Finally found a few hours to have a play with all the bits i brought to make myself a hardtop hoist.
I had looked at buying one but they are not too readily available so having seen what others have done and the way they have been made brought what i thought would work and had a go.
I wanted something i could do alone as most of the time no one is around and a sunny day will be lost, so i first opted for an electric winch.
Picked one up for £40 which is more than up for the job, they cost approx £100 but there are loads second hand so settled on a 250kg one and having hoist myself up on it i knew it was certainly up to the job.
I opted to buy aluminium box section to hang it from and also hold the hard top from underneath.
45mm box for the winch and 35mm box for the frame.
I went for 35mm as the cargo straps where around this width so they would feed inside.
The cargo straps i brought where
2@ 1m
2@ 2m
The box i cut to just short of the roof width so it would hold the roof but not stick out. I then used eye bolts @345mm on the beam to pass through the hooped ends of the 2x1m straps which i had feed into the box securing them inside.
For protection i brought 32mm neoprene on a roll and attached it to the beam top and the straps this helps protect the paint and the roof lining.
I attached the 2, 2 metre straps with carabena's to the eye bolts in a cross pattern one so it avoided the headrests and roll hoops and also to pass it out to the corners at the rear.
Using the neoprene again to protect the paint This works well and has almost a sticky property so nothing slides once weight is added.
so ended up with this frame.
That when fitted looks like this.
It lifts with ease and supports the top very well
now its working i will locate the winch to its final home.
Worked as planned so happy with the result the hardtop came with a big storage bag that wall hangs so i will probably come the spring bag it and hang it on the wall instead of hanging it all the time but makes light work and controls very well.
Great result far cheaper than i could gave brought a pre made kit and electric to boot.
I had looked at buying one but they are not too readily available so having seen what others have done and the way they have been made brought what i thought would work and had a go.
I wanted something i could do alone as most of the time no one is around and a sunny day will be lost, so i first opted for an electric winch.
Picked one up for £40 which is more than up for the job, they cost approx £100 but there are loads second hand so settled on a 250kg one and having hoist myself up on it i knew it was certainly up to the job.
I opted to buy aluminium box section to hang it from and also hold the hard top from underneath.
45mm box for the winch and 35mm box for the frame.
I went for 35mm as the cargo straps where around this width so they would feed inside.
The cargo straps i brought where
2@ 1m
2@ 2m
The box i cut to just short of the roof width so it would hold the roof but not stick out. I then used eye bolts @345mm on the beam to pass through the hooped ends of the 2x1m straps which i had feed into the box securing them inside.
For protection i brought 32mm neoprene on a roll and attached it to the beam top and the straps this helps protect the paint and the roof lining.
I attached the 2, 2 metre straps with carabena's to the eye bolts in a cross pattern one so it avoided the headrests and roll hoops and also to pass it out to the corners at the rear.
Using the neoprene again to protect the paint This works well and has almost a sticky property so nothing slides once weight is added.
so ended up with this frame.
That when fitted looks like this.
It lifts with ease and supports the top very well
now its working i will locate the winch to its final home.
Worked as planned so happy with the result the hardtop came with a big storage bag that wall hangs so i will probably come the spring bag it and hang it on the wall instead of hanging it all the time but makes light work and controls very well.
Great result far cheaper than i could gave brought a pre made kit and electric to boot.
