Hard Top

T

Tigrrr

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I took my hard top off to install my new soft top and ran into a seemingly basic question. What the heck do people do with their hard tops when they are not on their cars? How and where do people store them?

It seems to me that the outside of these is really delicate and susceptible to scratches and dents, and on the inside the headliner looks super easy to tear. And you can't really stand a top on its end and lean it against a wall either because you would risk scraping the paint on the edges. Also, my garage is full of cool things waiting for me to knock over, so I would want the top up and out of the way somehow. What the heck am I supposed to do with this thing?

What do you do with your top when it's off the car? Pictures, if possible, would be cool. Thanks!
 
Mine sits in the garage leaning up against the wall next to a car--nothing fancy here. :)
 
hard top

i have two of these and they are padded at the points where the top touches and i have not had any problems over the years i have had them.
 
Thule Rack

Tiger Blue's top has been literally hanging out in the garage when not on the Tiger.

One Thule rack attached to rain gutters. A little trial and error to get the balance pint so it hangs level from the bicycle hooks in the beams above.

Getting it up or down requires two people and step stools/step ladders?

Earthquakes? Plastic ties will let it move around a little bit in the hooks but not jump out :eek:

The solution for now with Black Tiger's top: It lives on the car and for a "top off" drives we just leave the Top on the floor of the garage until we get home again and put the top on again.

Rick
 
TigerBlue said:
One Thule rack attached to rain gutters. A little trial and error to get the balance point so it hangs level from the bicycle hooks in the beams above.
Click to expand...

OK, I'm sold Rick. Do you recall what fittings were used. I just did a quick search and it looks like several items are required, fit and foot kit and support bar. It is a great idea. I'd like to combine with what I'm using. I had trouble with the straps on the PO paint job leaving a pattern embedded in the paint. Makes me nervous with my new paint job doing the same thing.

Maybe something here will provide some additional ideas. I've been saving up images for quite some time to post a thread on this subject. These are mostly for Mercedes Benz and probably not available new anymore. If anyone plans on fabbing up their own cart, use the bigger wheels as shown in one of the pics.

I've been using a small light weight block and tackle with straps to take the top off and gets stored hanging right above the car. There was an electric push button model available for the MB for a few hundred bucks back in the mid 80's. I've been using the same rig since the 2nd or 3rd time I took the top off in the late 70's.

I've been planning on relocating the light fixture, cutting out a rater tie and boxing the area out so I can pull the top up into the attic space just a bit more but requires adding some braces from rafters to ties. As is I need to remember to duck a little when the Tiger's not parked in the garage. Hasn't been a problem this way for 25 years.
 
Tiger owners are a resourceful lot...when I lived in Tehachapi, one of my Subarus had some ski racks that I wasn't using. I made them into a hardtop holder for my Tiger using a couple of pieces of flat iron, a sheathed cable, a sturdy rubber bungie and a cheap pulley set. Total investment was about $10 back in the late 80's. The rubber dipped end claps of the ski racks are adjusted to fit right into the rain gutter channel The rubber dipped clamp grabs the bottom of the channel. The balance point has the back ski rack just ahead of the curve in the hardtop. I can put this on or off by myself in a few minutes, the hardest part (when off) is lining up the car to lower the top down again!
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HARDTOPS

Wally Swift of TE/AE was selling a neat top carrier 25 years ago that held the top with the interior down instead of up like the illustrated carrier on EBAY. Being resouceful and cheap I duplicated that type of carrier out of 2 in diameter PCV pipe and elbows, and put some cheap casters on it. It has served me well for some 25 years. The hoist from MG MITTEN makes top installation and removal a one person operation. To let it hang from the rafters isn't a good idea as I have a ding in my hood to prove it.
 
I'm not sure how a hanging hardtop puts a dent in your hood- mine remains level going up and down!
 
Thule

"OK, I'm sold Rick. Do you recall what fittings were used."

I have no idea if they still make these same racks but they attach to the rain gutters running along each side of the roof. I got mine in the 80's to haul skis on the roof and later a windsurfer. The bar can be adjusted in the end pieces to fit a range of width. The tiger top is narrow but no problem.

They were sold in pairs but you only need one to hang the top.

My late model cars do not have those rails which made these racks very universal fit wise.

Rick
 
Thanks Rick. I knew it might be a long shot asking as your rack does have that early design look. The site I searched on had pics of each style available now with over a dozen shown but no knobs on any of them. Likely will find something on the bay.

Your idea renews my interest though. I'll have to take another stab at putting something together.
 
For mine, I used a couple of 2x4's for the top to rest on. They ran transversely under the top, protruding from the side window openings. The ends had eye bolts attached, and were suspended from pulleys. All of this went to a single line wrapped around a cleat on a nearby wall. I used good quality boating supply house pulleys and eyes to build it. It worked great. A one-man, five-minute job to install or stow, if the car is parked to align beneath it well enough. I took no pictures at the time, unfortunately. I had the top supported this way for a few years with no issues.

The car (and I) have moved a couple of times since then, so I'll have to duplicate it at some point.
 
Another example of Hard Top storage

My ceiling is 14 feet high. I bolted some computer table legs together and used some old seat belts for webbing. The rope and pulleys came from ACE Hardware. BTW it's a Parrish Plastics, (now Smoothline), hard top that came with the car. I just cleaned it up a little, (new glass and rubber), in case I choose to use it occaisionally.
 
As long as we're at it

Since this thread is still going, here's a few pics of my hardtop hoist in action...maybe someone will find an idea they can use:

2hovhaa.jpg
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This was posted on TEAE site shortly after the thread was started here.

Nice for storage but I think would still require a couple people to put top in place.
 
Contemplated switching to TigerBlue's and Hottigr's ski rack method to lift up top but could only gain a couple inches of head height for the trouble so decided to keep my strap method. They're soft and won't mar the finish if they come in contact with the top.

The rafter ties, similar to ceiling joists but only every other one, were sagging down to 4" in one place and caused only a half inch clearance between lamp fixture tubes and door in the open position. The worst sag was caused by weight of garage door opener, one end of 2 different fluorescent fixtures and I had hung the top off the same rafter tie.

So I got in and braced the ties up to the rafters. Cut out a portion of one tie and framed out an opening to pull the top up into. Had to relocate light fixtures in the process and added another. Cleaned up the appearance and strengthened garage better than new.

Ran across a gizmo to attach to ceiling for hard top removal and storage. It was being used on a 4 door Jeep Wrangler.
 
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