Never say never...He could do both. A hardtop that goes on in 5 minutes would be a pretty nice option for those rainy track days and cool November drives, and a mankini for the days when he was feeling ambiguous about the whole gender thing. With a hardtop option, you could then switch between Locutus' alter ego Dirk Diggler (i.e. transform from a soft GPness to a hard GPness) on command.
Actually, I like this idea. Have never thought about it and don't know how I'd execute it... But it's a good idea. Mainly for the rain. I don't care about the cold, nor the sun.
Nothing quite like blasting down Hellbender first thing in the morning with the windows down... I can imagine topless... Oh yeah, I did have the top and doors off the Jeep, its cold! Thats what heaters are for, no need to vag out on a "hard top"!
Assuming the Cabrio and Hardtop were the same or dang close in dimensions ( which they aren't with the whole hatch differences ) you could do like my old Mazda Mini Truck Conversion. They made kits for all the little trucks back in the mid to late 80's to just cut the roof off, came with brackets and trim pieces and walla you now had a hard top conv... Sure it leaked alittle here and there but you could also carry the top with you in the bed of the truck..
That would have been fun, if I had cut the roof off the GP, Bryan. Nah, I'd build some custom fiberglass or CF thing to mount to the cage and follow the cage profile, with a rear window... Still using the rear tonneau...
I didn't think you'd want any type of hard top. Make the mankini with the frame pieces from the convertible top, so you connect to the windshield and have the window channels. Then make a second piece that come down the rear hoop to the tonneau to close in the back behind the seats.
Unfortunately using the window frame parts of the original top would be unworkable. I looked at it for a while. I AM using the front bow from the OEM top to seal across the front, but will need to engineer a different latch mechanism. I think I can build it with a longer bow across the top of the cage hoop, so the sides will overlap the windows. It won't really "seal" but I don't care. Yes, I'm going to do a separate panel across behind the seats with a window to keep the rain out. I have a pretty good concept for it all, just have to work through the details.
Brief update! Shell is ready to take to the painter, scheduled to drop it off this Friday! It's official... Thanks to N2MINI for setting me up with more GPR decals. Some more parts arrived... Passenger-side Euro parcel shelf. Since I probably can't put the glovebox back in with the roll cage knee bar in the way. Longacre 17" convex roll cage mount mirror Also got roll cage mount helmet and steering wheel hooks, and some brackets for the rear straps for the bikini top. Greene Performance coilessovers and Whiteline end links Springs are shipping separately I have a couple of weeks left to work on other cars, eat, sleep, work, etc. Because when this thing gets back from paint, GAME ON.
Always wanted to do the dual parcel shelves, but they are an extreme rarity in good shape. Can't wait to see it all put together... The trial run was nice, but with the new cage work and matching paint this time, oh and no flappy sack of canvas hanging off its rear... This is going to be insane!
The GPR is a nice touch! Here you go Modfather In stock. https://www.ecstuning.com/News/MINI_R50_R53_Euro_Parcel_Shelf_Unit_Storage_Partition/?utm_source=emailcampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=retail&utm_campaign=MINI_R50_R53_Euro_Parcel
That was my original plan, actually. But when I measured for it, looked like fitment might be an issue with the way my cage is built. So I dropped back to the convex race mirror. Which looks better, anyway.
looking good! the cage looks great. how about roof panel like this? Polaris RZR XP 900 Adventure Car, UTV Project, with VIDEO « ATV On Demand