Putney Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 (edited) I ordered a hardtop a few weeks back. Turned out my little impulse buy on ebay turned into quite a head ache. The roof was an option from Honda at £1500 which made the S2000 a GT. If you changed your mind after you ordered a roadster and ordered the parts it would be £2300 in parts. I saw one for sale for my car on Ebay. Mine is a roadster and always fancied a GT. I made the guy an offer of £600 and he accepted. I hadn't looked into what exactly was needed for a hardtop install to a roadster. That was the first mistake! It turns out that you need the side brackets for the hardtop to clip into. £385 for the right handside and £285 for the left. The only difference being one has a micro switch and a lead in for the heated screen. You also need a loom for the back screen to work and harder striker plates (catches) So off I went to source them. I managed everything including new harder catch plates. I found everything was considerably cheaper even after the postage from the states. These arrived pretty quickly and I drove up to birmingham to pick up the roof. the ebay guy fitted the hardtop brackets for me and the roof which was a bonus.When I arrived the hardtop was bubble wrapped and the guy had never actually unwrapped the hardtop. It had 4 dents in and a line across the top from bad storage. He knocked £50 off for a dent man to fix it and installed my brackets for me. Honda say allow 3 hours. He is a mechanic and did it in 45 mins however the roof was rattling all the way down the motorway. My brother and I removed the roof and adjusted the roof again. So it is much better now. While at work the other day I called up a dentman who said he could work on Aluminium hardtops. It took him 2 hours to sort the roof out.. He took the lining out and also had to take the roof off the car. Now it looks mint £138 later though.Right so a quick run down of costs.Roof £550Fitting Kit and catches £450Stand and Cover £150Dentman £138Total £1288 The stand is really cool.. I got it off ebay, it folds down to smaller than my camera tripod. The cover also came with hooks and you can hang the hardtop on the wall in a protective bag for summer storage. If I drive down to mum and dads in France I can take the hardtop stand and do all the motorway trips with the hardtop on. Then when I get there I can chuck the hardtop on the stand and have the roof down. The difference in noise whilst driving is amazing. Before with the soft top up anything over 80 and you had to raise your voice to hold a conversation. I would also have the stereo turned right up so I could hear the music. Now with the hardtop on the cars is much better insulated from noise and also the car is considerably warmer. The visibility is much better too.Iphone pictures with the hardtop fitted. It was the first time i had cleaned the car in three weeks as I didn't want to look at the dents! This is a library picture of the stand in action not mine but you get the ideaI shall get some better pictures soon with a proper camera. Edited January 31, 2009 by Putney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpo Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Looks much better im sure Adam will be jealous. How quick is it to take off on the rare occurrence that the sun comes out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putney Posted January 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Looks much better im sure Adam will be jealous. How quick is it to take off on the rare occurrence that the sun comes out?Yeah I was telling adam to get one! Not as if he is short of space in his penthouse either... His room is almost as big as my flat! There is a lever each side by the seats and then the normal roof catches.. you can take the roof off in less than a minute but you need two people as you need to walk it round the car and put it on a stand. I had a new softtop put on in the summer as mine had wear marks on the inside. So the main reason i wanted this was to protect the soft top in the winter months. If you think the roof is canvas it's probably not very good to be left out all winter in cold wet and frosty conditions. Imagine how ****ed your jacket would be after three years left outside. Adam still needs to get his rear screen fixed. Im sure thats why he had his roof down in watford! It was frigging cold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz_Kez Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 can't beat an s2000 hard top i loves them very smart Putney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Never bothered with a hard top on my Elise - not only was it expensive, but as long as you look after the fabric hood (plenty of cleaning and lots of protection/sealing) it was fine - 5 years in and my roof always looked spot on.S2000 does look good with the hardtop - expensivo price though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeyesh Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 £1200 is cheap in comparison to paying Honda dealers over £2000!!Nice work mate, well worth it & looks stunning with the hardtop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putney Posted January 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Thanks...Mattyb... Is the Elise hardtop just an insert or does it come down over the rear of the car like the soft top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Instead of the stand can you not use a 'hoist' to lift it up to the ceiling of your garage?Honda hardtop hoist, would make it a one person job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam K Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 i am getting a new softtop fitted at the end of march, just been hit with an £800 electricity bill this month!!!i do like the look of the car with the hardtop, but for me it just ruins the idea of a convertible car. i like just being able to put the hood down in a matter of seconds on the odd mild day we have at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putney Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 £800 WTF that has to be light industrial use for a month! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam K Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 £800 WTF that has to be light industrial use for a month!it's for the quarter. £800 is being optimistic. we have used about 7500 units of electricity this quarter, the first 250 units are charged at 25p a unit and the rest are charged at something like 10.5p. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamD Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 £800 WTF that has to be light industrial use for a month!He's growing weed That is a joke. Before any Police raid his penthouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putney Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 ha ha ha... they we need to go in by chopper SAS stylie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Need to spend more time at the gym, had no problem lifting mine on and off on my own. Thought it sounded louder and makes a better noise with the hardtop, always plenty of nice sunny days in winter that you'd like to have the roof down on though. Better for the snow that's expected soon and the larger glass at the back is much better to see out of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putney Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 I can lift it without a problem... Its just big and I don't want to damage the car putting it on... Or have to pay to get anymore dents out the roof... I am looking at coilovers and a big brake upgrade as my next purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpo Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Got mine on coilovers now, made a world of difference. You will probably need camber adjusters as well to be able to get the geometry right. What about kpro so you can have vtec kick in lower down, and have strong midrange. I know its next on my shopping list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putney Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hm thats not a bad idea... Be good if you could vtec from 5000 rpm....camber adjusters?I am getting a Strutbrace fitted then looking at some tien coilovers and some brembro brakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpo Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Most honda's are fixed camber so when you get coilovers you would run way to much negative camber, had to get adjusters for mine. If you need them fitted and are prepared to travel drop us a pm and I can get you a good price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putney Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I have not heard of this before so let me look into it on the s2ki forum.. i am after bigger brakes first.. Do you know much about brakes someone was telling me that the master cylinder limits the size.. I am also wanting to keep my wheels stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpo Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Not good on brakes though if the s2000 is the same as the civic normally people opt for either Spoon or Stoptechs, as AP's are out of most peoples price range.The spoons use the factory pads and the same size discs as normal, where as the Stoptechs are a-lot bigger and will probably be a squeeze behind factory wheels. The problems with bigger set ups is normally the brake bias and pedal feel, but im sure a set up designed for the car would be fine. Just be prepared for a bill around 1.5K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putney Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 £1.5k Hmm....Coil overs first I think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpo Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 My Teins cost well over 1K with adjusters and geometry set up. So not much cheaper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putney Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Damm. I just missed out on a group buy on S2k for £800 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpo Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 You going for super streets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putney Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 You going for super streets?Not sure what they were What have you got... I am not going to be tracking my car that much so wanted it lower but user friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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