I had a busy Monday!. My goal was to get the top ready for real world testing. To do this I had to make the back able to take rain and to close of the C pillar area. I found out that after adding on rear glass I was no longer able to put the top on by myself. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do anything since I wouldn't be able to measure and size things on the car. I decided to remove the rear glass and use a different hinge system for the hatch. With the rear hatch removed the top was easy to put on. I then welded on the outside of the wire frame that I'd be using for the C pillar area. Next I measured the frame that I was building for under the rear hatch. This frame will seal with the hatch making a channel for the water to go down and out the back when it rains. After I cut the metal for this channel I welded it to the top. I took the top off the car at this point. Next I welded on the new hinge system (pictures to come later) and then welded up the wire frame. I thought at this point that putting the fiber glass on would be not too difficult. I was wrong! Fiber glass is tough, its sticky and it gets everywhere and if you get it on your skin it will stay there forever. It looks like the catalyst that was in these packets from who knows how long ago had gone bad because only the one packet seems to have dried. In the end I had to reinforce the outside with duct tape to make sure that it wouldn't come loose while it sets.
Now that I have the top on and its driveable I have a few challenges to over come. I need to seal the windows to the top and have the doors be able to open easily and have the windows go up and down easily. The other challenge will be to make sure that everything else is sealed to get ride of some wind noise and for when it rains.
