Hard top - northampton

A

Astie

Member
Background: I work for a composites company and I'm doing some business development work. We are looking into making a carbon fibre hardtop.

This may be a big ask, but does anyone have a hardtop in northamptonshire area I can have a look at? And take a few photos of the details.

Thanks in advance
 
That was quick! :)
OP is the plan to make several? Or you just fishing for viability at the moment?
 
Will you make carbon or glass ones ?
I’m in Brackley and would be up for taking a look at what you propose.
Cheers
 
It all depends on market demand, have to look at the figures. Going to have a look at one tomorrow. Hopefully have a proposal next week to see what interest there would be.
 
Hi I’m looking for a hard top for my Z4 e85 if you did make some how much would they cost
And would the have all the fittings to fasten it down.
Regards mr roadster.
 
I think there’s potential for a decent sized market on here alone if the price is right of course.

I’ll be following with interest.

Anyone else feel a group buy coming on in the future? :D
 
As with anything, if there's enough demand I'm sure it will drive production costs down?
I wonder if the OP went to see Squadron Leader's hardtop? It's been a while?
 
The hardest part of the project would be the closing mechanism, as we would have to design and manufacture this. Unless anyone knows of an off the shelf solution?

For a run of 30 we would need to sell them at £1600 each.

We would use UV resistant resin, but it never really is. We would also lacquer the top to improve longevity.

Still interested?
 
Astie said:
The hardest part of the project would be the closing mechanism, as we would have to design and manufacture this. Unless anyone knows of an off the shelf solution?

For a run of 30 we would need to sell them at £1600 each.

We would use UV resistant resin, but it never really is. We would also lacquer the top to improve longevity.

Still interested?
Click to expand...

It's not possible to replicate the existing mechanism on the OEM hardtop?

Would the internal be lined similar to the OEM?

If it were closer to £1000 you'd have these flying out.
 
Lining with foam backed fabric.

we would use the existing mechanism as a basis, but we would still have to put the design through our internal certification process.
 
I'd like one too. I just present the business case.

The major components:
front coupling mechanism.
Rear locating pins
Heated rear window. We can change the mould to suit a window, so one which is large, low cost and high quality is our target.

If you have any suggestions then add them to the pot, any help on bringing these costs down helps reduce the final price.

We dont generally do business to consumer sales but this could be a small project that could get approval. Especially with a group but scenario.
 
I think you could make the front lock simpler - it's really just two hooks. The OE hardtop has these actuated from a single point, no reason why they couldn't be separate latches.

Some might be interested in no lining?
 
Might be worth changing the title too? Who'd be interested in an e85 Carbon Fibre hard top? Might create more interest and views to the page/idea? While you're there I'd create a poll to easily gauge the interest. Then we can see how close to 30 we can get.

For what it's worth I think the existing hardtop has a large curved screen and is very hard to replace if damaged. It's also easy to damage the bottom of the glass as there is no protection? So maybe this is worth looking into and improving?
While on the subject of hardtop glass, maybe there is something off the shelf that you can use and integrate it into your top? Doesn't necessarily need to be from a BMW either? MX5? S2000? Will help with reducing costs IMO.
 
Just to add my vote to this, +1! I’d be interested in this, I’ve been considering a hard top now my zed has left its life of luxury in a garage and is braving the elements on a drive all year round.
 
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