EZTop

[yellowwing1]

Just got off the phone (last evening) with Emil from EZ Top. My top hoist will be on the way by the 21st or 25th of this month. Good news, sounds like there was alot more design modifications than originally thought. Another TBird toy....yahooo!!! Joy

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[BornAgain]

Joy,

Do they have, or will they have, a cover for the top while it is hanging from the ceiling?

 

[yellowwing1]

BornAgain, I will check. Joy

 

[Gobird]

I'll still get one but they really jumped the price compaired to the 55 to 57.

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Blue on Blue Prem. STILL WAITING Ordered in Jan. 7of12 NOW 4of12
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150 4x4
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
a dog a cat and a couple hundred fish in my pond
Got Vin. 109293 Build Date 01/14

 

[yellowwing1]

Gobird, if you pre-ordered it stays at that price, but now it is $385-395. It sounds like it will be worth it.

 

[yellowwing1]

BornAgain, Emil (the owner) told me that they are working on filling the orders first then he will direct his attention to the top cover. I read that as a few months. I hope this helps. Joy

 

[T02 Bird]

I spoke with Emil today. He said that my hoist will be shipped out on 1/30. Perfect timing as I should be picking up my car on 1/26. Emil suggested as a cover while the top is dangling to get a King sized fitted sheet and cover the top while in position and use clothespins to ensure no dust gets through. I'm taking his suggestion for the time being.

Have a great weekend everyone!

KB

 

[BornAgain]

Thanks to you two for the info on the cover. After three back operations and looking at another one, I'll probably go with the electric hoist.

Were any problems encountered in the installation of the hoist? I thought about contacting an overhead garage door company to make the installation, if they will do it.

 

[tampa bird]

I also have a severe back problem,and as I stated on a previous post,I purchased a top from Emil at ez top,and I am very satisfied with it so far.

 

[Gobird]

I was just told by a friend of mine that I should not buy the hard top hoist if I was going to leave the top on the hoist for 6 to 8 month of the year. Now this is a vette guy, but he said that no matter how it is desigened it WILL leave marks on the headliner over that period of time. Does anyone know anything about this problem or if it is a problem at all. Would like some feedback on this before I invest around $400. on this hoist. Thanks for any info that can be provided.

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Blue on Blue Prem. STILL WAITING Ordered in Jan. 7of12 NOW 4of12
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150 4x4
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
a dog a cat and a couple hundred fish in my pond
Got Vin. 109293 Build Date 01/14

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[T02 Bird]

Gobird,

Funny you should mention this...Emil brought this up in our conversation last week. He said that none of the hoists are designed as long-term storage, but most people use them as such. His definition of long-term was about a year or longer. I seem to recall him saying that this is no problem for the new Thunderbird hoist system that they redesigned. Hope this helps in your decision.

KB

 

[bigmac011]

I have recieved my lift from http://www.topcaplift.com/. I do not have the unit up as of yet but have inspeceted it and apears to be a well built unit. This unit comes with enough cable to lower the top onto the cart that came with our cars. I did not even concider leaving the top on the hoist for more than a couple hours. I have over 10 feet of head room and with the lift and the top and leaving some space to keep from two blocking the hoist figure it would be a head knocker for a 6' + person any way. I bought 2 hoists one for me and one for a friend and this hoist is less money then the EZ lift. A little different lifting program but I would save the $

 

[yellowwing1]

BigMac, I looked at their site and was wondering (can't tell by pictures)does it seem like the lift will lean against the window seals? Thanks Joy

 

[Gobird]

To bigmack011, I looked at this hoist on the web but thought the other was better but if I can't leave it on the hoist for a long period of time and still have to use the cart provided then the cheaper one sounds a lot better. Question, did you get enough cable with it for a 10ft ceiling and will it reach across another bay in the garage. I have a 3 bay garage and the bird will sit in the middle. I need to mount the crank one bay over from the bird. Or maybe if not provided I could add cable to this setup. And if so how hard would it be to add more cable? Thanks for any info you can give.

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Blue on Blue Prem. STILL WAITING Ordered in Jan. 7of12 NOW 4of12
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150 4x4
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
a dog a cat and a couple hundred fish in my pond
Got Vin. 109293 Build Date 01/14

 

[T02 Bird]

Gobird-

Why do you need more cable? Can't you just move the T-Bird into position when necessary to remove/replace the top and then move the car to the other bay? That's what I'm planning on doing. I even had a lengthy discussion with Emil at eztop about doing this. Seems like there are lots of others that do this as well...

Just a thought.

KB

 

[Gobird]

To2bird, Da!! yea I guess I could do that if I'm going to put it on the stand anyway. That bay is for my F150 and it is set up for the truck but could set the Bird there just to take the top off. Sometimes easy is not always evident.

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Blue on Blue Prem. STILL WAITING Ordered in Jan. 7of12 NOW 4of12
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150 4x4
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
a dog a cat and a couple hundred fish in my pond
Got Vin. 109293 Build Date 01/14

 

[greenwr]

The TopCapEZlift has the winch attached to the lifting bar and you stand at the back of the vehicle to crank the lift up or down. It is a boat trailer type winch with two ropes. Main lift points are front (no seal on front of the top) and the rear (it does pick up on the rubber seal area of the top) with straps on each side to pick up the pins that attach the top to the car. The only concern is the rear support point and it is about 6 inches wide. If you think that will hurt the seal, you could add a wider support. I took pictures of mine, but still have not had them developed. I will try to do that tomorrow.

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Bill's Red and White #4359

 

[tr cruiser]

There's one thing I don't understand about the operation of theses lifts. If the mechanism is anchored to the garage roof, how does the garage door roll up? In my small garage the door completely covers the hardtop when it is fully retracted. Can't see how a lift would be supported unless it's tethered to the side or something.

 

[T02 Bird]

TR,

It's been suggested to me that the car be backed into the garage so you mount the lift mechanism toward the back left side of the garage (when facing the garage from outside the house). This way you have plenty of room to open the driver door and there's plenty of space for the lift to operate without getting in the way of the garage door opener. I hope this explanation is clear enough for you to understand.

KB

 

[tr cruiser]

Thanks, KB. I'll have to get out the tape measure and see how much clearance there is when I back in. That won't be easy with a narrow driveway. At least it's only an occasional maneuver. Did TopCap mention whether the electric hoist made a significant difference for single person operation? I'd guess it doesn't matter as much for an overhanging winch as with a wall-mounted unit.