Complete softtop removal

[m1tch]

Hi all,

At some point I am going to be completely removing the softtop from my car and just run with a solid mounted hard top - need to order the mounts from Rogue, anyway I just wanted to ask how to completely remove the soft top, am I able to unbolt the frame and top in 1 piece like the MX5?

[andyroo104]

Yes, Frame and top can be removed in one piece without damage, there is a how to on the forum, will try and find it for you.

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[andyroo104]

 l viewtopic.php?t=24229 l

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[m1tch]

http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=24229

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Perfect, thanks for that, will start the process of removing everything once I get a baseline drag run in and have the solid mounts - seems fairly straight forward which is good!

[secla]

It's pretty simple but you will lose the use of stock seat belts unless you want to cut the frame up

[m1tch]

It's pretty simple but you will lose the use of stock seat belts unless you want to cut the frame up

Hmm I need to retain the stock seatbelts - will double check to see if the solid mount kits have a seatbelt mount as standard, if not I will probably cut up the OEM setup.

[secla]

It doesn't I have a set

[m1tch]

It doesn't I have a set

Thanks for that, just found a previous post with the brackets on the side, might not even need to run the rear chrome fixing either which is a bonus, need to orientate myself with how the frame attaches to the rest of the car first, will be taking my hard top off probably tonight to spray it so can check how it all fits together, no massive rush at the moment as the softtop still works fine - more about weight reduction moving forward.

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[secla]

Nope the chrome brackets can go.

[m1tch]

Another quick question on this, looking at the guide it states that apart from the line of bolts around the edge there are a few near the trailing edge of the door - still having issues trying to visualise how it comes off the car, do I need to unbolt the seatbelt mounting points and bar in the centre as well eg its all 1 piece? Just trying to work out which bolts I need to remove as the fabric covers a lot of the area around the seatbelt area.

Does the frame come away from the soft top? I can't see how the frame and soft top are attached together.

[JoeCool]

Yes.

Bascially, the entire mechanism hangs off of that mounting bar, which runs across the top of the storage bin doors and also has the shoulder mount points for the seat belts. There are big brackets left and right which hold the main pivot, then arms which connect to do the foldy-foldy as you raise or lower the roof.

The cloth is then attached around the back of the roof 'well' via the metal strips and clamping nuts, on studs all the way around.

I actually had to cut the material off my roof mechanism to get easy access to the various bolts to undo, but that's because I was in a hurry.  A bit of care could avoid that. But yes, the whole roof comes out as one mechanism, attached to the bar that you need to retain.

[m1tch]

Yes.

Bascially, the entire mechanism hangs off of that mounting bar, which runs across the top of the storage bin doors and also has the shoulder mount points for the seat belts. There are big brackets left and right which hold the main pivot, then arms which connect to do the foldy-foldy as you raise or lower the roof.

The cloth is then attached around the back of the roof 'well' via the metal strips and clamping nuts, on studs all the way around.

I actually had to cut the material off my roof mechanism to get easy access to the various bolts to undo, but that's because I was in a hurry.  A bit of care could avoid that. But yes, the whole roof comes out as one mechanism, attached to the bar that you need to retain.

Thanks for confirming, I figured the whole lot came off as 1 piece, I can see various bolts on the side and I guess that's why there are 'soft top delete' brackets which are basically modded OEM seatbelt brackets, I think I will look to remove everything from the car and then look to use a pipe cutter to remove any frame parts in the way. I noticed on another thread that part of the frame pivot point also acted as a spacer in the seatbelt bracket so I can measure that up and either cut the frame to get that piece or make a spacer.

Its a shame that it doesn't just unbolt from the brackets!