SaintS2000

Hey you guys...

So I've come to a conclusion that I want to have a hoist or a lift for the s2000. Although, I have a stand for the HT but I simply prefer for it to be hanging for an easy access and not needing to bother my girl to assist me. The HT, if I'm not mistaken is approx. 44 lbs. having said this, it can be done just having one person. But I just thought it is risky. Also, I have done my research regarding this matter and I really didn't see any update or recent topics. I even scanned Miata's forum and one of these days, I'll be visiting BMW/Porsche's sites just to see what they are using.

But of course I think this would be the best place to ask question about getting a hoist and since it is 2017, what have you learned and improvements have you done if you have one. Another question that I have in mind is, who in here is using a hoist that is made for a specific vehicle, for example, for Miata or Z4 or Boxsters yet still able to use it on our HTs.
Last but not the least, anyone here using a hoist meant to lifts kayaks or small boats, if so, can you enlighten us?

Thank you!
SS

P.s.
I thought this clip was cool, having one guy removing it on his own.

lookstoomuch

I did tons of research on this as well. I concluded that you could probably use a hoist made for other cars but in the end I made an electric one copying elements from many others out there. I love having this....can put the top on before heading to the track and remove the top upon return by myself in a couple of minutes. I don't think i'd be comfortable using the manual kayak lift, don't underestimate how unnerving it is seeing your $3K+ hardtop dangling in the air over your $10K+ car. Video of my hoist below, PM me if you go this way and want any tips....

Car Analogy

With a kayak or mountain bike manual hoist, used for its intended purpose, you are standing almost right under the object. You can pull straight down on the cord, which is going through a simple pully, which needs to be almost straight down not to jamb.

If repurposing one of these for hardtop hoist, you'd be standing off to one side, pulling at an angle. This is a recipe for disaster. The cord will slip off pully and jamb.

If it jambs with the top barely off the car, now you can't just drove car out and try to start over. You'll probably now need two more people, to lift the top while you unhook it from hoist.

alSpeed2k

This is awesome! Can you post some close-ups of how the straps hold onto the hardtop. Also, how is it connected to the electric motor? I have purchased an electric hoist but haven't figured out how I am going to lift the top off yet. Any suggestions/advice is appreciated!

lookstoomuch

I'll do my best to show what I did as the car is in storage and hope to help as I remember being in that "figure it out" mode. The project started as a POC and landed on what I consider to be "good enough" and to be fair I stole a lot from other S2KI.com ideas. Here's a pic of the strap which connects to the wood hoist:



I ended up with 8 of these "straps", 4 likely would have been enough but I work in IT so tried to design with failure in mind Here's two pics of how it all it attaches to the hoist:





Sorry if the images are huge, PM me if you want info on parts, etc...

hecash

For the six years that I had an OEM hardtop, I used an $11 bicycle hoist, 1" nylon strapping from the hardware store, some dense foam padding and a marina dock cleat to hold the manual line. It took about 12 minutes for an off or on process. I'd simply back the car under the top, align a dowel stuck into the catch with the dagger on the hardtop, drop the top, lock it down, raise the lift and be on my way. My construction diagram is below the photo.

rpg51

I use a manual Harken hoist and it is extremely high quality, not cheap, and totally reliable and works extremely well. No motor = more control imho. I also trust the harken with my $5000.00 kayak so that tells you something. The only hard part for me is getting attachment point to the top that do not mar the top and that do not compress the rubbers. That part is still a work in progress for me.

lookstoomuch

The harbor freight hoist gives surprising amount of control and I can move the top back/forth or left/right while the hoist does the up and down bit. FYI for those interested the cargo straps in the picture wedge between the hardtop frame and rubber so at all points the top is only being lifted against the hard top structure.

GuthNW

That is not the case with the hoist that I bought for our canoe many years ago. The central pulley system is located directly above the canoe which then feeds the support cord system to another pulley that is attached to the side wall (located towards the back of this photo). Fom that pulley you can pull straight down, or at an angle if you wish. Works like a charm and could probably easily be adapted to a hoisting a hardtop up and down (the canoe weighs over 60 lbs.).

rpg51

GuthNW - that hoist you are using with your canoe is the same Harken hoist that I use for my canoes, kayaks, and s2k hard top. Excellent. Not cheap.