First hardtop conversion in Waco, Texas

[F.Y.R.E.]

Well, here it is. I'm still searchin' for the right weatherproofing for the roof, though. Tell me whatcha think.

[GenevaDirt]

Looking good!

[F.Y.R.E.]

thanx, the tailgate will be my next project. After the weatherproofin'. It rained tonight and I don't have a garage or carport, just a holey tarp. yeah, it's wet back there, lol.

[htchbck]

hmmm... the back end of that thing looks very very familiar for some reason... oh wait, I know where I've seen something like that before, my garage! :lol: looks good man, keep up the good work. If you're gonna keep the rear seats don't forget to get the rear lapbelts from and '88 or '89 model (as opposed to the shoulder belts on the later ones) cause you no longer have the mounting points for the seat belts... thats something i didn't think about till after i did it, but i got an entire old seatbelt conversion from a member here later on, cause if you end up cutting the front obviously the auto belts will no longer "auto" and it can get annoying pulling it over your head every time

[93 FordFestiva93]

reminds me of my trucktiva good timess

Justin

[F.Y.R.E.]

'88 or '89 models, gotcha, I felt bad when I took my oldest daughter for a ride to the JY yesterday. I asked her to put on her seatbelt and the shoulder mount popped her in the head as she was sliding it over her shoulder. I forgot all about it. I thought about the mounting points before I cut but I figured I would find a way to make it usefull, still lookin'. About the front seatbelts, I'm gonna leave the front roof alone except puttin' a sunroof on it. Got any makes and models that would fit it? Anyways, I'm gonna make it SUV style, with rollbars in back lining the inside of the hardtop to the backside close to the taillights. Can you imagine what I'm sayin'? And is this conversion with rollbars the first you're gonna see or are there others?

[htchbck]

I have actually seen another festy with rollbars but not on here, I have no idea where it was. My little brother made me a festiva calender for christmas by pulling pics of festies off the internet and printing them out. He had a different one for each month and mine on the cover... pretty neat, but anyway, one of the ones he found pics of was a green and pink convertible, completely topless (not even door pillars like mine has)... it had a racing style rollcage that looked like the ones guys put in the back of pickup trucks except it had seperate rollbars on it for the driver and passenger, like a miata... I've tried to find the pics and get in touch with the guy to get him hanging out on the board, but I've never been able to find even one pic of it. I guess my brother just got lucky finding that one picture

[Guest]

Here's a roll cage install.. http://www.fordfestiva.com/mods_swap...ollcages01.htm

[htchbck]

oh yeah, there's plenty of festivas with cages running around, I know B6T and Ian both have them, and many others... but he was asking about the first conversion with a cage, and since I'm the only one on here right now with a "conversion" and I don't have a cage, that would make his a first...

[Guest]

I see.. Is either of your backs going to be sealed? I have seen 1 sealed conversion.

[F.Y.R.E.]

I see.. Is either of your backs going to be sealed? I have seen 1 sealed conversion.

I'm workin' on that. Down here in Texas we're gettin' a full week of rain, figured, I don't have a carport or a garage so this'll get interesting very quickly. Yeah, it's bad timing, but I'm willing to deal with it. Thanx for all of your support. Without it I probably wouldn't have gone through with it. :wink: Htchbck, on your tailgate, did you weld it to the car or have you figured out latch and hinge problems.

[htchbck]

not welded, its actually held in place with the almighty redneck power of copper wire it will be welded eventually though, and hopefully the tailights will be completely redone (still going wtih the same oval look I have now though) but they will be molded into the body so the back is one smooth transition. As for sealing, nope, not yet, as long as its taken and since I have the silver to drive in bad weather now I'm going to wait till this summer to do anymore serious work on the blue. I graduate with a Business Administration degree on the 5th of May, so after that, I'm home free as far as time and money, cause I'll just be working 8-5 monday through friday and no papers to write So in the middle of may start looking for updates hopefully

[Guest]

BTW F.Y.R.E., did you see Trey's Truck? It's on the 7th page of the Album http://www.fordfestiva.com/forum/album_cat.php?cat_id=1

There is also tlsteinline's 6 wheeler on page 3. Both are sealed.. and look pretty good.

[htchbck]

yeah, I always liked trey's truck... but I did mine for the sole purpose of making it a droptop.. whatever goes back on my roof has to able to be fold up into the trunk when its nice out

[Guest]

Mamabear's been after a conversion for a while, so I've been thinking of how I would do the hard top. I think I would make my top into a delivery style (side panels instead of windows) Then maybe weld some sort of channel around where it would reattach so you could lay some rubber for a seal. Then maybe install clamp type hasps every foot or so.