Get yer top off!

I allways yearn to take off the hard top in good weather, I even have a full tilt I could fit. It's hardly a straightforward job with all the flaffing around unbolting the hard top. Anybody done this and what time estimate? I like the idea of tooling around with no tilt n the windscreen down. By the time you do all this the bad weathers back.

Changed all the ropes for bungee cord and hooks )about 6m of cord is enough) Hooking the tape of the sharks tooth I just use a blunt screwdriver and lever the tape over. Top of- 5 minutes, top back on 15 minutes

Mmmm, bungee sounds a clever idea. Do you have the cleats, hooks and latch at the back, on each side of where the half door secures and which are needed to tie off the cord?

agree getting the tilt on and off is a veritable pita

bought a hard top a few years ago and I just used to lift that off when I went out and lift it back on when I came back. didn't bother to fix it down, just used it to give the appearance of the vehicle being more secure on the drive. got rid of the hard top in the end due to the room it took up as I always had to put the tilt on for winter as my daughter thought the hard top looked "****"

If you insist



Oh you meant the one on the car......I'll fetch me coat

Marmaduke said:

I'll fetch me coat

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Please do...

For me, the big problem is what to do with the back end - putting a tailgate on in place of the SW rear door would require all the various latching bits to be sourced, as well as the flap itself. Leaving it open just seems a bit... wrong... as well as meaning anything put in there is just going to fall out the back.

I've thought about a Def-style third hinge, then chop the top off a spare rear door, leaving a side-hinge tailgate, but I think it'd have to be cut a bit higher than the body cappings, so would look odd.

some people have converted the rear door into a stable door, there was a thread on here some years ago with pics of how they did it.

honolulujoe said:

some people have converted the rear door into a stable door, there was a thread on here some years ago with pics of how they did it.

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<quick google>
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f6/cutting-rear-door-half-236016.html
Ooh. Shame the pics have gone.

My tailgate's had a (no longer working) rear wiper fitted anyway, so it won't be a tragedy to chop it.

that was the thread, the pics do seem to have gone, I am sure trewey would still have them, maybe send a pm in case he doesn't see your post in the other thread

It takes me around half an hour to get the top, and door tops off, I have a pick-up rear door that I replace the normal hinged rear door with. I've added the pick-up catches to the upper galvanised capping. This is an easy conversion, and makes no difference when the standard roof is on.

First I remove the rear door, then I take the roof and side panels off in one part, leaving just the door tops to remove and the rear view mirror and pick-up rear door to fit.

You need to think about seat belt mountings too. You can buy a bar specially for mounting them on for when you take the hard top off.

I am always tempted to take the roof off mine but it's a faff. I'm going to get a soft top series at some point to make it easier.

Used to run with the roof off in the summer. It's only a handful of bolts to take it off - about an hour's work if you're slow like me. I made a tailgate out of two bits of speedframe (1" square steel tube), some old pallet wood and two door bolts!

CalumM said:

You need to think about seat belt mountings too. You can buy a bar specially for mounting them on for when you take the hard top off.

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Depending on how the belts are rigged, you might not need to - mine (factory SW, un-mucked-with) has the reels on the bulkhead, just passing over the top of the seat with no other upper mount.

TooMany2cvs said:

Depending on how the belts are rigged, you might not need to - mine (factory SW, un-mucked-with) has the reels on the bulkhead, just passing over the top of the seat with no other upper mount.

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They are legal, but I read that they can be a bit dodgy in an accident as they can end up compressing spine.

sm0129 said:

They are legal, but I read that they can be a bit dodgy in an accident as they can end up compressing spine.

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Oh, noes! And there was me, thinking I was in one of the safest vehicles on the road! Where's that EuroNCAP report...?!?

<grin>

TooMany2cvs said:

Oh, noes! And there was me, thinking I was in one of the safest vehicles on the road! Where's that EuroNCAP report...?!?

<grin>

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+1

high speed crash in a series, won't matter what sort of belt you are wearing

I oft quote the 5th gear 70 mph offset head on collision they did between a bmw 5 tourer and Volvo estate, the front axles were where the driver and front passenger would have been, seat belts wouldn't have made much difference then either.

I take the view that a crash in a series will most likely be low speed anyway

best bet is get a cage that doubles as hoodsticks and have a bar across the bulkhead behind the seats to mount belts/harnesses to