[epoxid]

For all the 4C Spider owners, which would like to complete the exterior appearance of their cars, I am proud to announce and present here, a one piece double dome carbon fiber hardtop.
One month away from the official selling start. First 10 units for Europe only.
Interior volumes were shaped to enable head protection.

Executed in Prepreg, autoclave cured, at around 5 Kg. weight completed. CNC milled Aluminium parts, Stainless steel pins and Springs.

Plug und Play, no additional modification to your car, no additional parts needed.

With the amiability of one of our forum member we performed an slow running test (up to 80 km/h) to check the noise, ratling, etc.
Please note, the road was good with no uneven portions(German roads).
The feedback given was that the effort to lock and unlock its to much, and the gap to the car windshield it's too small and can potentially scratch the clear coat from the car.
Both issues will be addressed in to manufacturing process.

Price: Netto 2942 Euro excluded shipping, Brutto 3501 Euro(VAT included) shipping excluded.

Latest images with Clear Coat on it (Finished product).

 

[epoxid]

Yes pics don’t work but I’m dying to see this!!

I was adding and ordering them. Should work now.

 

[epoxid]

Looks very well made, I'm also interested to know the cost and if the final version will have a gloss clear coat finish like the windshield header and halo for those of us that have that option?

Of course it will be candy gloss. For the interior will be possible matt clear coat!

 

[epoxid]

You could always buy a coupe for winter and keep the spider for summer, probably cheaper than this roof is gonna cost

this is a good one, I must admit

 

[epoxid]

Isn't that the general assumption for anything you might want to bring?

Is it safe to assume it will not fit in the trunk?

It cannot fit in the trunk, the trunk size has a smaller footprint, not to mention the the volume. Lucky for the community there is already an existing solution which can fit in the trunk.

 

[epoxid]

But once you’ve reached Basecamp and want to do day trips through the...

This was a part of the philosophy taken in account when I decided for this one piece solution.

 

[epoxid]

Use it for most times when you are staying within a day of home. If you want to take a road trip and foresee needing to take the top off use the soft top. If you have to take the soft top off and also carry some luggage get a soft bag and put it on a hitch mounted rack.

Wise perspective!

 

[epoxid]

I’d like to know how exactly is it securely in place? Why opt to not use the center attachment points as well? What speed has this been tested at?

The OEM foldable cover it is a textile it's equipped with the additional central fixation to ensure the sealing of the cabin, and prevent "inflating" the cabin while at high speed and improper mounting.
My product has a 2 composites panels, in which the interior panel its transversal triangular shaped to ensure structural stability, the panels are bonded together with structural adhesive, and together they form a very rigid assembly. The lockings are independent and loaded, maybe a bit to hard, by the springs. I hope this clears a bit the reason of not having the central fixation.

 

[epoxid]

That’s what I was thinking when I asked ha.

In my humble opinion, this is one of the worst scenarios that I was thinking when evaluating the lockings strategy for this hardtop. And to make the story short, it could be a problem with 2 sources. constructive on one side, and owner handling and carefulness one other side.
The sliding pins are fully matching the depth of fixation parts in the car, including some 4 mm. tolerances.
As I mentioned before, the spring load in the full lock potion of the sliding pins it's quite strong that makes me fear that people would complain about.
I prefer to be over cautions in preventing accidents and damages.
I consider that you are not going to mount and remove the hardtop like 3 time a day, so the effort implied its justified considering the safety.
But if in the mounting process you as a user, you don't comply with common sense, good will and the instructions provided with the item, then situations like the one shown in the video will happen, unfortunately!
This is my personal opinion about it and behind the development of this product.

 

[epoxid]

Nothing will happen, this is just one of very rare cases a hard/soft top flies away. All Elises,Exiges,Exiges 3.5 v6 and Opel Speedster use that kind of soft top mounting....Note that Lotus mention not to go faster as 230/240 km/h with a soft top.
That's probably why Alfa has extra mounting in the front for higher speed....

View attachment 115855

Also the flying hard top mounted on the car above is fixed in another kind of way (like all Lotus/Opel variants) He probably did not torqued his fasteners!!

View attachment 115856

No worries

I am familiar with those drawings, but it was a challenge to stick with a certain technical solution.

 

[epoxid]

Trust me, you're on a goldmine rigth now

I believe it has potential, the rest it's to be confirmed!

 

[epoxid]

are you able to give an indicative price?

Not at the moment! I will make it public by the end of April. Thank you for understanding.

 

[epoxid]

Is there a minimum amount of confirmed orders before production can begin?

No there is no minimum order, however, Production will be limited to 10 units per month due to the manufacturing process(remember its PrePreg, Autoclave cured), and quality which need to be achieved for each unit aside.

 

[epoxid]

Are you vac forming in a bag on top of a mould?

I love vac forming, at Polytechnic I specialized in plywood furniture and vac bag forming, really amazing shapes

I don't want to mislead anyone about the process, so I have found a scientific explanation about the process used for manufacturing this assembly, to answer your question. Autoclave Molding

 

[epoxid]

If the attachment points are all oem, I’m in!

This aspect (original fixation) was one of the hardpoints to respect for this project.

 

[epoxid]

I realize that the one shown is just a prototype more than likely utilized to ensure fit and for further testing. Will the finished product have a smoother finish with a glossy clear coat?

I will update the the first post so it does not create any confusion.

 

[epoxid]

Will fitment be addressed in the production version? Fitment looks kind of off tbh - I’m surprised no one else has mentioned this.

Fitment looks a bit iffy in the corners and will catch wind (potentially damaging it and the attachment points at speed). See below:

View attachment 115894
View attachment 115895

Yes, production will have this area solved. This complete unit was done to verify different parts of the production process and the other 2 aspects of the fitment in the car.

 

[epoxid]

Hello Everyone,
Latest assembly came from production yesterday, today was test fitting again, and... this is it! Ready for production. Below, I attach some additional images from the latest unit.
Still no Clear coat on the part !

Manufacturing will start in May.

 

[epoxid]

It's May 8th...

Are we any closer to knowing the price?

Yes, Brutto for EU 3500 Euros(19% VAT included) 2942 Euros Netto.

 

[epoxid]

Yes, Brutto for EU 3500 Euros(19% VAT included) + shipping, 2942 Euros Netto.