TCM hardtop impressions
 

Hi Everyone,
I recently finished getting my Treasure Coast Miata hardtop painted and put together and thought I would post my experiences so far. I have made a few drives with the window and seals all in place. So far my impression is that this will be a good way to keep rain out but isn't suitable for people who want OEM fitment or care a lot about cosmetics.

Images:
TCM hardtop install - Imgur

Positives:
Cheap- $550 before shipping for the fiberglass top. Seals and window are extra but could be done DIY for cheap. You can freight ship multiple tops for the price of one to reduce ship costs.

Lightweight- 12lb for the fiberglass, under 20lbs with window.

Lots of room inside for rollbar clearance.

Turnbuckles in place of side latches are a cheap and easy mounting system.


Negatives:
Mine came with a fair amount of waviness in the outer surface. For me this is not a big issue. The best body shop in the area wanted a small fortune to sand it to perfectly smooth. I ended up getting a maaco paint job and just living with it.

Window trim seals are hard to get installed correctly and don't fully seal on mine. The brackets in one area don't really fit against the fiberglass and I plan to pull them off and do some bending to get it to work better. Also, since you are drilling into the fiberglass and using sheet metal screws to affix them you get more or less one shot at it. The install video suggests coming in a 1/4" when placing the window brackets, If I hadn't done that I would likely have a better seal.

The fasteners for the brackets are all threaded directly into the fiberglass and I worry that these will wear out after repeatedly removing the top for auto-x. If this becomes an issue I will drill these out and epoxy in a steel jacket. The fiberglass in these areas is substantial/thick.

There is also no provision for Frankenstein latches and as a result the rear/center of the top bows upwards from the body slightly. It still makes a good seal there. I plan to add another turnbuckle connected to a bolt in that area to help prevent any possibility of the top lifting at speed.

Sounds like a piece of shit for the price.

That.

I knew it wasn't OEM quality fitment but jesus that is terrible. Why is it so hard to copy the oem fitment? VW aftermarket part copies were usually 100% indistinguishable from OEM, but no one can seem to make a decent hard top copy.

Agreed. I'd rather spend a couple hundred extra for a superior OEM top.

Seriously...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390891156
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1390891156

Haha, MT is harsh. I agree that the fit isn't good but I think it's expected with aftermarket composite parts. I moved the window seals around and that improved things a little but the two major problem areas around the window are still present. I think with caulking and some weather stripping I can get this to seal well.

Also, I considered an OEM top but it can take a long time to find one at a decent price.

If harsh is having high standards then ok.

The way I see it is you have spent 500+ dollars on a leaky, wavy, noisy top that is taking even more time and money from your personal life to correct issues that shouldn't be present.

Edit: 550+shipping for the top, 110+ shipping for the lexan window, $xxx amount of money for the weather stripping, tie downs and associated hardware....come on now

Exactly. I've spent 3 months waiting for a decent hard top for the right price to come up. I'd much rather spend 850 for the perfect fit. Especially since that is the main reason you buy a hardtop in the first place. Less noise from wind and ambient, better security, and, well, better everything.

You'll notice a trend that everyone on MT tends to be harsh when things don't make sense, or there was a better way you could have done something. Which is why I love this site. No bullshit, no stupidity, only raw fuck you honesty. It is a breath of fresh air.

Glad you got it to work for your needs though. If you are happy with it I guess that is all that counts. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole though.

Well everyone has different needs. I have a hardtop so I can run my CSP car with no soft top but still be protected from weather on the street. Any lightweight top isn't going to provide the reduced NVH of the heavier OEM top. Also, I haven't exactly been evangelizing this hardtop. I just said that I think I can get it to work for what I need it to. I would rather not deal with attempting to return a fiberglass hardtop that is already painted if I can make it work for me.

Hence the if you are happy with it that is all that counts. Sad that the figment isn't better though. You think they'd make revisions to their product knowing that they could do better.

Maybe that is just my business owner perspective though, where releasing a flawed product is paramount to business revenue suicide. But I'm in the bread business so what do I know!

You are not the intended audience for this top. This is a racecar part for serious racers. Its purpose is to be as light as possible and sealing out more moisture than having no top at all. I plan to get one because they're cheap as fuck and would allow me to remove the soft top while keeping most of the rain out of the car when it is getting trailered. I wouldnt even consider one for a street car.

"cheap as fuck" is hardly fair considering the lexan/hardware/shipping cost. The lexan will fade/crack and need to be replaced as wear item (or so I've read on here).

I've seen two OEM tops for sale on this board in the 500 dollar range in the last few months. Greyhound will ship just about anything for a reasonable cost.

It is much lighter. OEM is ~45lbs. I'd like to see how much the TCM top weights after sealing the lexan in and adding all the hardware.

I hardly think spending that kind of money for -/+ 20lbs is okay when you want to only keep "some" of the rain out.

But to each their own. Good luck guys and enjoy your cars.

FYI the window comes with all the hardware and seals. I will be adding a few more pieces of weather stripping but we are talking ~$10 at most. Shipping is the cost killer here. The parts themselves are all really inexpensive.

Their shipping calculator wouldn't work for me, unfortunately. I'm really curious to see what you're paying.

FYI: I am not bagging on TCM or have any animosity towards them or their top.

Freight shipping cost $180 in my case. If I could have found someone to go in on it with me we could have done more than one for the same cost. The total cost ends up being comparable to OEM but it is 20lbs lighter. Painting this is cheap because it comes with no windows or seals on it and If I had a black car I would have just got mine in black gelcoat and left it un- painted.

Ultimately the real trade off here is how well it fits vs the weight savings. Availability is also a big factor. I spent about 2 months looking for a hardtop in my area and had no luck. Partly that is looking for a hardtop during the winter, but also there are a lot of mazda racers near me and hardtops go really quickly.

Leafy knows how it is, I work at TCM and I agree the top is not perfect, It was never intended to be an OEM Replacement so I don't think it is fair to criticize it against the OEM top. So buying one thinking its going to be a OEM top, your going to hate it.

They are +/- 20 lbs fully assembled so its a decent performance upgrade. And We at TCM like to lighten our cars! Free HP!!!

We appreciate the reviews cause they will help us get these better and better, as we have been working with the Fiberglass guy to get them close.

^
This is an example of someone, who's needs, our top will not fulfill. Our top is not for everyone and that is just how it is. It will never be an OEM top.. It would be just as heavy, Like I said we are working on the window fitment.

Sorry for your inconvenience.

Apologies Andrew if I came across as crass and libelous towards your company, I for some reason overlooked the intended purpose of the top and carried that train of thought through the rest of my commentary.

No offense intended, I'm not a bastard like that on purpose, just accidentally!;)

No hard feelings what so ever, How are we supposed to improve without criticism?

Props^

Its good that you came on this site to talk about your top. I wont sugar coat anything for you though. Your top fits terrible, hardly suitable for a race car that stays in a covered garage. Your weight savings comparisons are not apples to apples. With the rear glass window removed from the OEM hardtop it is very light. I bet that back window is 20lbs. Thats neither here nor there. I want to help you sell more of these because the availability of hardtops is only going to get worse over the coming years.

You need to change the mold to accept a common piece of trim that you can get cheap for the windows and rear sealing. You need to have some fiberglass or aluminum cover the rear frankenstein that attached to the top so it can be replaced with a bolt and washer. Does the front except the stock soft top latches? It should. The sides can be a simple aluminum mount with slotted holes. You should offer black gel coat if you don't already.

Your competition is $800 OEM craigslist hardtops.

only thing I see this top good for is if you have to have a top *now* and don't mind working a little to get it to fit right.

I had a hell of a time finding myself a top locally, I ended up buying a whole car with some rust issues to get one. I may consider one for my other car but for now the soft top will do.

Its not my top, I work here.

The thing is these tops were never designed to compete with the OEM top It was designed for race cars, with no side windows.

We came up with a way to make it streetable, the latest top we sold and installed Fit great and the Windows seals perfectly


Also you can pick our bare top up buy squeezing your two fingers, I know you cant do that with a bare OEM top. We tried with the Donor OEM top that was used for the mold.

Unfortunately I dont see us the top being made to work with the latches or the frankenstein bolts. But Ill tell my boss that you all would like it too.

Also to do all that it will be much heavier, and totally defeat the purpose of the current top.. so with that said maybe we will redesign and make a separate, more OEM like, top.. Who knows Ill forward the Criticism to my Boss!

Just letting you guys know How it is and where it seems we stand on this.
As it is, if you want an OEM top save/wait for one.

BTW I used to have one of these tops but I sold it for a Soft top cause I missed driving with the top down, my baby snail sounds better topless ;)

Yeah I'm not sure why they keep beating the proverbial dead horse on the issue since you stated it is a race top.

If you are driving your car on the road of course you'd go OEM.

For the spec Miata and race/auto-x folk though they don't care about road noise and some categories don't allow side windows so figment is a non-issue.

He already stated they are working on it fitting better. I retracted my stance on it once I understood the focal group or audience it was intended for.

Maybe the prices are different o. The east coast but on the west coast the cheapest I could find around me was $850. Anything cheaper needed all new seals and a lot of work done to the top to restore it. Most go for $1k plus within 7 hours of me.

You can not use that top in spec miata.

Correct! OEM only. But in other classes it is allowed, STL for example, and we have a few customers using them on their STL prepped cars

Maybe people could epoxy helicoils in the top for more secure mounting.

Since I have been driving the car on the street for a few weeks I wanted to follow up. The weather seals are working pretty well now. I made the mistake of being at lunch when the snow started in NC last week and my worn star specs did not want me to get up any of the hills near my house. I parked the car on the street and it sat covered in ~5"s of melting snow for two days. When I was able to get the car back there wasn't any water I could find in the cabin or around the top seal. I have also added another turn buckle to the rear center of the top by replacing one of the window bolts with a longer 1/4 bolt and then treading the turn buckle to a rain rail bolt.

Also, some more complete pics of it on the car:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1392504370

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1392504370

Nice car

Just picked my LWHT up last week.. got white gel coat and the surface wasn't very bad at all.. I'm also trying to keep a soft top look to it, so any imperfections to the top will help that since I'm not going with a rugged paint texture that will chip off...

Those last pics look really good... The only thing that lets on that it's not OEM just by looking at it is the window seal behind the driver window...

I'm still in the works of getting mine together... we are going to drill the holes and prep the window for mounting before painting, so we don't crack/chip any paint.. but were there any points of the installation/assembly where you found frustrating or difficult? Any tips you can provide that weren't on the video? Finally, how do you like the hardtop now? After you've had time to drive with it, and experience it... would you recommend it to someone who wants a hard top for security enclosure vs current soft top? or would you still recommend OEM to friends you actually care about?

Asmasm you are making me want to put my spoiler on, stop!

Treasure Coast Miata hardtop. Fully assembled (windows, seals, etc.) in black gelcoat, the hardtop weighed 20.2 pounds!!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1437969513

The Snugtop brand top I removed weighed 54.6 pounds. That a savings of 34.4 pounds -- up high!! :party::party::party:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1437969513

The front brackets were regular Spec Miata pieces:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1437969513

I fabbed brackets for the side and back from 1" x 1/8" aluminum strap:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1437969513

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1437969513

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1437969513

Mounted up:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1437969513

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1437969513

What to do with all that black gelcoat? Skull and pistons, of course (#world's_coolest_grandpa):

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1437969513