Just some quick Fitzpatrick hardtop project pics

Kurt B · 05:30 AM

http://rennlight.com/hardtop (corrected)
Thom is the man for pulling these off, and the creation of them musta been a nightmare. Thanks again!

And it's no easy task mounting them, but it's fun work...I've definitely enjoyed all 45 hours so far. I have zero mechanical ability/foresight....so that always lengthens the time and increased the number of backward steps.

Note: I'm still futzing around with various aspect of it...but it's drivable and the car feels great. No creaks or groans really.

The top still needs to be pushed down on the left side in front a bit, and I need to do something w/ the back window. It's Lexan with a gasket down and tabs holding the window in.

I put some rods through the top that go into the holes there from the cab top, then drilled some holes through those and put some pins in.
I also used brackets (not pictured) to pull them down. They are fiberglassed to the ceiling on the inside and adjustable but do not loo pretty. Again, still working on it.

Anyway, this is the beta. As I said, more work to do yet for sure.

Kurt B · 08-10-2005, 05:01 PM

PorscheGuy79 · PorscheGuy79's Garage

Wowza, killer job on that. I have to say I was skeptical about how it would look, but honestly thats better then I ever imagined.

Tyson Schmidt · 08-10-2005, 05:07 PM

Dude, you forgot to tape off the door handles when you painted the car! (Seriously though, the mono-chromo look went out in 1989)

Looks awesome Kurt! Are you going to go full cage?

mjshira · 08-10-2005, 05:11 PM

LOL that was funny

I like those tops, I think when I am done being broke (yes, getting a 3.6 and married in the same period of time) I want one.

Kurt B · 08-10-2005, 05:14 PM

Hahah..Tyson. I actually did remove them and paint them separately! The centers are still chrome and the gaskets are black

. I'm going to put them back to black (esp since the passengers side trigger is black as I had to get one from a forum guy)...but haven't done it yet due to...needing to either powdercoat them or get real paint w/ catalyst. I know rattle can just won't hold up.

North Coast Cab · North Coast Cab's Garage

Oh boy, now I need to figure out how to hide that from my wife. I now have a very clear vision of my future and a resolution to the cab/coupe dilema I've been struggling with.

John

JonT · 08-10-2005, 05:34 PM

That is incredible! How hard is it to go from cab to coupe? Great job. Thanks for being the beta tester.

porschenut88 · 08-10-2005, 06:02 PM

hey kurt, looks awesome!!

bell · bell's Garage

thom is an evil, evil man.......not fair.....i've got a tranny rebuild among other things to pay for

nice work.....will solve my problem of wanting a coupe.

mjshira · 08-10-2005, 06:10 PM

sell the other project car...

CarreraCab · 08-10-2005, 06:14 PM

Kurt, nice job on the top, it looks great ! could you possibly take some shots of your mounting details at the windsheild header ? and maybe what you ended up using for gasketing in the top to body ? very nice job especially being the Beta Guy ! Doug

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Damn, yours looks a lot nicer than mine!

Thanks for the update - I was wondering how it went. It was 6 months of labor to get to this point!

I have a bunch of little detail work to do on the mold, but I took some time away to get some track days in. I want to get these little details done before I start on version II, of course, so the changes will carry over. I was hoping I could do version II with this mold, but it doesn't look like that will be possible.

The top has been a hit with the guys at the track - even the non-Porsche guys.

The correct URL is http://rennlight.com/hardtop

Shuie · 08-10-2005, 07:06 PM

Nice work guys!

84CAB · 04:14 AM

Looks great Kurt! I think you bought the first top from Thom and I bought the second. Mine is still sitting in my garage unchanged from the day I received it.

I have been trying to source a inexpensive set of Targa latches with no luck. I think I'm going to go with the lexan windows from TRE or the flush mounted ones from Spekter. Trying to work out some of the details in my head before I get started. What seals did you use for the top/body interface?

svandamme · svandamme's Garage

oh you cab boys... give it up , get a targa

bell · bell's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by mjshira
sell the other project car...

whyl would i do that? it's quicker than my 911 in the quarter mile

Kurt B · 08-11-2005, 05:38 AM

Yeah, I'll post more pics of the bloody details once I get em fully worked out. Right now, my flavorite item is to take the brackets that used to hold the AC tubing around the car, beat them flat with a hammer, and use them to hold everything down from the inside....so there's some cheese.
Thanks guys and I'll post more of the inside stuff soon, esp if I can find a part somewhere that really does the trick.
(and I corrected the link up top!)

myrddin · myrddin's Garage

Been a while for this post, and I am thinking of doing this or getting a new soft top. I have a targa converted to a cab and like how easy it is to drop the top when ever I want and don't mind the extra little bit of noise (heat works quite well).. but was thinking it would be nice to have a hard top look that I could hoist the top off of for weekend trips (with some sort of toneu cover in the trunk for rain)... not really sure... has to be a reason why most cab people just stick to there soft top? My deal is the top is so old its shrunk a bit and has several microscopic holes that only show up when it rains and if I sit in the rain it pours in the window edge by the windshield upper corner like a big dog.. not sure why but it is a mess.

any way if the poster who has the car could do a follow up it would help me a lot to know his opinion at this time and would be super cool to get the install pics... and after clean up pics of inside and door edge and window edge pics as well

Hope you see this...

Also I have electric locks on my windshield... would that work for a hard top?

thanks

myrddin · myrddin's Garage

Been a while for this post, But I am thinking of doing this or getting a new soft top. I have a targa converted to a cab and like how easy it is to drop the top when ever I want and don't mind the extra little bit of noise (heat works quite well).. but was thinking it would be nice to have a hard top look that I could hoist the top off of for weekend trips (with some sort of toneu cover in the trunk for rain)... not really sure... has to be a reason why most cab people just stick to there soft top? My deal is the top is so old its shrunk a bit and has several microscopic holes that only show up when it rains and if I sit in the rain it pours in the window edge by the windshield upper corner like a big dog.. not sure why but it is a mess.

any way if the poster who has the car could do a follow up it would help me a lot to know his opinion at this time and would be super cool to get the install pics... and after clean up pics of inside and door edge and window edge pics as well

Hope you see this...

Also I have electric locks on my windshield... would that work for a hard top?

thanks