Fitting NC hardtop with rollbar

madmort · Postby **madmort** » Sun Jun 12, 2022 8:05 pm

Just for information and to save someone else.... A Brown/Davis NC roll bar will not accommodate an NC OEM hardtop. Two hours of fluffing around confirmed it!
Cheers

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 9:47 am

Interesting! Is this the bar with the detachable back stays?

Can you elaborate on where the issue lies, if you spent a lot of time trying to get it to fit, I presume it must be close to fitting?

Asking for science, as I don't have an NC.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:13 pm

It was probably designed with only the soft top in mind. OEM hardtops are hard to find so I don't think BD would have had one to test it with.

madmort · Postby **madmort** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 8:23 pm

Yes greenMachine the bar had the detachable back stays and were removed so as to drop the soft top. As the soft top will not seat without them removed.
The bar just sits to high, just. The only way it was going to fit was to remove the roll bar or drop it 1 inch. ( Somehow )

The time was taken up removing the side strikers, plastic trim with striker cutouts and Frankenstein bolts. The actual Frankenstein bolts are on an all thread and have to be removed threading nuts onto the thread so as to make a locknut and back them out that way. and they had copious amount of locktite. If that makes sense?
Looks like I'll be selling the hardtop with the car! Anything else is a challenge.
How's that for science? lol

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 8:46 pm

Thanks, it was either that or too wide, and I was betting on height. Yeah, roll bars generally need a bit of stuffing arouns, but it would have been frustrating to go to that trouble (and expense :shock:

) only to find it won't fit. :cry:

Can BD build the bar with 25mm or so taken out? Maybe their jigs are that flexible ... or maybe not, or they would offer that option.

:mrgreen:

madmort · Postby **madmort** » Thu Jun 16, 2022 8:11 am

I received this today.

Mark hi,

We make 2 versions of the Mazda MX5, NC, 4 point, roll bar.

One to suit the original factory folding 2 piece hard top standard on the first Australian delivered cars and a second version to suit the later released soft top cars.

Regards

David Brown

Managing Director

No mention of the removable hard top.
Cheers