TCM hardtop impressions
01-30-2014, 01:15 PM
#21
Newb
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: P.B.G. Fl
Posts: 9
Total Cats: 7
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
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
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01-30-2014, 02:03 PM
#22
Elite Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Cedar City, UT
Posts: 2,764
Total Cats: 951
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.
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.
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02-15-2014, 05:46 PM
#26
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: durham NC
Posts: 792
Total Cats: 143
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:
Also, some more complete pics of it on the car:
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05-16-2014, 02:28 PM
#28
Newb
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1
Total Cats: 0
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?
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?
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07-27-2015, 12:13 AM
#30
Treasure Coast Miata hardtop. Fully assembled (windows, seals, etc.) in black gelcoat, the hardtop weighed 20.2 pounds!!
The Snugtop brand top I removed weighed 54.6 pounds. That a savings of 34.4 pounds -- up high!!
The front brackets were regular Spec Miata pieces:
I fabbed brackets for the side and back from 1" x 1/8" aluminum strap:
Mounted up:
What to do with all that black gelcoat? Skull and pistons, of course (#world's_coolest_grandpa):
The Snugtop brand top I removed weighed 54.6 pounds. That a savings of 34.4 pounds -- up high!!
The front brackets were regular Spec Miata pieces:
I fabbed brackets for the side and back from 1" x 1/8" aluminum strap:
Mounted up:
What to do with all that black gelcoat? Skull and pistons, of course (#world's_coolest_grandpa):
Last edited by hornetball; 07-27-2015 at 09:57 AM.
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