Composite Targa Top Development

[sobamaflyer]

I know today's adhesives must be a quantum leap from those of 30 years ago but is there any fear of separation like the Saratogas suffered from? I still have a nice front frame piece while a chunk of smoked lexan lives somewhere on the side of the highway in New Jersey .

[toddc]

Jcc, its secures to the car with hard top type latches, Soba, we bond all of the metal backing plates inside the top and the skins thmselves with methacrylate adhesive that is designed foe thia purpose. In using it successfully for 10+yrs, i have no worries about dwlamination.
Mow that the top is trimmed, i've weighed it and the result is.......

Wait for it.......

10.5 lbs

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Holy smokes, I have guitars that weigh more.

[nineball]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

Holy smokes, I have guitars that weigh more.

just for a point of reference, a gallon of whole milk weighs 8.6lbs

[nineball]

fully trimmed and bonded!!

[sobamaflyer]

Good lord that's pretty. You realize you have created targa owner wood all over the world right?

So when do we see it on your car?

[toddc]

Well depending my drive to kris's wiil either be to night or tomorrow. Either way we'll have it at hershey

[jcc911]

Absolutely amazing. Well done!!

[nineball]

my seat swap is done, wheels are changed, h4s and a new to me used cruise brain (god i hope this one works) are about to be installed. can't wait for todd to get here!

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I hesitate to ask, but I must--how adjustable are the pin positions? I'm sure not everybody's flexi-flyer chassis is perfectly straight.

[nineball]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

I hesitate to ask, but I must--how adjustable are the pin positions? I'm sure not everybody's flexi-flyer chassis is perfectly straight.

yes the pins are adjustable both front and rear, to a degree. they have the same range of motion as the factory soft and hard tops.

top fit great on our first test fit...








ran into a slight problem... my 83 does not have the cutout for the escutcheon which leads us to believe they may only have the cutouts up to 1977, which (i believe) was the last year of non-power brakes, which makes sense as you cannot fit the hardtop in with the master cylinder in the front. here is a shot of the front not pulled down into place.



tomorrow morning we will tackle the problem and cut the openings with my dremmel so that we can full mount the top.

[snbush67]

Originally Posted by toddc

Jcc, its secures to the car with hard top type latches, Soba, we bond all of the metal backing plates inside the top and the skins thmselves with methacrylate adhesive that is designed foe thia purpose. In using it successfully for 10+yrs, i have no worries about dwlamination.
Mow that the top is trimmed, i've weighed it and the result is.......

Wait for it.......

10.5 lbs

Wow!, that is incredible. 10.5 lbs.

I hope you haven't been breathing in too many fumes, your spelling is a bit off.

You spelled meow wrong.

[vulcan300]

If you're going to cut the holes for the escutcheon plates please grab and post some pics of the procedure. That would be really helpful as I think many of your potential customers will have to do the same..

[cdagnolo]

Well, you knew it was going to be a battle right down to the wire. Don't rush it and risk your prototype! Great work guys, I hope you've gotten enough sleep to function (and especially DRIVE!). Good luck at Hershey. Wish I could be there.
cd

[Howard M]

1977 was the first year of power brakes. Great work, guys. How did you reproduce the clamps? I thought that would be the hard part.

[nineball]

Originally Posted by Howard M

1977 was the first year of power brakes. Great work, guys. How did you reproduce the clamps? I thought that would be the hard part.

for the prototype we are actually using factory latches. the stamping tools for out latches are not quite done yet but we wanted to having a working prototype for hershey. we 3d modeled the factory latches and will be reproducing them.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by nineball

for the prototype we are actually using factory latches. the stamping tools for out latches are not quite done yet but we wanted to having a working prototype for hershey. we 3d modeled the factory latches and will be reproducing them.

Please make extra latches and those of us who have the factory top will buy them from you!

Great work BTW!

[nineball]

so here are shots of us making the openings for the escutcheon plates. it took a combination of drilling, a dremmel, an airsaw and a file or two but we got it.

removing the trim piece



partially removing the leather



various tools to get the opening we need







plate installed, trim back on



weldwood being applied to the seals and top





if all goes well we should be on the road within 2 hours and arriving in hershey around 10pm tonight. see you there!

[frankc]

That looks great. I rarely drive with the top on, but this may change that .

Originally Posted by nineball

ran into a slight problem... my 83 does not have the cutout for the escutcheon which leads us to believe they may only have the cutouts up to 1977, which (i believe) was the last year of non-power brakes, which makes sense as you cannot fit the hardtop in with the master cylinder in the front. here is a shot of the front not pulled down into place.

The topic of what year the cutouts were no longer made came up recently (was it earlier in this thread?). I can confirm that my '77 has them. And as Howard stated, '77 was the first year for power brakes.

[McLovin]

If only there were a way you could mount the factory J hook latch (and, for the later 80s cars, the roller style latch) to that, so it could mount like the factory roof.

All that cutting, etc. on the header, hmm. I think a lot aren't going to have the stomach for that.