Yes, I have transported a hardtop in a citroen AX - it does fit, really
As for fitting it - paintwork scratches tend to be due to the back edge vibrating on the rear deck panel. If the correct rubber pads are preent under
the hardtop, this shouldn't happen but these pads compress with age and eventually the hardtop ends up sitting down onto the metal of the car body.
Overtightening the mounting bolts is easy too and should be avoided.
Last time I tried to get some, the actual rubber pads were not available however I'm sure something could be adapted to do the job (I haven't tried
yet).
You can fit the hardtop either with, or without the hood fitted as well. The B post fittings are different in either case. The hardtop bolts on with
two bolts in the rear desk, under where the hood normally bolts on, two more in the header rail above the windscreen and another two, one on each B
post.
You'll need the correct size bolts for each place and also the fittings which the B post bolts screw in to. There are two types of fitting for this
position, long ones for cars with the hood and frame completely removed, and short ones that attach to the hood frame with the hood folded.
There are also two "top hat" spacers which sit inside the windscreen header rail.
It's most important that you don't overtighten any of the bolts since the hardtop can easily be damaged this way.
I think that about covers it. Any more thoughts out there?
Mik
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Posted By : Michael Bird,
15-Dec-2003, 12:12pm
I cut up a couple of old rubber floor mats and silicone sealed them to the underside of the corners at the back of the hard top, to stop it marking
the paint. They compress enough for a good weatherproof seal but keep the edges off the paintwork. I know other people who have taken a more
drastic approach, grinding bits of the hard top off, but the old rubber mats work for me and make sure there is no metal to metal contact!
The bolts that go through the windscreen frame are a real pain to fit, (they are pointed to make it easier to find the captive nut in the hardtop)
and as Mik says, it's really tempting to over tighten them - beware if you do this, they WILL go through the top of the hardtop! Just tighten them
enough to feel them bite and make sure the weather seal is in (reasonable condition). If you find that you can't get the bolt into the captive nut,
because it keeps moving - you can normally lock it in place prior to fitting with a dab of Super glue enough for the bolt to get a grip on it.
I used to use the longer b-post fittings, but got fed up with having to store the hood and re-fit it, so I got some of the shorter b-post fittings
from the Spitfire Graveyard for about &163;15 which mean I can leave the hood in situ. You loose a bit of space behind the seats, but
personally I don't mind that and it will be a lot quicker to go topless in the summer!
Just fit everything together loosely before tightening up as you will struggle to get everything lined up otherwise. there was a good article in
the Courier a few months ago about this - I think it suggested Back bolts, Front bolts then Side bolts last.
Hope this helps!
Michael.
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Posted By : Mark Stradling,
15-Dec-2003, 06:00pm
If you get the hard-top-fitted-hood-bag you get a very tidy looking interior too.
Follow all this advice and you should be fine getting your hard top on without scratching your paintwork. Then you can just sit back and wait
for the joys of hardtop driving - mainly cold winter mornings when you get in (your frozen seat), get the heater blowing up the windscreen to
clear it and wait for it to start raining INSIDE the car (as the engine/heater gets hot and starts to melt the water that has condensed and
frozen on the inside of the steel hard top).
Ahh, the happy memories...
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Posted By : Mark Heaps,
15-Dec-2003, 08:43pm
Thank you all for your help i must admit i am quite put off putting it on since my soft top doesn't leak and is in really good condition.
at the moment i cant see any advantages to it (apart from being able to see out of my back window) i will probly have a go a fitting it but
i will have to wait for the bolts and stuff, how much does a recently re sprayed hard top go for?
Thanks again
Mark
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Posted By : Christopher King,
19-Dec-2003, 03:19pm
Don't give up!! A hard top is well worth it, even if just to keep the noise down. It's one of those things that you only really
appreciate once you take it off again.
If you replace the main roof to deck seal then the hardtop should sit about 1cm above the deck itself and not scratch at all (don't
overtighten the bolts!).
As for cost, that depends as always on current state and what you want to do yourself. I stripped down mine and got it rubbed down,
primed and painted for &163;80 cash-in-hand plus around &194;&163;80 for rubbers and sundries. If you want to get it back
ready to fit, with a goldplated paint job then you shouldn't hope fora lot of change from &163;400, I reckon.
Hope that helps,
Chris
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Posted By : Ian Button,
07-Apr-2004, 00:06am
I just got my hard top back from being sprayed (fibreglass one - I got it on ebay for &163;100 and the paint job was
&163;200).
Fitted it on the car for the first time today - I have door seal type rubbers all along the bottom rear edge & sides which work
ok. No rear decking fixing points - just the windscreen bolts and my own ingenious B post/hoodframe fixings courtesy of Homebase
shelf brackets! Will post a pic if anyone wants to see...........!
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Posted By : Mark Stradling, 15-Dec-2003,
12:26pm
About the only thing to add is - You need 3 people and 2 old sheets.
Put one sheet down each rear wheel arch hip and rest the hardtop on to this. Get the front bolts just started (but still very loose), then 2 people
lift the rear of the hard top FROM THE INSIDE. The third removes the sheets and then you place it back down in position.
This is the paranoid, good paint-job way of doing it.
The risk taker/aging paint job/messed it up doing it last time so what the hell route is - place it on, one person traps finger between hard top
and car body, person screams, pulls out finger, drops hard top on bodywork.
Been there, done that ^_^
