1994 Mazda Miata: Holey Soft Top, Batman!

Yes I have a hard top on my 94, no you can't have it. Funny thing is Miata hardtops are even more valuable than the hardtops for early 90's Mercedes SL's. I once considered uninstalling my soft top because whenever my hard top is off the soft top stays down. Except living here on the coast the marine layer makes it a good idea to put the soft top up at night.

By the way... what's with the glass rear window and seat belt tower brace? My 94 has the original soft top on it and it has a plastic rear window. FYI the glass window tops won't fold down with many of the real rollbars. And as for the seat belt tower brace I don't remember if mine ever had one before I put the roll bar in.

srlracing, the glass windown top you see is one I unearthed from a friend's driveway after he removed it from his '99 to install a hardtop.

I'm done with softtops on this car.

All '94s came with the rear bulkhead brace.

Dude, I'd go with a new soft top. Does the hard top help at the track somehow? Seems like the best thing about the Miata is the manual convertible roof that can open and close without even getting out of the car. Put a hard top on, especially for a fleet car like this, and you'll never want to bother with taking it off and on again, and that kinda defeats the purpose of a roadster, no?

Convertibles hold no appeal to me, and I'm the guy doing the work on this car. Softtops are not secure, they're noisy, nuisance-prone, and I sunburn. I never put the top down. A hardtop is really a no-brainer...

That reminds me of my '74 Triumph Spitfire (affectionately dubbed, oh so wittily, the Sh!tfire). Luckily it came with the original hardtop so I never really had to use the soft top. If I got caught in an unexpected downpour I was more concerned about the electrical system staying dry than I was about the interior and myself. I loved that car, but it never reciprocated. I still feel jilted. :)

A friend of mine had an early gen-1 Miata, and went through several tops.

His solution: Sold it and bought an '08 Miata with the folding hardtop.

@jkavanagh

I completely agree with you.

We live in the real world where rain and birds come without warning.

Unless it was raining (or cold enough to snow) I can't remember ever driving a Miata with the top up.

No car is "secure", the hard top isn't as quiet as you hope and the Miatas soft top is so brillantly easy and simple to put up and down that I can't see why it would be " nuisance-prone"

Sorry to hear about the sunburns.

There's a guy in Irvine selling a hard top (no defroster, likely from a '90-'93) for $700. It's faded Classic Red, but you're likely going to have to paint the hard top to match anyway. If you can live without the rear defroster, $700 isn't bad.

http://www.miata.net/isclassifieds/

There's also a craigslist ad in Torrance for a black hard top with defroster for $850. You wouldn't even have to paint that one!

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/pts/1843172877.html

I saw several fiberglass replicas for sale, but if you're going to track the car, you may want to check regulations about the hard tops. I don't know if it has changed, but I believe SCCA was only allowing OEM hard tops.

Thanks for the clarification, I was wondering why you had an NB (’99-’05) soft top on. Now I’m wondering how someone managed to wear out an NB soft top! Most ’99 tops are still in decent shape, except maybe those that were regularly raised and lowered in temperatures below 40ºF.

The hardtop does help with noise and a bit with stiffness, but it’ll still be a loud car. And convertibles are wonderful at night. They’re also fine in the rain if you stay above 50mph, so it’s okay to be caught on the freeway. If you’re not on the freeway then you probably have time to put the top up (some people find it hard to do with their right hand, especially with a windblocker – in that case use your left). Birds though… yeah, I raise the top when I park just for that reason.

It makes not a whit of difference that the top goes up or down easily because: I never put the top down.

Softtops fall apart, flap, tear at seams, leak, split. They shudder over bumps. Their visibility stinks. You can slice into them with nothing more than a car key or a sharp stone. Softtops are nothing but a nuisance.

I guess it comes down to whether you like convertibles or not.

I do and therefore....

Hardtops are expensive, look bad, you are stuck with it on when you want it off and stuck with off when you want it one. You need a place to store it and it's a pain to install compared to raising the soft top.

You're right, it comes down to preference... hardtops are definitely expensive. They're like currency, though -- they're largely immune to depreciation. Put it on, keep it on. Permanently. Done.

Wait, a softtop looks better than a hardtop? On what planet?

jkavanagh, I take it you guys will be doing some pretty radical changes to this car and really making it into a track weapon. I can totally understand why you want the hardtop.

Now, if you were just keeping it for fleet duty you would replace the fabric.

I had a Trams Am WS6 with heads and cam that I took to the drag strip frequently....I kept it as a soft top. I loved driving that car at night, down A1A here in Palm Beach county, even with the humidity. I loved the noises that car made, top up or down. With you guys being in California, I can't imagine NOT owning a convertible, the weather is perfect.

But hey, it's your opinion, I respect that. I don't understand it, but I respect it. ;-)

not sure who sells it but there is a hardtop for the Miata that looks very similar to a cayman. It cover the trunk as well but cannot remember if you have to remove the trunk lid. I would think you do.
BTW-My mother in law has one of the sunburst yellow models; I think 1994. pretty cool car.

I thought I submitted this earlier:

Miata fastback v1:
http://tinyurl.com/2949c95

fastback v2:
http://tinyurl.com/2dzkbsm

I have no connection to this co. just thought their fastback Miata's looked great!

@jkavanagh. LOL you have no soul!!! In my 94 when I have the top down cruising around the SoCal beaches with rock hard racing suspension making me wonder why I even drive the car the sweet sound of the exhaust filling the air I know life is just right. The character of the car changes from a fun rip your face off sports car to a still pretty fun rip your face off sportscar but you are so detached from the experience I think. But that might just be because I'm used to formula cars, open cockpit sports racers, and motorcycles.

In formula cars, open cockpits sports racers, and motorcycles... you wear a helmet.

No soul, geez, rough crowd. I'm sticking to my guns, though. Hardtops > softtops.

Just toss a roll bar in! And as long as you don't lack in driving skill you will keep the shiny side up! ;)

Also, like the fiberglass hard top would do anything for you if you roll it!

What I meant is that a helmet negates the 'open air' experience.

What's wrong with you edmunds guys? New softtops are like 150 bucks on ebay. You don't even have to read a manual to change it. Take a few hours. Don't embarrass yourselves, put a new top already.