<html class="apple-mail-supports-explicit-dark-mode"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"></div><div dir="ltr">No joke about how hard fiberglass is to work with. I lost my factory Bugeye hardtop in a fire. Hagerty gave me $4500 for it based on a used one for sale on eBay ($900+$300 shipping), and $3300 to restore it. </div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Mar 24, 2026, at 6:18 AM, Tim Collins via Spridgets <spridgets@autox.team.net> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Back in September of 2022 Rick Fisk posted a Spridget hardtop as a give away item. After a day or so I sent Rick a note saying if no one else wanted the hardtop I would take it rather than have it get trashed. Rick responded; "Come and get it." Several others were interested until they learned where Rick lives. <br><br>I'm 33 miles away from his home so getting the top was "easy." Easy is in quotes because I don't have a truck. I drove to Rick's in my (at the time) 2002 Mercury Sable "grandma car." - inherited from my mother-in-law. The top wouldn't fit in the car easily no matter how we twisted it. I finally lashed it to the open trunk lid - partly in the trunk - and drove home. <br><br>My wife had passed away 5 months prior so I thought this would make a good project to keep me busy.<br><br>Here's what I learned about restoring a fibreglass hardtop;<br>I don't like working with fibreglass<br>Free is quite expensive<br>Parts may be available - somewhere else in the world, but not nearby<br>Some parts are not available - anywhere<br>I had fun with the project! Maybe the most important part of this story.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">The hardtop was missing one sidelight. I made a pattern and went to a glass company with an aluminum pattern to be sure I would get a perfect fit. On the second try they made a window that matched the pattern. The cost was in the neighborhood of $168, but it is tempered glass as it should be. McGregor British Car Parts in Canada was able to provide most trim and seal parts except for the window seals for the sidelights. I never did find an exact replacement so I ended up buying the closest size I could find and then trimmed some off to fit. It's not perfect, I couldn't use the lock strip, trade offs were made. I chose a MG blue paint, Iris Blue - I don't know why, it just worked for me.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">It isn't that heavy, but putting it on by myself wasn't easy and as I get older it won't get any easier. So, I put a hoist on the ceiling of my garage which also provides an elevated storage location. That's another story.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Thanks again to Rick for the hardtop!!! </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"> </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Here's some before and after pics.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><div><sprite top 2.jpeg></div></div><div><20240912_163214.jpg></div><br><div><20250528_084837.jpg></div><br><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">I couldn't find a good pic of the sidelights in the weather seal. These pics have temporary plastic sidelights. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Tim Collins</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div></div>
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