Building a sidecar hardtop.

[rogue1000]

I'm building a fiberglass hardtop for the sidecar that will be rainproof and lockable, at least those are my goals. So far, I have been able to do it with stuff I've had in the shop, except for the 'glass (mine got some nasty old boat goop leaked on it and was unusable).
I started with some doorskin strips and clamped them to the odd-shaped windscreen and glued up three lams to get the shape, and also laminated three strips on the aft end by using the excisting holes for the snaps for the soft top.

Then I started stapling and gluing with epoxy the fore and aft pieces.
until I got this..
. I just kept filling in the blanks untill I could fair the whole thing using some old but still viable bondo, and finally some spot putty, resulting in this

My next step was to laminate four layers of glass over the male mold, using wax paper as a release.

[rogue1000]

Of course there was a lot of sanding in there, and I really smoothed it out more than I needed to because no one will see the inside once it is finished.




I just got some black pigment to add to the epoxy, but I may not use it because I still have to spray on undercoat. What is on todays do list is to extend and strengthen the sides with some epoxy, thickener, and 'glass. When that cures, I'll add one more layer of 'glass over the whole thing, and then fiberglass tape along the edges as needed. Then more sanding and fairing on the outside precluding painting with one part linear polyurathane, same as I used to paint the sidecar itself with.
I'm still thinking about how to lock it...right now the thought is to 'glass some right angle tabs along the underside of the front edge, and then a pair of flush, keyed alike cam locks on the two corners of the rear edge. I think I have enough weather stripping on the shelf to do all the edges. Also, I'll be adding a fin, making it less of a turtleback and more of a dinosaur back...

[CYBORG]

i think you have a winner. good old boat repair skills always come in handy

[redwood]

Cool, I like it. It will be more aerodynamic too I guess.

[Dangeruss]

Nice fab work there.

[rogue1000]

Hey CYBORG, that's the luggage rack you gave me ...thanks!

[rogue1000]

Thanks Russ & Redwood....I'm hoping that it cuts down on wind resistance a bit and that that translates into some better milege..

[rcmatt007]

when our daughter was a wee infant we had a car seat (a facing rear model) that would tuck right up under that windshield on our calif car. She must have been 3 months old when she started going on motorcycle rides

[Casper]

Nice work. Are you going to add some tail lights to the Fin? It would give it a late 50s retro vibe.

[rogue1000]

Thanks Casper, I don't know yet about lights in the fin, but that sounds like a fun idea...more important will be some type of vent so it doesn't get real hot in there; lights can come later.

[Track T 2411]

Thanks Casper, I don't know yet about lights in the fin, but that sounds like a fun idea...more important will be some type of vent so it doesn't get real hot in there; lights can come later.

That was one of my first thoughts, along with some type of windows. Not sure I'd like to be that closed in otherwise. IMhO... Otherwise, it looks great! How much does that weigh, approximately?

Good wrenchin'
Todd

[Brant]

Thats some nice work there.

[rogue1000]

Todd, I didn't build it with the idea of anyone riding inside at all...it will be for when I'm going on trips so I can carry all my camping stuff inside and not have to worry about it getting ripped off (so easily, anyway..it should at least slow the thieves down) or getting wet. I started thinking about carrying camp fuel though, and I know that not having at least a scoop vent will allow it to get pretty warm inside, which will also be detremental to the beer...
Right now it weighs about 6 pounds; I'm pretty sure it will be in the ten pound range when I finish.

[redwood]

Now that the kids are grown, I store nice camping chairs, tents, sleeping bags, ice chest and an occasional pot of Chili in mine.

[drcroog]

I love watching this kind of fabrication

Keep up the good work

It's going to look factory when you're done