Reply With QuoteMight be a daft point but in my experience one of the the easiest ways to transport an MX5 hardtop is to pick it up in a soft top mx5.
My son needs to transport a hardtop. What's the minimum size van it will fit in?
No way will fit in a CR-V I suppose?
Might be a daft point but in my experience one of the the easiest ways to transport an MX5 hardtop is to pick it up in a soft top mx5.
Sold a MR2 hardtop and they picked it up in a Ford Connect and just about fit.
This may sound a bit obvious but I’d suggest either fitting it to the MX5 (assuming you have access to one) or getting it couriered. Not an MX5 roof but I sold an MGF hardtop last year and came to the conclusion that the best way was transporting it on an MGF. The buyer arrived at my house and we fitted it and he then drove home.
They are an awkward shape to transport in a family car and need plenty of wrapping to avoid scratches etc. IIRC dimensions were something like L 1.3m, W 1m, H 50cm.
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Yes, but he doesn't have one! Was written off and insurance offer is same w/o top so wants to retrieve it. He may be buying another but recovery company want shot of it asap.Originally Posted by Padders
Thanks, not sure of relative sizes of MR2/MX5 and just about won't do!
I would have thought it would fit in a CRV. Just bring some old duvets and some gaffer tape to wrap it up.
If he doesn't want to keep it he might find it easier to list for sale on http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?act=idx or one of the MX-5 Facebook pages. Depending on condition he should be able to get £150-£300 for one to fit a Mk1 or Mk2.
"A man of little significance"
Think it's too wide.
All sorted now though - found someone with recovery business in our road will pick up for £40. Similar price to hiring a van+fuel.
I'll measure it for future reference!
Thanks, he saw one went for £200 yesterday on eBay. Think his is Mk2 (2005) and silver so popular colour.
Hertz 24/7 allows your to hire a big LWB transit or similar for around £7 per 15mins, including fuel.
Might be worth a look if you have an ikea, Costco, B&Q etc... near you of the storage company.
The hardtop used on the Mk1 and Mk2 is the same and fits both so appeals to a pretty wide audience. A good one should make £250 min I would think.
Last edited by Padders; 16th January 2018 at 12:55.
It's not the width or length but the height of the pillars that caused me a problem. Different car but same principle.
My guess is that it would not fit in a CRV unless you secured it front first and left the boot open. Possible for a short journey perhaps...
An alternative would be to stick it on a roof rack.
The thing is with them that so many come up for sale so frequently that it's relatively easy to find another. There are lots available in the spring as people without garages offload them and they buy them back again in autumn. If your son doesn't need it, sell it now and buy another when he buys another car, or when they're cheaper when people offload them in April/May.
Even better, send him to the soft top expert in Swansea who will perfectly fit a new mohair hood for £250. There are guides on forums on how to adjust things like hinges and door windows to make the hood fit and be watertight, even making sure the tail light gaskets are good stops water getting in and condensation forming inside the car. I currently have a hard top on mine (only because I was changing the soft top and thought I'd give it a go for a while) and will be fitting the soft top again soon. Unless you take out the soft top all the hard top does is add 20kg above the centre of gravity, make more noise and not be that much better than the soft top. Sure, it's more secure if you park on the street but then again hard tops get nicked fairly frequently, it's easy to do and they're easy to paint with a rattle can and sell for a couple of hundred quid. Of course if you set out to nick one you have to have a suitable van with you to transport it!
"A man of little significance"
^^ or an MX5! :-)
Slightly OT
Many moons ago when I was a kid, my father parked his car outside the house an noticed that an identical car was parked up the road but with the tail light smashed.
He thought nothing of it until the next morning, guess what...
His car had the tail light removed and the identical car was nowhere to be seen.
Cheers
John
MX-5 owners are good, honest people with larger than average size penises (especially female MX-5 owners). We don't go around stealing things!
Apart from in your story.
Maybe that person is the one who keeps nicking all the MX-5 hard tops?
"A man of little significance"
Ha ha
Could well be!
Cheers
John
How far away is it?
There are websites where you can detail what you want recovered and people provide you with a quote (I tried it a few years ago when my daughter's crashed car ended up being transported 10 miles away, despite crashing 200 yards from home!).
In the end, in our case, the recovery people were as cheap, but it might be good for longer journeys (sometimes vans travel empty one way, so can carry something for a low charge, for example).
You'll need to Google though as I can't recall the website I used.
M
Don't forget the Frankenstein bolts from the chrome strips in front of the boot lid.
Didn’t think of those, do they usually come with the top? We’ve got it at home now but he forgot some wiring (soft top rear window?) which I’m going to pick up tomorrow. See if I can get those bolts if they’re important.
The standard car has two large chrome bolts each side, the hardtop needs the Frankenstein ones to attach to.
If you're going back anyway, also try and nab the plastic trim panels that run up the inside of the car's rear 3/4, (behind the seats). I think these are cut to take a mounting plate?
Possibly the wiring that attaches the hard top heated rear window to the car's electrics. I'm just trying to think what else there is. If there's a wind break behind the seats that's easy to unbolt and worth a few quid. Was there an aftermarket air filter fitted (cone filter or panel one like a K&N)? Or a tonneau cover that went over the roof when it was down?
The whole roof is worth taking, plus the rain rail but a) it'll take you 30 minutes to take off and b) they might not be too happy.
There's a bloke on here who likes Sinns whose father might be after a tail light...
"A man of little significance"
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