interesting, factoy told me that the soft top is the only one in the industry that will let you go 200mph without any problems.
The fitting of this thing is another story and the general construction has room for improvement.
However while starting to fit the soft hood I had some discussions with the factory about the exact same problem and I have modified my side rails
In my case the rails were simply too high relative to the windscreen frame and thus the rubber seal of the hood pushed the side windows open.
The perspex and whole side screen window construction is too flexible so I think without overlapping this issue could remain even with my
hardtop design (as it is now)
My initial thought would exactly have adressed this problem, BUT if you overlap the roof panels over the doors and hold them in place while closing the roof lids
you have the problem that you cannot open the door prior to opening the roof. That also would mean that your door locks would have to go in the roof, unless you do not mind that anybody can open your roof lids. It was my first idea to push down the side windows with the roof lid. Maybe I should pursue that further and create a hidden mechanism to open the doors from the outside.
I am open to hear your comments on this.
Current ideas:
Anyway I have made my decision and the virtual engineering is in full swing. As mentioned before the 2 halfs will be hinged in the middle using stainless
steel nibbles that are retractable. The same method will be used when closing the lids with nibbles that will go in the windscreen frame and roll bar (or the back construction).
The mechanism allows for installing at your individual car with adjustment possibilities. I also want to include gas struts that push the lid
open once you have retracted the closing mechanism. The gas struts will also protect the lids swinging open too wide which is a natural problem in that kind of design.
There will be a third piece that is closing the car from the back (that is the tricky part) that will sit on a rubber seal on the rear bulkhead. Another rubber seal will be on the top and more seals that will close the door gaps.
The back bulkhead will have a window that will be hold with a rubber that allows installing of a perspex without screwing or glueing.
There is not much space for designing the roof and bulkhead as in my design the rear bonnet should swing open even if the hardtop is fully installed.
I will create moulds for these 3 pieces, so it will be quite a professional thing in the end, hence the higher price.
If that works out the way I intend too, you can see the hard top at stoneleigh next year.
