Custom Soft Top

[Claude]

Originally Posted by 406Special

Is the 405 DHC a 2 seater or 4? Having looked at the car with top up, it has no side glass behind the front doors (for passengers) just the soft top hood. I think it's a good idea to see how it's been done on the 405 and maybe it's a good starting point.
Clyde

The 405 is a four seater, although the back of the rear seat was custom made after the roof was chopped. The infill fabric in lieu of the rear side window is another compromise... Bristol never quite got the rear window right in any of its cars.. It should have been a crank-down and the popout would not work on a drophead unless Abbott had kept the frame. I would at least have a plastic window sewn in, or even zip open fabric.

The key question is to find out how to get a 405DH frame... you need to find one of 46 cars that is so far gone as not to be worth saving.

Here is your 406 with a 405 drophead top and I repainted the car from yellow to blue.

http://quick.village-town.com/406dh.jpg

On the discussion about strengthening the car, keep in mind, the 405 DH came from a 4 door 405 and it had no roll bar or any other additional strengthening. The body on the car does very little for its structural integrity. Bristols can be driven without a body at all. While the body adds crash protection, it is lightweight aluminium that is riveted, not welded onto the steel frame. The design came from a time when the manufacturer made the chassis and rolling stock, but then turned many of their cars over to a custom body shop - especially in Italy, but also in the UK and USA (Chevy... body by Fisher, for example)

Claude