As mentioned in an earlier post, I came up with a mod for fitting and removing a hardtop single-handed (my partner isn’t very enthusiastic about lifting and shifting(!)). I wrote it up as an Instructable - hopefully it may be of interest.
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Looks good, have you considered adding a cam cleat or similar just to be sure that the rope doesn’t ‘run away’ with you?
I hadn’t as I didn’t know such a thing existed(!) - it sounds like a sensible addition - thanks!
Used primarily in sailing and when I saw your rig it looked like it would be a perfect fit to increase the security of the rope.
Having sailed for years I would rather rely on a good knot !! or a horn cleat.
It is not unknown for rope to come out of cam cleats / clamcleats the lead in and out has to be perfect and the rope has to be match to the locking device.
Spinlock make a range of line locks that work well and have to be opened manually to release the line.
I just lift my hardtop off from the side and store it in the bag against the wall.
I am in my sixties and still find it no problem to handle.
You’re lucky having a garage wide enough to do that. In the good old tradition of British house building, my garage is barely wide enough to fit the MX-5, never mind storing a hard-top - hence the ‘hang it from the ceiling’ approach. My current rope tether is a cleat hitch which seems to work pretty well. The fairly light weight of the roof and the friction of the pulley combine to make a free fall pretty slow. I still wouldn’t like to let it go though! That said, I don’t rely on the pulley once the roof is fully raised to the ceiling - there are a couple of fixed straps to take the weight (which also stops the roof rotating).
Yes, any similar device like those to control the rope in case of an unexpected slip would be the ideal.