Hardtop bits

WideOpenThrottle · Post by **WideOpenThrottle** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:05 am

Anybody out there got any Frankensein bolts & pillar mounts?[whatever the right name is] where the hardtop clamps to? Will be needing some in the near future.
As an update my car is getting all the important bits put back on less the soft-top,heater & fan although that may come back to bite me if its raining with a hardtop on there will be no way to de-mist.

Post by **zorruno** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:20 am

No - I don't have any, but there's a heap of info on hard tops here if you haven't seen it yet... (Hardtop FAQ)

http://www.mx5forum.co.nz/viewtopic.php?t=8448

cheers

dynofiend · Post by **dynofiend** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 11:19 am

My car has the two chrome frankenstein bolts that im willing to swap with the flush bolts as I dont have a hardtop. Unfortunately I removed and binned the side clamps in a fit of adding lightness so dont have those any more.

Send me a PM or post in here if you want to swap.

mazline · Post by **mazline** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 11:48 am

We can do the full fitting kit $165.00,All brand new parts
X2 Frankenstein bolts
x4 side clamp bolts
x2 side clamps

Euen · Post by **Euen** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:21 pm

Having tried to drive competitively with a crappy demister I can tell you it is not much fun. Probably better to retain the heater/demister and just ditch the aircon. There is a standard plastic duct that runs from the fan unit to the heater to replace the aircon box (and I just happen to have one that is surplus if you decide to go that way).

E

dynofiend · Post by **dynofiend** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 11:28 am

Just to reinforce driving with no fan/demister. Just wait till it rains and you get in the car with damp clothes...

WideOpenThrottle · Post by **WideOpenThrottle** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 5:09 pm

Thanks guys-today on the car club run Keith Jones said he uses pump to suck in warm engine air so will check out his system.Looks like i will definately need something!

Growler · Post by **Growler** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:45 pm

WideOpenThrottle wrote:Thanks guys-today on the car club run Keith Jones said he uses pump to suck in warm engine air so will check out his system.Looks like i will definately need something!

Yep - this works. When I built the race car I left a slight gap between the aluminum firewall and the screen. This worked great during wet races.
(I was running a 7mm flame hardened polycarbonate front screen).
Some guys use an 80mm computer type fan to draw hot air from the engine bay to the screen.

poison · Post by **poison** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 3:44 pm

I think engine fumes would be too dangerous with a hard top.

WideOpenThrottle · Post by **WideOpenThrottle** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:44 pm

Yeah Poison, i've been wondering about the fumes too!-alyhough if you have no exhaust or petrol leaks what would there be to worry about?

dynofiend · Post by **dynofiend** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:50 pm

Its not WOF friendly, theyll fail you for any vent or hole between the fire (and the important word is fire) wall and cabin. The problem is not so much the fumes that are in the engine bay at the moment, but what happens if you develop a small exhaust leak and dont realise...

Youll also get fumes from any burning off of small oil leaks which are not otherwise noticable, clutch and brake fumes etc.

You could always get a small ceramic heater as is often used in kit car builds.

WideOpenThrottle · Post by **WideOpenThrottle** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:02 pm

So if i dont put my original heater in then at the moment there are four holes where the pipes went through to block off with metal plates i suppose as they might fail me at the WOF if i used rubber gromets.

Euen · Post by **Euen** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:09 pm

Dyno, where do you find those ceramic heaters.

I was looking at fitting an electric rear screen heater to the windscreen but didn't like having 6 silver strips across my very narrow windscreen.

Of course the ultimate is what the ex works Audi Quattros use to have. Very fine filaments embedded in the windscreen laminations. Very expensive but jeez they cleared the screen quick.

Grommets should be OK in the holes, they will at least keep the fumes out. It is all that seals any other firewall penetration.

E

Growler · Post by **Growler** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:46 pm

I had no problems with fumes. The car was a purpose built race car so wasn't allowed to run on the road (It ran on 9" wide slicks!) The gap was about 1mm and it passed scruteenering(sp?) every time.
I also ran with half a drivers window (Polycarbonate) so there was always fresh air circulating.

It is a bit different if you are using the car on the road. As Euen says I would suggest keeping the standard heater arrangement and modifying the pipework so it only blows onto the screen when you need it.
It would save the hassle of trying to reinvent a demister...

WideOpenThrottle · Post by **WideOpenThrottle** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:11 am

Well, i have taken the easy route & put everythng back in except the aircon unit just to be safe with the fumes-by crikey! its bad enough staying awake when you get trapped behind slow drivers as it is let alone gassing yourself with fumes!

dynofiend · Post by **dynofiend** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:44 pm

You shouldnt fail WOF if you have removed pipes and blocked the holes with grommits. Youll only potentially fail if you have drilled new holes, or not blocked off any old ones at all.

The 12v heaters I referred to should be available from any decent motorfactor, I cant find any from a quick googling, but if you tap up any kit car builder community im sure theyll have some suppliers to hand.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:54 pm

Something like these?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/searchtemplate. ... C%20HEATER
http://prepared.pro/roadpro12vceramicheater.aspx

Try '12v ceramic heater' in Google for lots of possibilites.

Grant.

Euen · Post by **Euen** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:19 pm

Thanks Grant, yes I've seen similar ones to those. Some of the boat shops have similar ones but unfortunately I don't have a lot of dash top to mount something like that, unless I try and mount it under the dash and duct it.

Actually, when Dyno mentioned ceramic heaters it actually brought to mind the old style of heater element that was about a foot long and was fixed to the windscreen. Showing my age now......

Growler · Post by **Growler** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 1:30 pm

Euen wrote:Actually, when Dyno mentioned ceramic heaters it actually brought to mind the old style of heater element that was about a foot long and was fixed to the windscreen. Showing my age now......

You could try Hislop and Barley in Auckland. (http://www.hibar.co.nz/)
They specialise in all types of heater elements/bands etc. And they have been around since the 60's so should know what you are talking about...

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