Making a Hard top Canopy

[whitey86]

Hey guys , i just picked up another zook and have been looking for a hard canopy for and all i can find is the flexiglass ones and they want $1600.
So what i want to know is has anybody ever tried to make there own , i have a panelbeater mate who wants to try and fab one out of aluminuim .

[Guy]

Hey guys , i just picked up another zook and have been looking for a hard canopy for and all i can find is the flexiglass ones and they want $1600.
So what i want to know is has anybody ever tried to make there own , i have a panelbeater mate who wants to try and fab one out of aluminuim .

If you do it .. make sure you insulte the inside .. will help stop it from drumming at road speeds and keep the heat \ cold out.
Are you just looking at the targa bit, or the whole cab ?

[whitey86]

yeah mate was planning on lining the inside to stop some of the road noise.
And i was thinking of making a two piece top to cover the front and the rear seperatly.

[GRPABT1]

I really like this idea. Aluminium would be very and light too.

[whitey86]

yeah the idea of aluminium came from 2 things 1 my mates gets sheets of it realy cheap and 2 flexiglass want $1600 for a canopy , i could do a lot to the zook for that sort of coin.
If anybody has done this i would love to see some pics otherwise when i start building one ill make a thread about it.

[Gwagensteve]

I think it will be harder than you imagine and owe you more than $1600 once you are finished.

I think the flexiglass canopy is horrible. You really need to copy the factory Sierra optional hardtop, but you'll need some pretty advanced skills- an english wheel to get the curves right (there are more than you think) , TIG, etc.

Add in (Factory Maruti) seals, gas struts, windows (maybe from a hardtop?) catches for the targa section etc - it will be hard, hard work.

Good luck with it - it would be cool if you pulled it off - it would look very smooth and cool.

Steve.

[whitey86]

I think it will be harder than you imagine and owe you more than $1600 once you are finished.

I think the flexiglass canopy is horrible. You really need to copy the factory Sierra optional hardtop, but you'll need some pretty advanced skills- an english wheel to get the curves right (there are more than you think) , TIG, etc.

Add in (Factory Maruti) seals, gas struts, windows (maybe from a hardtop?) catches for the targa section etc - it will be hard, hard work.

Good luck with it - it would be cool if you pulled it off - it would look very smooth and cool.

Steve.

yeah mate all the work will be done by my mate who builds custom cars for a living so i think he can handle it and as for the cost i can get 3mm sheets 2400x1400 for about $80 bucks each and i already have a full sheet of plexiglass siting in the shed , so cost wise it wont even compare , but if i had to pay for labour and full price materials i would even bother with it.

[hillbilliywheelchair]

have you thought about buying a hard top and chopping the roof off?
you could then sell off the rest of the good bits and hopefully come out even

[whitey86]

have you thought about buying a hard top and chopping the roof off?
you could then sell off the rest of the good bits and hopefully come out even

Yeah mate the idea had crossed my mind but im in W.A. and finding a hard top cheap enough that i can cut it to pieces is gona be a bit hard.

[BlueSuzy]

Id be waitiing for a second handy to come up forsale..

[V.W.Dave]

If you wait you will find hard tops in the most randome places. I cound mine at a yard sale. I put it on and the next day had a tyre role a beed and snapped a spring and roled backwards down a few steps best $250 i spent

[v840]

There's a zook on ebay at the moment with one for $900. I'll go you halves. You keep the top, I'll keep the rest.

[whitey86]

There's a zook on ebay at the moment with one for $900. I'll go you halves. You keep the top, I'll keep the rest.

where's it located , im in wa and freight on a canopy is not cheap i've already looked into it.

[thehanko]

if you do build this, then definitely do a build thread on it.

We are currently looking at doing a similar thing but looking more at fiberglass as we have better glass skills than alloy skills.

ber very curious to see how you do it.

anyone got an old tin top i can flop a mold off

[hillbilliywheelchair]

theirs a cheap fiberglass top forsale on gumtree in perth at the moment

[woodcarver]

Check out this thread...hope this helps
Mac

http://bbs.zuwharrie.com/content/topic, ... 0/all.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;