Building My Own Hard Top 8/6/2010
#31
Expanded metal
EXPANDED METAL,ALUMINUM OR STEAL. I WOULD RECOMEND A HARD BED LINER COATING OVER THE MESH AND THEN CUT OUT YOUR WINDOWS. THE EXPANDED METAL / OR MESH WOULD BE BENDABLE AND MOLDABLE. IT MIGHT BE AROUND A 150 LBS ,BUT SHOULD BE STRONG AS HELL. AS AN EXAMPLE THINK OF PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT MESH THAT HAS THE POLYURATHANE COATING ON IT BUT A MUCH SMALLER MESH USED FOR YOUR TOP MATERIAL.
#33
Im a composite technician and own my own boat building business and to do it right would cost a mint. First you would have to design the part in CAD then have it CNC cut in foam, this woulkd then need to be sprayed with a high build compond and sanded and buffed to a automotive grad 1 finish. This is called the plug, of this you would need to build a mould using expensive tooling gel and VE resin/chopped strand mat and brace it to keep it stiff. Now your ready to make a part, you will have to seal and wax the mould, design a laminate schedule that meets the engineering requirements for stiffness, weight etc then laminate either by hand, vacuum infusion, wet prepreg and bag etc. When the part came out of the mould it would need to be detailed and maybe 2-pac sprayed and buffed then fitted out for any windows, doors latches lights etc. To do it professionaly it would cost 20 times more then to buy it retail of a vendor. There is a reason these parts are expensive there is huge tooling and setup costs to get it right. Just my 2 cents for what its worth.
#34
Thats what I thought too, personally I like my idea, I just havent had the time to research how to bond two piece of glass together in a strong way
#35
If I were in your shoes I would just use the wood as a base to form the glass and then take it out. You can do this by placing aluminum foil over the wood and then glassing on top of it. I have done some really nice glass work on prior vehicles using this method.
#36
#38
How do you heat the glass to bend it?
#40