Hard tops

[hobie237]

Despite the fact that I own one (and, with the purchase of a 715, would own two), I despise convertibles. Well, maybe despise isn't the right word, but I don't really like 'em. For the Miata, the solution was easy, as hard tops are easy to come by (despite the Spec Miata guys buying them up and raising the prices), since any top from 1990-2005 will fit any 1990-2005 Miata, with some modifications necessary to bracketry for the later years, but nothing expensive, difficult, or hard to come by.

Which brings me to the M715. When I buy one, I want to get a hard top on it ASAP. Obviously, this will be one of the criteria I use to select one for purchase, but I won't turn down an otherwise fantastic truck for lack of a hard top if I don't have to.

So, how hard are they to come by? How expensive are they if purchased alone? I've seen lots of them fabbed up at home or whatever- how difficult would this be? (I wouldn't consider it for the Miata, but that's a bit more difficult fab job than the basically square cab of a 715.

Any help would be appreciated, photos of hard tops, the more detailed the better, would be fantastic. Thanks!

[brute4c]

There were 2 types in the military supply chain. One has a slanted top...similiar lines to the canvas top, higher in the rear and lower at the windshield. The other top has a flat top section.

I bought one of the flat top types, there were 3 left in the US then and that was 1998 and it was $750 before shipping then.

I dont know of anywhere to get either style now...best bet would be to advertise in the wanted forum to see if someone has one they want to sell.

A lot of trucks got hardtops from Fire Departments and other sources where a roof was fabbed onto the truck, often using the soft top frame as a starting point for the top...sometimes they weld or rivelt the top to the soft top frame requiring a bit of work to undo it later if a soft type is desired.

[randyscycle]

I'd also add that if you find a top you're interested in, be sure the seller knows that it definitely fits a 715. I've seen a few M35 and M37 tops listed for M715's but they are definitely different, and some folks aren't aware of this.

[brute4c]

I have seen that too...a few times.

[14fan]

I just took one off of my truck and you can have it. let me know if you want it.

[chicklin]

I just took one off of my truck and you can have it. let me know if you want it.

Plus you get to go to Alaska. I'd say that's worth it.

[hobie237]

Well, I don't have a 715 to put a hard top on yet (although it would be a good reason to get my sorry butt in gear and buy a darn truck already), and I have a feeling that shipping a hard top from Alaska to Delaware (not just cross-country, but cross-continental shipping) would be a *bit* cost prohibitive. If it was a day's drive or so, I'd already be in my truck, on my way to get it, though.

[14fan]

Yeh I have paid more for shipping parts up here then i paid for the truck.

[Jester]

Yeh I have paid more for shipping parts up here then i paid for the truck.

You can send it down to Seattle and we can put it in Fisherman's "loft o' parts"

[hobie237]

Top is metal, right? Steel presumably? What's it weigh? Approximate dimensions/cubage? I'm curious as to the cost.


As for the costs of getting stuff up there, that's not hard to believe at all. I'd love to live in Alaska, but the practical issues presented by the isolation are a bummer.