Hardtop Hoist Thoughts

[restored_n_him]

I am looking into fabrication of hardtop hoist for 79 450sl. Has anyone ever considered utilizing automotive safty belt webbing and the latches combined with common pulley system and manual boat trailer wench? Should be extremely strong and dependable. Should have much ease of operation. Should be very inexpensive ie: generic belts $40 or so cheaper if you use hardware from salvage vehicle, pulley system $6, boat trailer wench $8. Total $54 and should be abundantly stronger and with longer utilization than the strap systems on market which use much smaller and weaker straps than those of safty belts. What do you think?

[cbdo]

Most wenches I know are a bit more than $8....

I've been very happy with my cobbled-up setup, though it's a bit pricier. A pair of Yakima's standard raingutter towers with some extra rack bar that the shop had sitting around have worked very well to attach the top, and a 4:1 pulley system lets me hoist pretty easily without a winch; a single SnapAround fitting (also Yakima) attaches the moving pulley to the bar. I do have a jam cleat that clamps the rope in place wherever it is, with an extra standard cleat for security. With the car backed into the garage, I can handle the rope and guide the top at the same time.

[Roncallo]

Thats pretty much how I made mine. A boeat trailer winch from Northern Tool and a couple of cargo straps from Home Depot.

John Roncallo

[Mike Miller]

I bought an electric winch from Harbor Freight, $50, and 2 sets (4 straps total) of adjustable length motorcycle hold down straps, $8 a pair. They have rubberized S-hooks to protect paint and chrome.

Pop the top, hook up the straps, hit the "up" button and away she goes! I can also lower it myself using one hand to guide it into the locks and the other on the "down" button.

[cbarker]

Hi Mike--

I tool a look at the Harbor Tool web site and I dont see an electric hoist that is $50 which is a good deal. What part number did you get? Any info would be great!

thanks!

[GSMITH]

This is the one I got 40765-9VGA or link http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40765

I bought this last year for about $40 now at $80 not such a great deal.

Maybe you will have to wait for a bigger sale or by the larger 880lb 44006-2VGA for $75.

It works good but it does go up and down pretty fast. 33ft/min does not sound fast but makes the last couple of inches pretty scary.

[Mike Miller]

Originally Posted by GSMITH

It works good but it does go up and down pretty fast. 33ft/min does not sound fast but makes the last couple of inches pretty scary.

I think that is the one I got last year on sale for around $50. If it is $80 today, I would wait for a sale.

Yes, it gets a little scary as you get close to your paint. What I do is let it down close, then tip the top forward enough to get the tabs in the latches. That pretty much aligns the rear as well. Another tap of the down button and "clunk" the top drops in place without scratching anything.

[MSpielberg]

I bought the Harbor Freight hoist, and it comes with an extra pulley to get to th 880 pound capacity, which reduces the speed to 16.5 fps from 33. Still scary the last couple of inches, but there is an auto stop feature, not adjustable. I would like to get a different pulley set up to further reduce it, but so far, no luck.

[myanoch]

I have been using the Harbor Freight motor with one pulley 1/2 the speed
Works great
I made wheels for the unit and a angle iron track to slide the roof out of the way of the car when not in use
I will get some pics
I had bought the four strap unit thats for sale around
it works great and is safer than the hooks and straps
I dropped mine during the fab stages with those hooks
Luckly it only dented a crome strip for a $150
The $50 would have been well spent on the stap system
I learned the hard way

[MSpielberg]

I went one step further, and got a double pulley for the hook end, and added a single pulley bolted to the hoist itself. 4FPS seems just right.

[Jzen]

looking foward to seeing pictures. I need to do this soon per wife's request... .

[page62]

Originally Posted by Jzen

looking foward to seeing pictures. I need to do this soon per wife's request... .

Yeah. My wife looked at the hardtop in the storage room last night and mentioned to me that it needs to be hanging from the rafters instead of taking up space...

[meltedpanda]

just reviewing before I build mine, so how much dose a top weigh?? is 220pd lift enough?

[meltedpanda]

I think I am going to go with a hoist that will lift up to 440pds, surely that is enough

[Furndog]

I belive that the top weighs about 130 pounds. Just light enough for me to move around the garage with the handles. but too heavy to lift up to put on the car without the homemade lift that I have. I will post pics tomorrow.