Anyone have an idea, whether I can take a Toyota Sunchaser top and modify it to fit the Sundancer. It is about 3" shy from side to side and about 1/2 inch too wide from front to back. I considered cutting it down through the center from door to door and taking out the 1/2 inch and then cutting it twice through the overhead of the drivers-side and passengers-side and gaining my three inches. How well it would re-fiberglass up is what I am unsure about. I am not a fiberglass technician. It appears to fit down over the window nice and along the back nice. Any thoughts?
Sounds like a good start to me. Beats trying to build one from scratch!
Sounds like a good idea to me too. Do you actually have a line on a Sunchaser top for sale??
I actually bought one. I have it sitting on the car. It is offset to one side. It appears to fit decent on the lip towards the back of the car and also the passengers-side window. But, I would have to split it twice to make it fit from door to door, keeping the center correct for the pin and expanding the overhead on each side by about an 1-1/2. The latches appear to line up, so far on the passengers-side, so by splitting it, I should be able to do the same on the drivers-side. As far as front to back, I would have to cut it down the center across the whole top and shorten it. My dilemma is refinishing it. and strengthening it and filling it in. I bought it for $99.00 from some guy when I was researching Jack Griffith
This does sound like a good option, rather than starting from scratch. I would maybe start at some hot rod shop. They seem to do a lot of fabrication. And even if they can't personally do the work they will probably know somebody. Or maybe a boat shop, they have to know somebody that works with fiberglas.
Some Toyota Sunchaser guy is gonna be :censored: at you! :)
Are you going to be trying to do this all by yourself?
Sounds like a lot of work I'd rather have a shop do. Maybe even take it to a shop tell them your plan and see if it would be cheaper to just start from scratch. If you don't wanna go to a shop and would like to use the Sunchaser top you already have there are a bunch of DIY videos on YouTube for Fiberglass and Repairs. Etc.
Quote from: vangremlin on March 18, 2014, 05:46:10 PM
maybe a boat shop, they have to know somebody that works with fiberglas.
I was thinking this too. A boat shop should have a lot of experience in fiberglass.
Or a shop that messes with small fiberglass airplanes. I was a complete fiberglass rookie when I modified some 'glass nose parts on a little Grumman Tiger I used to have. It wasn't all that difficult -- and fiber-reinforced bondo is great for inner strength bracing where needed.
a shop that has done a lot of bodywork on corvettes may be an option as well., if they would venture off on side jobs.
have you thought about using polycarbonate sheet? it can be had in many thickness and can be bent easily with boiling water or a heat gun if you're careful. I have made many custom parts with it, it would be a cheaper way to go than paying someone to make one. LAZ