Unless I'm missing something I would think the answers to this question are obvious. Floor space and ease of install/removal.

 

I guess what I was trying to figure out is will putting the hardtop on the floor cause any damage to the pins.

 

That sounds like possibly reason No. 3.

 

Another thing is no matter whether you hang it, put it in a rack or put it on the floor, you need to keep whatever is holding it from deforming the seals. Otherwise they will eventually leak wind and/or water.

The main advantage of a well designed hoist is being able to pull the top in only a few minutes without having to go find someone to help you. Also if you live in Cali like I do, you want it to be securely attached to the ceiling if it is above your 30K car. (earthquakes)

 

I just finished installing the Eztop electric hoist system. It works as advertised and the quality is top shelf. Any part of it that might even accidentally touch the top is covered in protective foam. It is expensive, but well worth it.

If anyone wants my IMG manual model, I will give it to them for free if they just pay the shipping.

http://www.removabletops.com/index.php?category=18

Just PM me.

 

Jonas, what did you do to secure the belt into the pipe? I'm looking to build something like this.

 

This may sound frightening, but it's just jammed into the pipe, and the cap glued in place with the standard PVC glue. That stuff actually melts the PVC a bit, so it's like a solid piece of pipe, molded around the strap. Depite not being actually attached in any other way, it's not going anywhere.

JonasM

 

Note: I read in another thread about this that the molding that I'm hooking on to isn't bolted to the top - just glued in place. Someone else had the top fall on the floor when the molding gave way. For now, I added some rope around the top so that it won't fall if the molding gives way, and I'll be coming up with a more permanenet solution this summer.

FYI.

JonasM

 

Hey Jonas, I'm finally ready to move forward on this...
Any chance I can get a pic of how your ropes are strung?

I think I have finally figured out how I'm going to move forward.
My plan is to build a simple H-structure like you did, then I have to resolve how I'm going to attach the HT to the H-structure because once I have the HT on the hoist, I want to be able to unclip the two front clips and have the HT rotate on the two back connectors so I can then lower it into my HT stand. I cannot store my HT on the ceiling for a bunch of reasons so I need the hoist to get it on and off the car, but then I need to be able to load it into the stand so it can be moved into the space I have to store it.

Thanks.