Bikini Top for my 1980 Moke

[Graeme]

Hi All,

First post so hopefully I have this question in the right place

Interested in getting a Bikini top for my red 1980 Moke for this summer

Really like what Casper had made for his Moke (Casper at the finish line April 2009) and have tried a PM to him with no reply unfortunately so am putting these questions out there

1) Am concerned about putting to much pressure on the windscreen - Is or should there be a bar running between the windscreen and the roll bar
2) What sort of clearance did the top have to his head (apparently it flapped his head occasionally)when stopped and whether I should put a attachment bar to the roll bar to give me some more clearance
3) Effectiveness of the Bikini top in stopping wind/sun burn to my face

Lastly I have had someone mention once that the Moke I have must originally had some sort of Bikini top as it has 3 x flip clips on the roll bar (1 centre top on rear of bar and 1 each on the side to the outside halfway down)which possibly was used to secure it

The roll bar was made by KG Engineering and is aluminium

Any thoughts/help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

Graeme



 

[Terry]

Hi,

A link to the post from Casper with its new top.

https://www.mokeforum.com.au/index.php?topic=3342.msg38878#msg38878


My experience with this sort of roof is you should run at least a bar each side from the roll bar to windscreen to support the windscreen when the top billows. Also I would say run a short bow between each support  in about the centre of the roof to give the material a bit of support and shape. It might also give you a bit of extra head clearance and the KG bars are set back a little further fromt he screen so it will help there as well.

Unless you use straps to pull the roof tight tot he rear of the car like Casper I would say that the three pins currently on the roof wont be enough and I suspect they were there for holding a full roof to stop the billowing that happens with the standard roofs. I used run a short roof held on to the roll bar using press studs and it was always tearing them out of the bar.

Terry

[Terry]

Hi,

here are some other styles worth looking at.

From Hag, https://www.mokeforum.com.au/index.php?topic=4710.msg48961#msg48961



Another couple of soft top styles that try to address some of the issues differently.


https://www.mokeforum.com.au/index.php?topic=12578.msg155528#msg155528

And these three are the inspiration behind the hard top I built for the Beach Boys Moke.



https://www.mokeforum.com.au/index.php?topic=12578.0


Terry

[Graeme]

Hi

Thanks Terry for your follow up thoughts and pictures - Much appreciated

Will go down the track of your suggestion to run bars from the windscreen to the roll bar with a bow between them - Has anyone done something similar that may give me a heads up on how they connected them to the windscreen and roll bar

Also still interested if anyone can confirm less windburn to my face/head by having a bikini roof

Cheers

Graeme

[Terry]

Hi,

yes you will have less windburn and less of the 'wallop' as the air comes over and around the windscreen and smacks your head around. Definitely worth doing.

Terry

[Terry]

Hi,

this roof is no longer attached to the rollbar but you can see the extra support bars and the fittings used for the cross bar and the front edge.




Terry