How is a good way to store a hard top by hanging it up on the ceiling or on the wall. A garage is just full now that we have four cars in a four car garage. Floor space is a scarce. So any ideas are helpful.

 

Bought some fishing net from a guy in Alaska off Ebay, works great.

 

I have seen a guy with a small pulley system, attached to the ceiling in his garage. It is simple rope, a few roller wheels, and one rope lead that goes to the wall, at a 45 degree angle.

He drives the car under it, unhooks the lead rope, and lowers the apparatus, hooks it in 4 places to the top, then pulls it to the top of the ceiling, then ties the rope off on a boat/dock type cleat on the wall.

Sound complicated, but very very simple. As a matter of fact, I don't think he ever puts the rag top up. If he wants some shade that day, he spends 2 minutes and lowers it onto the car.

I wish I had a picture to share.

Mark

 

My hardtop hasn't been on my 59 since the day after I purchased it 3 years ago, so I wrapped the edges and put it in the corner on end.

 

Mines in the basement standing on the FRONT end. I can't believe how many pics I've seen, even here on the forum of them sitting on that thin strip at the back with all the weight on the plexi. Makes me cringe!

 

My '57 hardtop sat upside-down wrapped in a blanket in the basement from the day I got it back from Glassworks until the day I sold the car five years later.

 

Leave it on the car if space is a problem. Personally I stand mine up against the wall with the windshield header down, but on a soft raised material a few inches up off the floor. Then throw a blanket over it.

 

I knew it would never be on the car so I stored it. In my back barn I hung it on the wall. First I cut a 2 x 4 the width between the two metal tabs that tie it down just behind the doors when on the car. I ran wood screws into the 2 x 4 and hung the whole thing on the wall over two lag screws that the 2 x 4 hangs on. The only thing then was to drape an old blanket over it. It's been there 5 years and still looks good. Inspired by this post I took a look and theres not even any dust.

Regards

 

Hanging the hardtop from the ceiling is the best option, IMO, as it essentially fills what would be 'dead space', for the most part. This makes the momma happy so that she has more room for her stuff, too. ..
The pulley apparatus works good as this will allow you to store the top at whatever height is desired. For my use I just built a simple hanging system in the garage using suspended ceiling wire and bungy cords. The intent was to be able to remove the hardtop by myself, store it, and be able to drive out from under it when going 'topless'. The top stayed stored in this position until reunited with the car. The car needs to be backed in to the garage for this to work, of course. The top also needs to swing to the right so the attenta clears when driving forward.
The hardtop only needed to hang above the body a few inches. The ceiling wire hang points were located with the use of a plumb bob. The ceiling is sheetrocked so a couple of cross span angle iron pieces were attached to the underside of the ceiling joists to pick up these hang points. It's then a simple matter to attach a bungy cord to the hang points on the hardtop and stretch load it up to a point where a mark can be made on the ceiling wire. This is where the 'eyelet' is formed in the ceiling wire to attach the other bungy end.
After loosening all the attach points that hold the hardtop in place to the car I attached the bungy cords on one side of the hardtop and raised that side to height, which was only a few inches. Then, the same for the other side.

 

Although this does not resolve your garage space issue, I prefer to wheel mine around on a hardtop carrier from Corvette Central.

It is part #101207 and sells for $139.95.

~Vaughn~

 

I never use my hard top so I used some left over garage door opener angle strapping lag bolted to the ceiling across 2 rafters. then 4 cheap tie down straps (not the ratcheting type) hooked to the holes in the angle and onto the top. get on a ladder and shorten each one a bit at a time. Cover with an old car cover and let hang for x years....

If I was going to buy something I'd look at those rope pulley systems.

Try not to have anything compress the weather stripping if it is for long term storage.

 

I used a metal rod threaded on each end, and attached to each side mount with nuts, and washers. Since this rod extends from side to side, I simply hang the top upside down on the wall with large hooks screwed into the wall. It's easy to hang, or take down, and makes a great wall ornament in my garage.