Replace MX-5 NC Soft Top Hood with a Folding Hard Top Roof from a Roadster Coupe

Technical Area Body, Interior & Styling
2

Is it possible to replace the entire soft top hood on an MX-5 NC with a folding hard top assembly from a damaged MX-5 Roadster?

Regards

3

I don’t reckon you can, the rear of the cars and the boot line are all a bit different if you look closely. But that’s only a guess… 

4

I suppose anything is possible but you’d need two rear wings, filler cap,boot lid etc as thye are all slightly different.

5

I do not know the cars well enough to identify the difference, I thought they were identical apart from the roof.

If they are that different, it would not make sense to change the roof. I had seen a number of metal folding roof assemblies

on ebay for sale, and wondered if it was simply a case of retrofitting the new metal roof into the space where the soft top lives.

Regards

Steve

6

I think the rear wings are slightly wider to accommodate the two motors that lift the ‘thing’ with a fancy name prior to the roof moving, I believe the two motors for the roof itself lie directly behind the seats, where in the soft top you have a couple of storage holes. The filler caps are different as you see different parts for each version, which implies to me a different shape to the wings.

The boot opening maybe slightly different although the capacity is the same as I believe the OE back box fits in the boot of the soft top but we couldn’t persuade it to go in PRHT.

7

The gears and mechanism for the rear panel sit at the top, the motor for the rest all sits behind the passenger seat (hence no storage units). 

The fuel filler is indeed different which as said above implies the whole wing is ever so slightly different to accomodate the rear roof panel cover 

This is before you take into account additional wiring for the motors and the rear panel as the third brake light unit is different from memory.

8

I too have seen these electric hard tops advertised on eBay. I think they try to give the impression it’s a straight swop but it’s not. As others have said its a massive task, different rear wings, wiring, motor mounts etc etc. Reality is that these electric hardtops are not worth much unless you are seeking to replace an existing electric hardtop and why would you want to do that!