DIY top boot cover

[Colin Francis]

I have set myself a challenge .

I am designing a simple top boot cover to stop harmful sun rays from destroying
the inside of my soft top whilst in the down position.

I said to myself "If i can't do it withing 14 days I will simply pay the $200 to
$300 and buy a commercial model." ( I have to talk to myself as everyone in my
home is sick of me spouting about my 96 MX5 and they have stopped listening)

All top boots I have seen clip onto the domes just behind the seats and Ican
see no improvement on using them as anchors for my design.

THe rear of the top boots all seem to use a plastic channel at the rear for
attachment. This entails 4 pieces of specailly designed plastic extrusion
attached to the vinyl cover. It also has tie down tapes etc to anchor it as
well. This may make a tidy secure unit but it is fiddly to install and it's
not necessary to provide a weatherproof system and it certainly should not
entail a cost of up to $300 to cover such a small area.

Whilst looking at the problem I noticed that there are 2 hold down clamps which
are paramount to hold the front of the hood to the top of the windshield but are
redundant when the top is down. I thought ot myself , why not try and utilise
these for anchor points in my design. THey are strong and will place tension on
the top to make it look tidy.This would make the cover a simple one piece vinyl
sheet with very little sewing required. i have designed (but not made yet) a
simple bracing system for the rear of my design which is held in place simply
by the 2 hold down clamps used for securing the top to the windshield by
utlilising 2 clips at the back corners of my design.

Cost estimates so far are

Vinyl scrap . Zilch from most car trimmers.
Aluminium brace for rear $10 Estimate
Clips to be held by hold down clamps $ 10 bucks plus my labour (which no one
rates as being costly)
Minimal sewing and placement of 5 domes to hold front of design Est $15- $30

Any comments are welcome if someone has already done this .


Regards


Col

[Janet & Jeff Curtin]

Good luck Colin and if it works I'll be the first to place an order for one,
keeps us all posted.

Janet & Jeff

[Colin Francis]

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 00:22:23 +0000, you wrote:

Good luck Colin and if it works I'll be the first to place an order for one,
keeps us all posted.

Janet & Jeff

Thanks for that .

I don't intend to commercialise it because I have used other's ideas free re
the Big Red Button , a Plexiglass windblocker , a rear window protector and a
$10 cold air inductor.
Besides not everyone will like my boot top cover as it doesn't cover the soft
top mechanism . It is designed to protect the underside of the hood material
which is not UV treated and probaby has a life of only a few short years if
exposed to too much sun.

In the interest of security i just disconnected my trunk release today and about
half an hour later i found there is a facility on the trunk lock to amend it to
lock it with a key so the trunk release won't work. Put the key in and turn it
to the left and the trunk cannot be opened by the internal trunk release. Damn
it . !!

My spare wheel goes under the MX 5 next week doubling the size of my boot.

Hopefully tomorrow it may stop raining and I can get to drop the hood and blow
some cobwebs out .

Col


Colin Francis
Krenford Holdings Ltd
P.O. Box 18547
Christchurch
New Zealand
Ph (64) 3 3387-450 or (64) 0 274 321-737

www.westmorland.co.nz

[Matt & Sarah Avery]

I redesigned my top boot several years ago as my style bars have two
bars that go down to the parcel shelf, and these mean that the unzipped
window can't sit flat. My design tapers down from the upper bit rather
than having the "step" in it that the factory boot does. In the end it
looked good and covered everything BUT It has one major flaw. I
discovered that the "step" in the factory boot (and those fiddly ties
that stop it ballooning up) are there for a very good reason. It creates
a hollow that reduces the wind buffeting on the interior. I now find
that with my modified top boot fitted I get more wind buffeting than
without it fitted. I also have a Perspex wind blocker between the hoops
of the style bar and its still noticeably worse .
I now very rarely use the boot cover. I just go without. I suppose it
helps that %95 of my driving is short 10min trips where the hassle of
fitting a boot is not needed.
If my explanations make no sense there is a picture of it on my
cardomain page
http://miata.cardomain.com/memberpage/241633/3
its not the best picture but it shows what I am talking about with
regard to a lack of a "step".

M@

[Colin Francis]

On Sun, 8 Feb 2004 21:28:29 +1300, you wrote:

I redesigned my top boot several years ago as my style bars have two
bars that go down to the parcel shelf, and these mean that the unzipped
window can't sit flat. My design tapers down from the upper bit rather
than having the "step" in it that the factory boot does. In the end it
looked good and covered everything BUT It has one major flaw. I
discovered that the "step" in the factory boot (and those fiddly ties
that stop it ballooning up) are there for a very good reason. It creates
a hollow that reduces the wind buffeting on the interior. I now find
that with my modified top boot fitted I get more wind buffeting than
without it fitted. I also have a Perspex wind blocker between the hoops
of the style bar and its still noticeably worse .

Thanks for your comments . My system will not be so encompassing as your boot
cover is . I expect the tension it will be under and the fact it is only
attached in the front and back and I could tie down the sides if necessary there
should be little ballooning . BUT the proof will be in the testing . I want it
simple to make, easy and quick to install and cheap .. Here's hoping


--
Col

Col's law
* Thinly sliced cabbage *