Hi all

Happy new year....

I am picking up my windscreen tomorrow, and although I love the fly screen, I am getting a windscreen for the more long cruises and trips. I will be making them both easy to change from one to other.

Now, I plan on going to Le Mans this year, so windscreen will be on, and I have been thinking lots about making my own roof. I seem to remember a build thread, which I now can't find on here. I am wanting to make a fabric roof that can fold away when not in use. So my questions are:

What's the best material to use?
What did anyone use as templates before cutting the fabric?
Does it need some kind of centre support?

Any advice appreciated as usual, and I will put up photo's of any progress I make

Thanks

Andy

I'll be making something like this

Depends if you want a full hood, or something for a quick shower/keeping the midday sun off.
First is a big job, second is much easier if you have a decent height roll bar.
Sadly Surrey Dave's "flintstone hood" seems to have fallen off the web, but in his photo archive


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They are often called "Bikini hood's" and if you can get past Google's "interesting" selection of photos you can find some diy guides
e.g. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4743383

ETA: And apparently some call them half hoods

[Edited on 1/1/14 by iank]

Go to a sail maker they can make one for a better price than other soft places

Yes my website lived on webspace of old provider for years !!!, couldn't access it , finally they noticed and took it down , to reoload somewhere else is on my list of things to do!!



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Oh and put little gutters on it saves drips down the arm

Hi LCB! Its been a loooong time since I haven't posted something in this forum, but I just wanted to contribute to this thread as I too am building a gullwing hardtop like madteg, inspired loosely on this photo:



The process is quite long and tedious, but not difficult.

First I masked the entire rear section of the car, given that the whole process of making the buck and the final moulding is incredibly dirty (you don't want to stain that rear aluminium panel, which has taken so much blood, sweat and tears to anneal and rivet on)

Then I bought the cheapest mdf I could find at my local hardware store and I cut it to the approximate profile I wanted for the roof, and made the famous egg-box structure:



Then, I filled the structure with insulation foam, which looked as if an alien invaded and grew inside my pride n' joy



After the foam settled and dried (+- 4 hours), I cut it down to the right shape using a hacksaw blade (it's the fastest method):



After that, I coated it with plaster. When that dried (approximately 3 days and bearing in mind the hot summer temperatures in Madrid):



After that, I followed a great advice from this same forum, which saved me a ton of time; Instead of coating the plaster with paint, then wax or polyvinyl alcohol (which takes ages to do correctly) I just covered the whole buck with packing tape:



Then came the fibreglassing, which is a HELL of a lot of mat and resin (I spent over 300€ in materials), and once dried, this was the moulding perfectly released from the buck:



This is the moulding screwed back onto the car. It's held by the windscreen bolts, and I made a flange on the rear to screw it from the inside to the rear tub:



Then i cut the doors:



These photos were taken in late August. Since then, and looking at a LOT of photos in google of Deloreans and Merc 300SlS's, I came upon the conclusion that the door apertures needed a drain channel of some sort, where the panel gaps between the doors and the roof act as drains, thereby avoiding leaks in the interior, and giving the whole roof a bit more rigidity. This is a right pain to do correctly, as you have to constantly file down the flanges and test the doors in order not to have too much panel gap and therefore leaks. But, rest assured, all the edges will be trimmed with rubber profiles, so this will help in avoiding leaks.

Once it's finished, I'll have it painted by a professional shop and will trim the interior with some sort of carpeting.

This has been the most challenging task I've done on my locost. Before this, I tackled all the electrics, engine management (Megajolt) and wiper/defrosting system and they were childplay in comparison.

One last thing: as opposed to the Merc 300sl and its newer child (the SLS) and the Delorean, you don't need gas struts to keep the doors up. This is because the fibreglass doors weigh nothing. If i'd have known this when planning the hardtop build i'd have saved over 100€ in gas struts.

Overall i'm very proud of this as, not only will it serve to protect the interior from bad weather (my locost will eventually sleep outside), it will also protect the interior from prying eyes and people getting in the car and faffing around in it when its not under my surveillance! (The doors will be locked somehow)

Needless to say, I honestly think the hardtop makes the car look pants, sort of like a hearse, so i'll just use it for the aforementioned reasons. Living in Madrid, three quarters of the year it's rainless, so whenever i drive the car, it'll be without the hardtop.

hope this helps all you Locostbuilders in rainy Blighty!

atb

[Edit:] sorry if the pics are too large

[Edited on 18/1/14 by robertst]

[Edited on 18/1/14 by robertst]

That looks great - Of all the people to make a hardtop someone in Madrid must be the least likely!