An interesting idea for converting spider tops to manual operation

At a recent meet up, I found myself sharing the woes of the convertible top maintenance and repairs on the 360s and 430s. This got me thinking, what if someone made a kit that allowed you to do the entire operation manually? There is a manual operation procedure “just in case” or for when working on it, as can been seen here:

My take away is there is the hypothetical conversion kit would need 3 main components:
1. Manual latches for the capote cover that live in the engine area (near where they hydraulics are now)
2. A control just for the flap motor (which is barely an issue)
3. A hand for the latch in the top itself.

Here’s how it would work. You disconnect the cyclinders from the hinges and leave the whole system in there so it’s reversible.

1. Open engine bay
2. Unlatch the capote top
3. Close engine bay
4. Capote top can now move freely, open it up and prop it up with anything (kit could include a stick)
5. From inside the car, twist a big handle to release the top.
6. Outside the car, fold it down
7. Press the flap motor button to raise the flaps
8. Put the capote cover back down
9. Open the engine bay again to latch the capote cover in place.
10. Done!

I know that sounds like a lot of steps, but having done things like a 718 Spyder RS top, after being familiar, it’s 5 minutes. That would be the ONLY trade off… But let’s be real, all of use spider owners cross our fingers (in our minds at least) every time we operate our tops. Even after rebuilding the cylinders, replacing the fabric, replacing the straps, etc., we all still worry. We worry about temperature affecting it… and god forbid a cylinder fails and squirts flammable fluid everywhere.

Seriously, I think it’s doable. Sell it for $1000 and I think every owner who has been burnt by their top will want it. I’d rather have 100% certainty it will work even if it takes 5 minutes then nervously operating it all the time.

Thoughts? Am I alone here? And yes, I’ve rebuild my top myself, I know how it works.

 

For the Side flaps, you’d unplug the electrical connector and put in some new connection with a button with “up” and “down”. Just reach in and hold the switch. (I believe the connector for it is behind the storage box on the firewall, between the roll bars).

As for the display, it should report everything correctly because it knows the position from the microswitches that connect to “the brain.”

 

I agree that fixing it isn’t that crazy. But I think the idea is forever future proofing it. While we have a few people advertising cylinder rebuilds now, sure, it’s not a big deal. But just like how after 10+ years third party companies come up with solutions, in 30+ years, when fewer of these cars are still out there, those same companies go away. I get that rebuilding the cylinders can be done yourself, or maybe some local shops can do it… But eventually, the specialized pump will die… the brain will die… the lines will have issues… So yes, will I agree that the current fixes aren’t a big deal, I’m just imagining how to make these cars reliable in decades to come. And for that, there are three obvious options to me:
1. Make a hardtop that attaches.
2. Convert it to manual operation as an option
3. Make a flimsy little tonneau cover that attaches instead of a full mechanical roof.

The other benefit to option 1 and 3 is the potential for removing the roof mechanism altogether and having a pretty crazy weigh savings, not to mention a new storage compartment lol…

Anyway, I still think there’s merit to it. Especially for those people who simply don’t want to maintain it decades from now… Or live in more remote places.