yea low1000 is right, I worked at a fibreglass boat place for a while, and you have to go to a little more trouble than you guys might think.

on the off chance you could get hold of a mould it would be worthwhile. especially if it was of a vacuum bagged variety where you spray gelcoat onto the mould and then position the various layers of glass on top and finally put the whole thing under vacuum via sealed plastic sheeting or 2nd mould half and infuse the resin. when the resin is finally cured you split the product away from the mould (mould is waxed to allow release) the gelcoat on the product results in a finish like a professional paintjob straight off the mould.

but making a mould would involve hours of messing around with plywood sheeting and sanding back styrofoam, filling and sanding with plaster of paris till its as smooth as a babies butt.. making sure all the angles are correct. rah rah..

Ive seen the roller door variety... Never on a datsun but on a falcon or commodore once. They look... wierd in my opinion. As far as alluminium im having issues on figuring out a way to make the parts of the corners that roll over the edge.

Holeshot, Is there any way of getting a photo of wallys cover?

This may be a little off topic in this thread, but i've heard rumors of a hard top that is something like a roller door. the rolling mechanism (although it would take up a fair amount of space) would be just behind the cab, and you run two tracks along the top of the tray. then you simply roll it open or closed, so you don't have to totally remove it or have the cover hanging wide open when you have to cart something big around. (like a dirt bike )

The idea of an aluminium one sounds good. something like 2mm plate and maybe a couple reinforcements...

Im seriously looking into the alluminium solution at the moment... Is wally leaving it exposed? or painting it?

It seems alluminium isnt that hard to work with.

WALLYs has just made one in aluminium, looks good to.Workin with this stuff is ezy if you have the rite gear to do it.Most sheet shops can do it.Tin sheet will do to if you dont mind a bit of weight,gas bonnet rams will make it a bit lighter to open

yeah perspex would do fine but i think it would be a lot harder and more expencive to buy a sheet big enough to cover the whole frame, i have just finished making a street luge and i made the bodypan out of carbon fiber, i used the frame itself to mold the carbon around, if that makes sense. when making a hard cover for a ute i'd probably make the frame in the tray so it fits 100% you would have to cover the bits of the bodywork the fiberglass would touch with gladwrap so it didnt stick though. PS getting it smooth would be fairly simple if you cover the mold with one big peice of plywood and paint it with spray putty or other stuff to get it smooth. other stuff you'll need is PVC relece agent and this special wax stuff to stop it sticking to the mold.

Well i got nothing for sanding it, but for the verves, How would a piece of tube go? like i was thinking maybe a picec of 50mm PVC..... And cut it into four, and put rivet tot the perspex? wat you guys think?>

I agree, making the flat bit is the best way to start... But two questions arise,

1How do i actually make these curves? any sugestions?

2. Ive noticed that most hardtops have that vinal covering, to cover inperfections I figure- I guess the big problem is sanding such a large, flat object smoothly. Any suggestions?

Would it make sense to use a large sheet of perspex for the large flat area, cover that with fibre glass, and work on the curves from there. Maybe use some alloy window framing for support.

Although i don't have a huge extence of experience with fiberglass i have worked with it quite often and i know a few facts about it.

1. if someone has a mould (ie profesional hardtop makers) it will always be a lot cheaper for them to makethe product than you.

2. the idea of constructing a frame is a good one BUT you would need to cover it with a thin plywood as the stocking material would sag. although it does works for speaker pods.

3. the 'lay up' of the fiber glass is easy getting the mold perfect is hard.

i have though alot about making a fiberglass hardtop for my ute and it aslways ends up that it will cost to much. In glass and resin alone you would spend $300. and the prep of the mould would take days. but doing it yourself could be rewarding, and definatly cheaper than $2000.