New Targa Hardtop Help

[jlynch1960]

Joined the hardtop club this weekend, but wasn't sure what to look for and ended up with a top with busted latches - the J-hook section is broken off in each case. At least the price was right.

I'm thinking I can remove the front alignment pins and put two 8M stove bolts up from below a la the fiberglass tops sold on Ebay. Anyone with any experience doing this? Is there enough wiggle room to find the "nut" in the top? Proper length?

Eventually, I think I could make the J-hook part at a friend's shop. Anyone have the dimensions of the hooks? Any sense of how critical it is to proper operation to stick with the original thickness of the hook - a surprisingly skimpy piece of metal given it's function!

I take it the hook faces/bends upward?

Did some searching but none of this was covered that I could find.

Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jim

[Justin@Athens]

Post some pics, I may have a plan for you to consider. Don't use bolts, use clevis pins instead--go all the way through the fiberglass top and secure with larger rubber and metal washers to distribute the load. Lowes also has a cover to hide the head of the clevis pin.

[bill's911]

What year is your car? I have hardtop targa on mine and can take a few pics or measurements ... But it could be a week or so before I can get to it in storage. Let me know what you need in that way.

[jlynch1960]

Bill - car's an '84 so before I can even get the latches to work I need to do the mods to the windscreen frame. Time is not a huge concern here. I've contacted Dan at Carsinc about the two rosettes.

Justin - not sure what posting pics will do - it's just the small J-hook at the end of the latch that's broken off. You probably wouldn't even be able to tell it was broken unless you knew what you were looking for.

Thanks for the thoughts though.

[Joeaksa]

Making the two holes is not a big deal. Get a drill then use a dremel with a cutter then grinder and you can have it done in an hour.

Had to do it on my 85 model and works fine now.

Guys, I am sensing that we need to get a group together and make some latches. Anyone else game? I could use one as one of mine has the plastic tit broken that keeps the latch up and stowed. A wire tie works but how about lets do it right with a new production latch?

[Howard M]

Joeaksa, when I bought my hardtop it also had the broken tang that keeps the j-lever stowed in place. I bought a pair of small, round magnets and cemented one to each side: j-lever and latch body. It works better than the tang does on the undamaged side.

[jlynch1960]

I confirmed today that you can take out the front alignment pins and run two 8mm bolts up through the vinyl on the underside of the windscreen frame to hold the top in place without the latches. Bolts were 8mm 1.0 pitch 50mm length. Had them at the Home Depot.

I did get some minor wind noise from the center of the top which probably had something to do with the location of the alignment pins being further outboard than the latch locations, but all in all not a bad temporary fix.

I'm game for new latches, or at least the J-hook portion of them, if someone has some experience with getting parts like this fabricated.

[Joeaksa]

Howard, good call! Thanks!

J,

Good find with the bolts. Both of my latches work fine but you know I still have this funny feeling that should one latch come lose I could lose the top, and a bolt at each corner would go a long way towards securing it for good.

Thx,

Joe A

[bill's911]

Any pics of the way you bolted this?

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by jlynch1960

I confirmed today that you can take out the front alignment pins and run two 8mm bolts up through the vinyl on the underside of the windscreen frame to hold the top in place without the latches. Bolts were 8mm 1.0 pitch 50mm length. Had them at the Home Depot.

Great info! Just got the bolts today from the hardware store and will use them to replace the outer pins in my top. Its been really windy (40 knot gusts) and really do not want to have the top come off of the car so this will take that worry out of my situation.

Joe A

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by bill's911

Any pics of the way you bolted this?

If this is directed my way, not yet. Been busy doing work related things but will get to this in a week or so when things slow down.

[byfdinky]

When I got my hardtop, it also came with broken tangs. Followed Howard M's idea with magnets and it works great.

[Winter]

You guys actually drive with the top on?!!! ;-)

I have the factory (75 only, I think) hard top if anyone needs pics, glad to snap a few and post here. let me know

[jcc911]

I too now am lucky to be part of the factory hardtop club. Latches seem to be ok for the moment.

It does need a little clearcoat work so the question is do I fix teh clear coat or paint to match my car?

[RNajarian]

I'm one of the lucky Hard Top guys too.

Regarding broken hardware . . . One of my plastic latches which locks the J hook to the windshield frame is broken. I want to remove the remaining good latch make a dental impression and fabricate a new one out of plastic denture material. Sure it comes out pink but black spray paint will fix that.

Only problem is removing remaining good latch without breaking it.

We should have a dedicated thread dedicated to the discontinued NLA parts

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by RNajarian

I'm one of the lucky Hard Top guys too.

Regarding broken hardware . . . One of my plastic latches which locks the J hook to the windshield frame is broken. I want to remove the remaining good latch make a dental impression and fabricate a new one out of plastic denture material. Sure it comes out pink but black spray paint will fix that.

Only problem is removing remaining good latch without breaking it.

We should have a dedicated thread dedicated to the discontinued NLA parts

Totally agree with the above. I could use one good condition factory top latch... Hmm, making parts should not be that difficult.

[jcc911]

RNajarian,
Be sure to document progress. It would be helpful for all of us.

Is there any way to confirm that the hardtop I have is one from the factory?

[Jack Stands]

I remember that my 75 Targa had a solid fiberglass top, and I actually traded it for a folding one back in the day! Now they seem to be desired!

As for the latch, how about one of those new 3d printers? I'm sure any good machinist could also make some up, it only takes money to pay for their time.

[fanaudical]

I have a factory hardtop with all the latches intact. PM me if you want pics/dimensions.

I think Nineball was working on replacement latches to go along with new hardtops that he and his buddy are making in both fiberglass and carbon fiber.

I wouldn't drill through a factory hardtop for some makeshift latches; they are getting quite rare (and expensive).

[nineball]

hopefully one of you can come up with a better solution. we had a quote of $75,000 to reproduce the factory hard top latches (which are NLA), and that was just to go from idea to the first piece. we are currently working on a j-hook version of our top as they are still readily available.