Ok so I have had a passion for having a retractable hard top since I have had my car. Having past old convertible experience with my Datsun 1600 and Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite, the top eventually goes and you are stuck trying to find an alternative. Eventually getting a hard top or work with someone to re-upholster it properly. I know I've said it before.
Smarter people than I say it cannot be done and maybe that will be the case here. I figured I need a project to play with and this will be my new one. So I had been saving to buy a possible one off top Nankoo was considering making but when the thread went silent, I started to look around for different options and make one for myself. How can I make a mold that works? Corvettes targa top is not the same to the A pillar or over the windows. Using a Solstice coupe targa requires to change the side windows and I've only seen one on ebay for $750.00, pass. Then you still have to mold a rear pillar. Corvette has one but the angles were the wrong direction. Then I saw it on ebay. I wrinkled my nose at it. It was not for me which seems funny because my daily driver is a Honda Element which has similar features.
My purchase is... the EDAG hard top.
I know I know. For me personally, I do not want this style. The members who have them here on the forum have cool looking cars and love what they have. Everyone has their own style so please do not disrespect it on this thread. Heck, I didn't care for the coupe until I had seen some at the 2014 Nationals. The EDAG top has grown on me since I had been researching for this but I like my top off, make it easy and make it trunk accessible (for some reason that sounds all wrong). I started looking at the lines of it and thought I could use this as a potential mold. I asked a couple EDAG owners their opinions of it and said what I was planning. There are drawbacks with the weather stripping, front hinge and the back end. I then started to cut and paste and do a concept drawing of it from its original concept picture. Now I am not a design artist so I tried to capture it the best I could (don't kill me on my drawing or shading skills). This is the reason for needing a soft top to strip and work with pieces. I have a couple leads I am looking at from salvage yards. I could kick myself for not buying the one that was on craigslist a little while ago in Tucson but I didn’t know I was going to go this way. Live and learn.
I will need advice on fiberglass and products that work well? Including attaching two fiberglass pieces for a strong hold? I’m looking to learn as a hobby. No delusions of making more but let’s see how it goes.
Ready… Here is my concept
I purchased the shell from Dan Shaffer of Shaffer Sales in Indiana. No glass just the shell. He does have glass too but I did not have reason for them since my design eliminates them all together. To be shipped next week. These are the ones on ebay.
2006 2009 Pontiac Solstice Sport Roof by Revenge Design Help Lost Storage | eBayThese EDAG tops have quite an interesting story from what I read on threads here. Dans story on picking up these tops seems right out of a reality show. Good guy and has about 30 shells left and then the EDAG tops are gone. EDAG is still around in Germany but they have no interest in this platform anymore. They look like a cool company building prototypes and this was going to be their success in North America but we all see where that went. Lack of interest, big price and GM's release of their own coupe pushed this top to obscurity. Hopefully we’ll give it some life back.
You can see from the shell that there is extensive cutting needed but a solid piece of mold to work with without changing side windows.
Inside has a simple method for the front pins and a J-hook to lock it down. Re-framing the inside will also be needed but will come in time when starting the line up process for window placement and hinge placement.
This is the reason for a salvage soft top to work with. The plan is to remold the front to work with the OEM latch and use the rear window section to mold over the cloth area to make the back rigid. I think once I can figure out how the top works as one piece, I’ll then will start the work for cutting in the right place to hinge the two pieces together to work into the trunk. I have a metal guy to hopefully help build a frame from inside the trunk for the up and down motion and not make it too complex. WARNING, we may lose more trunk space when the top is in the trunk.
We’ll see.
Let me know your thoughts and again your help is appreciated to make this the best it can be for my car and maybe more if it works out.
