Roll bar and hardtop

[Jzsquared]

Hello,
I have searched around this forum and can't seem to find the answer to my question.
I'm looking at buying a thing and all I find with a roll bar only have a soft top. My question is will a hard top fit on a thing with a roll bar ?

[NY thing]

I think if it is a vw hardtop and vw roll bar they will work together. Not positive though.

[mcmscott]

This one fits under a hard top
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There are no stupid questions, only stupid people,

68 Ghia
67 T-1
65 Notch
02 Mexican beetle
74 Thing
15 Long travel rail
07 Nomad
05 f-250

[kubelmann]

The various and very varied VW Thing roll cages (show bar) are built by everyone from Ernie in the backyard with brazed joints to VWOA machine welded show bar to a full on S.C.O.R.E. roll cage properly welled to major frame components offering safety and protection in a driving mishap.. That said, ANY roll cage can be ANY height and can also be cut down (or raised) later to fit under nearly any soft or hard top. The hard tops have also been made by VWOA, Fiberjet and other companies including a pick-up truck style kit made in Mexico that was sold to ranchers and others. Bottom line nearly any roll cage will fit under any top if you are able to change the cage’s leg length. I have seen a number of roll case that were built too tall to fit under any top unless the legs of the roll cage are shortened. If you have no welder you can still cut leg shorter asn slide a pipe inside, around the outside or both and simple bolt through to hold the patch in place. If done neatly and straight the change in strength asn safety should not be affected. Without welding I have altered a Bronco II front push bumper to mount to a Thing using the car’s stock mounting brackets. The Bronco II bumper was too wide for the Thing bumper mounts so we cut and spliced the bumper tube in the same location that the running lights mounted so that the light mounts hide the bumper splice.

[sxuxrxf]

My VWoA roll bar fits nicely under my FiberJet hard top.
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(ignore the X's )

[Semper_Dad]

I do believe either VWoA bar (EAST OR WEST) will fit under the VWoA hardtop. Everything else is a crap shoot.
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Walküre Restoration Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=737492

[citroen]

factory roll bar factory hard top

[Jzsquared]

Thanks for the help and the pics

[NOVA Airhead]

[FV195]

I have a VWOA bar and have had a VWOA hardtop, and now have a fiberjet, both roofs fit with no problems, soft and biniki top too

[Jzsquared]

[kubelmann]

Speaking of good looking. My dad bought a used 74 in 1975 from the dealer. It was Orange with a blck soft top and factory roll cage. At the time I thought that was one cool car. I tried to get him to let me have it. My wife (girl friend back then) did not like that the windows did not roll up and down. Years later, my first Thing was a 73. It had a VW factory hard top with an after-market (built in Tucson, AZ) roll cage. I always thought it was a cool car but did not think it was any kind of sporty sharp looking ride. Then one day, I took off the top and drove with just the roll cage. That has a sporty adventurer look. I recently brought back from the dead a very worn and beaten 74 Thing . During the resto I was driving it around locally with no windshield frame , a soft top frame secured with bungee cords to the newly installed factory roll cage. It had very worn bias tires and its own share of body work issues.. As I was driving it around getting it all systems working prior to the cosmetic phase, I ran out of gas and had to walk home. This gave me a change to look at the car from a distance. As I walked toward it.... It looked strangely like Fred Flintstone’s family ride.... So I laughed and thought, great, I am building a Thingstone. I think the best two looks for a Thing include no top and/or a modified bikini or bimini and or most a full soft top (with the top down of course) ... The hard top tend to give the car the cable guy’s work truck sort of look.