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Chaser Aero Carbon Fiber Hardtop - NB

15K views 145 replies 31 participants last post by  revlimiter 
#1 · (Edited)
UPDATE -Chaser Aero Carbon Fiber Hardtop - NB

This is a product review for the carbon fiber hardtop group buy that took place here.

Cost of top: $1300 shipped

Included: spec style a-pillar plates, some sort of side fasteners, weather seals, Lexan rear window, bag of screws

I paid for this top in August of 2009. I received the top March 29, 2010. There was a delay in manufacturing due to part sourcing issues. My top was delivered by request without the side seals - to be provided at a later date. The box showed up in good condition. A quick inspection of the material condition checked out. the top arrived unscathed.

Upon closer inspection, the build quality is poor. The weather stripping around the rear window was shoddy, and already peeling. Two of the rivets holding the window on were botched and poorly fixed with nasty filler that left unsightly blemishes on the passenger side. Once out of the garage and into the light, the top had lots of scuffs and markings from manufacturing that had been left on the top. 20 minutes with a buffing compound got most of them out. The inside of the top is consistent with the exterior. Many blemishes and scuffs large enough to notice at a glance.

Once buffed, the carbon fiber finish was nice and even and quite lustrous.

Build quality for my top is not favorable

The fit and seal of the top to my particular car is very poor. The windshield joint is the only part that has an acceptable seal. My car is equipped with a Hard Dog Hardcore bar. The hardtop has a relief where the bar is to pass through, but it is not even close to the correct spot. the bar interferes with the rear most fastener location where one would attach quick-release top latches. This kit only includes a small piece of metal that uses two fasteners. Not enough to locate the top properly. I was left with massive gaps around the deck seal and unsafe conditions for use in motion. The only way to get it to fit correctly would be to remove material from the hardtop liner. Something that would render quick-release latches unusable. the rear most tabs used for fastening the top to the stainless steel stanchions on the deck are useless. they have not been drilled for provisions of rear fasteners.

The fit for a car that was supposed to work out without issues is bad. I cannot drive with this top, and do not have it on my car as I took it off after test fitting.

Fit and mounting hardware for my top is insufficient

I am very disappointed with this transaction having paid and waited 7 months for a poor quality top. I would have much rather paid to get an OEM top. Now I must either see what my options are with Chaser. If I end up keeping it due to significant cost reduction, I will need to grind and cut away the inner shell to get it to seal. If you have a car similar to mine and are expecting this top, beware fitment issues with the bar. And I sincerely hope your top was assembled with more care and skill than mine was.

Please note that this in no way reflects poorly on Russ (ChaserAero) He has been very good to deal with thus far and has been honest, and kept me up to speed for the duration of my wait. He does not build the tops, nor does he ship them.

I have seen pictures of a top that was assembled well. I don't know what happened here, but it is tragic. Why a top would be released for shipping in this condition is beyond me.

I will be contacting Chaser Aero and will update this review if the correspondence goes favorably. As of this post, I feel unjust.
























Check back later to see how this issue is resolved. Until then, happy motoring!



May 10, 2010.

Things are not going well. Chaser will not comply with my request for a refund. No compensation has been offered for my top, which requires a rebuild. I PAID for Chaser to assemble it. Now my 1300 top is going to cost closer to 1900 because it still does not have side seals, and is no better than a shell at this point. A shell that does not even fit my car. This is not over. I am taking this higher.

Chaser - don't **** with me. Chime in if you got my back folks.
 
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#2 ·
That is unfortunate. I'm still waiting for my top. I have the M2HDHCDDHT or whatever on my NA and I'm hoping I don't have these issues. We'll find out soon enough.... or maybe soon.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Interesting. My Kevlar top was pristine. I am awaiting my CF.



Just as a side note, the side "striker" brackets you were given do not mount in the form you have them mounted. No wonder it doesnt fit well. I believe you are supposed to cut into your plastic side pillar and use the factory holes that were meant for the side strikers. Fix your side strikers and your top will fit much tighter. That is how I fit mine and it is a tight fit.

I have a custom roll bar and I dont have fitment issues so I am not sure about any HD products although I have had a few OEM tops on my bar and this top is exactly where an OEM top is fitted.
 
#5 ·
yeesh man...this kinda has me worried, even though mine's an NA. Kind of off-putting that they didn't buff out the imperfections before shipping, or wipe down/clean up the interior of the top before boxing it up. Hopefully Russ sees this before any more tops ship out, and maybe he'll go take a closer look at the build quality of the tops that are being produced/shipped in the near future. Good luck with this man. That's a lot of money to spend on something less than stellar, especially in this economy.
 
#9 ·
Here is a rough. Anyone who has a properly fitted hardtop knows what I am talking about.

Shouldn't affect how much the top moves up and down too much considering if you actually mounted the rears correctly. Keep in mind that if you actually just used the stud from the Frankenstein bolt it would be obvious that your top doesnt fit. This is because the Frankenstein bolt is like .5 to 1 inch higher then how you have yours mounting. You need to shim the rear to give you the proper OEM height. If you took a close look at the OEM top you know what I am talking about.

That Frank bolt sits much higher than the stud you are probably using. Find the proper length stud.


 
#11 ·
I didn't even use the franken bolts to mount. The tabs aren't pre-drilled. Not a big deal, I can figure that out. But that is not what is holding the top that far up. The roll bar is. I simply can't get it closer to the seal. There is interference. The rear mounts are just laying on the deck. There is no issue there. Even without being fastened, the tabs lie fairly flat on the deck. There is a detent in the bottom of the tabs that allow the franken bolt that I didn't remove to hide inside.

As far as cutting up my pillar plastic, this I was unaware of. Ugh. Is this how Miatas with factory hardtops were built?
 
#15 ·
This is true, and I recognize that I can get it to work with some material removal from the inside of the hardtop. But c'mon. I am not please about hacking up my 1225 dollar or whatever "plug and play" hardtop. Which is what I will probably end up doing. But not before I contact Chaser in the AM. At least let them know of a compatibility issue. And a craftsmanship issue too.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Here is how the Rennenmetal brackets bolt up if you still need a picture. I've had the interior panels off since I installed the roll bar because I didn't feel like hacking them up.

Edit: It looks like your interior shell is molded directly, albeit poorly, from an OEM top, and the relief is not meant to accommodate a roll bar. Many bars interfere with the side latch locations. That's why I'm using brackets, and why there are products like low profile latches, as well as "hardtop" model rollbars that clear the side latches. It looks like once you address the stuff we've covered in this thread, your top should fit and be compatible no differently than an OEM one. If your roll bar isn't a hardtop-compatible model, you definitely won't be able to use latches, but hopefully should be able to use brackets just fine. Messing with your interior panels is just a given, sorry.

While doing the brackets properly and using frankenstein bolts will definitely improve the fit, That build quality still looks unacceptably poor. I know small volume fabricated stuff like this will never approach OEM quality, but that just looks like careless work.


Alright, the fitftw "I looked at a picture of these on the internet" seal of approval.
 
#22 ·
I am seriously upset about this and may cancel cause I am definitely not chopping my top up if it has this many defects.. Hopefully the NA fit better...

Verwah isnt there 2 versions of your bar... a "short" version for HT...

I have a Boss Frog and am hoping that I dont have this issue..

Has anyone else had an issue like this..
 
#23 ·
I am seriously upset about this and may cancel cause I am definitely not chopping my top up if it has this many defects.. Hopefully the NA fit better...
There is no difference in the way the two fit. His seems to be mounted improperly at the moment and he may just have an incompatible model of rollbar. I'd reserve judgment on the fit until he works his out.
 
#24 ·
Yeah I just was able to get the pics to load... thats what it looks like is that the bar doesnt work. I have the Boss Frog that they say works with OEM tops so we will see. I am going to continue with Russ cause he seems legit and I think if there are any issues he would resolve them..

People post pics when you receive your tops.. Im hoping this is a fluke and not that blue car being a fluke...
 
#27 ·
Man, being on the list waiting for one of these has me very concerned. Fortunately, I'll be picking mine up in person, and if my rear window seal looks like that you can be sure I'll skip on this purchase. That looks like a 12 year old assembled it in art class.
 
#31 ·
Ok, woah woah...

The window, yes, I have to kick some asses to find out what the deal with that is. But not fitting becuase of the rollbar, how can you blame me for that?? This is a direct copy of the OEM Hardtop shell. Have you test fitted and OEM hardtop in your current set up?

I had a Hard Dog M2 Sport in my Miata and I had zero issues. Do you have a HDHCHT Bar?
 
#32 · (Edited)
Yeah, I've got the HDHCHT bar. No I have not test fit any other top. But the location you see in the pic is as close to sealed as I can get it. It is touching the bar. Could the top be bowed, or deformed at all? I tried to press it down, but I didn't try too hard because I heard it starting to stress and crack. It clears the top of the bar and the angled part of the sides just fine. The only interference is at the point that is apparent in the pic.

And I fixed the price. I paid 1300 for it, not 1400 like the original post indicated.
 
#33 ·
I don't think the top is bowed...itd show at every other point. The windsheild, at the trunk, etc. My HT's fit the same, OEM and CF...in relation to the bar, etc.

The rear window, not gonna lie, its a b*t*h. What I suggested to my tech is flip the seal the way I had it, use longer rivets and shim it. (the one side is fat and warps the window, hence why he flipped it - shimming may take care of it).

He's going to test some other ideas and see what works. He changed something somewhere and the very last top he did looked stunning. Not sure what he did. Even the slightest variance in the window thickness can effect the seal.

If I can send you another window, and a handful of rivets, can you handle drilling the rivets out and pop new ones in? You wont have to do anything to the window, just rivet.
 
#36 ·
If I can send you another window, and a handful of rivets, can you handle drilling the rivets out and pop new ones in? You wont have to do anything to the window, just rivet.
Yeah, that could work. But I think I would have to drill the new window too. I don't see how you could do that over there in MD and have it turn out better than it is. I will have to replace the weather seal anyway. Its already peeling off across the top.
 
#34 ·
out of curiosity Russ, was this top molded from an early NA hard top? If so this is taken from M.net:

Q) How are the various Mazda tops different?
All Mazda hard tops are based on the same design. All are made of "sheet molding compound" (SMC) which is kind of like fiberglass. They have a large wraparound glass window, with defroster elements after 1994. The top is held on by 4 latches (two at the windshield header and two behind the doors) and 2 cleats that slip over "Frankenstein bolts" on the rear deck. The top weighs between 40lbs and 50lbs, depending on model year. My 2003 Mazda hardtop (which has both the defroster and headliner) weighs 50.5lbs.


Mazda changed the hard top design 4 times (so far):
  • 1989-1991 - Original
  • 1992-1997 - Defroster and Headliner - This top has a defroster built into the rear window, along with a wiring pigtail to connect it to the car's electrical system. This top also adds some more insulation to the inside of the top, reducing noise and heat loss.
  • 1999-early 2003 - Pigtail - This top has a different plug style for the defroster pigtail. The L-shaped brackets to hold down the soft top are also longer in the NB top than in the NA top.
  • Late 2003-2004 - Latches - This top has redesigned latches to match those on the 2003+ cars. See this TSB for VINs. If you want to use this top on an earlier car, you must replace the strikers or they will be damaged and the top may not stay latched! It also has the new defroster pigtail plug and longer L-brackets like the '99.
 
#37 ·
The window would be predrilled. I think we gave them a drilled template. I think. If not, line it up and drill.

As far as changes, the actual core of the top didn't seem to change. I think its a later NA version, as our tops have provisions for the headliner, which 90-93 wouldn't have in theory as it wasn't "thought of." I used NA latches on my hardtop, so I think its an NA version. Nothing in the core of the top changed though...other than holes (6 total I think) to allow the clips for the headliner. I had a 90-93 OEM HT, and everything fit the same.
 
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