBrownie]

Originally Posted by dsmZ

i planned on making one this summer, guaranteed to be finished by august (mark my word!). making one out of CF is easy after the original one is made (fiberglass?) only problem ive encountered so far was holding it down at higher speeds and also deciding if people would want the tonneau/trunk to stay on or have to remove them to put on the hardtop. obviously u can see i was looking at the longer version design. im a mechanical engineer so im sure ill figure it out.

I thought about this a lot last year, and like you, was looking for a clever way to keep it tied down at high speed. Here were my thoughts on it. Use similar attachment at the top of the windshield. Incorporate the existing window seals and rear window. I looked at incorporating the 5th bar (the rounded metal bar on the bottom of the soft top) and trying to "trick" the attachment on the rear center to grab it and lock it down like it does on the soft top. I don't think that will work, so some sort of clamp would be needed to install in that small hole when the top is down. I don't know if that is possible since I haven't looked in there to see exactly how it works. The next issue was holding the hard top down at the corners just behind the doors where the soft top pivots. I haven't looked at that yet either. I did a sketch of the profile view, but have since thrown it away when I decided not to take on this project. I stopped the hard top at the line between the tonneau cover and the trunk. It gave the car a better look than with the soft top, but obviously not as good as the coupe. I had planned on making a mock up from styrofoam (I know, messy) since it would be easier to shape a block of styrofoam than to keep laying up fiberglass molds. Now that I have 3D modeling software, I've thought about looking into this again. Good luck with your project. I'm looking forward to seeing some pics later this year.

[jnewnc]

? looking forward to them!