Hardtop construction

[Guest My TC Toy]

:confused:Has anyone looked into the material used on the inside of the hardtop? There seems to be ribs across to support the fabric but, it also feels like the material is glued to a sub-strate of insulation material. I guess what I am trying to find out is if the inner material (insulation and fabric) is free hanging or glued.

I am still looking into installing a sun roof and don't want to get into the roof, and possibly run into a serious problem, without having all the facts.

Bob

[Mike Key St. Lou]

have worked on the tops of three of my tc's. the top inside has foam ruber glued to the fiber glass tops for inproved sound insulation. and supended floating and glued to the side top. i have replaced some of the foam with 3/4 inch insulation and reglued sides of top when it has come loose from the wind. looks and works fine. email me if you need to know how to take apart for mending mrk813@charter.net

[Mike Key St. Lou]

forgot to mention i also checked on sun roof on a extra top i purchased. and was in formed at three different stores tht sun roof are hard to seal because of fiberglass material of top. so i took out the all the windows and had it recovered with black velvet micro fiber cloth so i can change the look of any of my tc's. 4tc's 5 hard tops 4 convertable tops = 20? different looks never was any good at math. also hooked up two lift's in garage to avoid a divorce now i can change look of my tc's myselef.

[Guest My TC Toy]

Thanks for the info. As I feared, the glued in place insulation makes it all the harder to install a sun roof. If it tears it will be nearly impossible to repair without a seam. The other problem, I since discovered, is the arch of the roof, it seems to be too curved both in width and length to accept a standard sun roof. That is probably the reason you were told it was hard to seal. If the frame is bent too much from the original stamping, to match the roof curvature, the glass will not seal well in the gasket and leak! Although mine is a fair weather car, the glass and frame would still have to match well.

I thought of your idea of covering the roof with a cloth, my car is YBB so a black covered top would probably look good. I will have to give that some more thought.

Thanks again for the info.

Bob

[Mike Key St. Lou]

my tc toy this might help your decision. mike key:)

[Guest My TC Toy]

OK, now you got me pi--ed. That yellow one really looks sharp. Oh the pain!!!!

Thanks for the pics.

Bob

[Guest My TC Toy]

Where did you get the spoiler? It looks great.

Bob

[cowancom]

One more time folks--the TC hard tops-are not-were not and never were fiberglass!!!!! They are the largest piece of SMP-Sheet Molded Plastic ever used for a standard automobile. The sheets of plastic were warmed-then pressed between 2 dies. Then they were hand trimed-the "porthole" and back window cut by hand-and sent for painting and assembly. This top came out about 50 or so lbs lighter than a Mercedes 380 top and just under 2 times more ridged. Unfortunatly they also came out about twice as costly to produce as the Mercedes top. Oh well---whats a over $100,000 loss on each car made anyway.

[cowancom]

btw--On October 1,1996 I got to crash test a plastic hard top on a TC by getting broadsided by a man doing 85mph. The pins and holddowns all sheared off on impact and the top bounced off my head whille I was spinning in the intersection 5 times. Opened the door and walked away with a chiped tooth and some bruses.

[Mike Key St. Lou]

thanks for info on top construction tim. thought it was fiberglass - now wil check with new in stallers on sun roofs. thou i think bob is right, about pitch or cureveage on roof might not sit well on sun roof install. also tim, the gill on your white tc is almost identical to the ones i made from a old sears air conditioner cover painted one to match car and other had chromed. gald you came out of that acident well tim and thank you for help in the past. vist your web site often mike key st lou