There's a UT on a golf cart, the steering column was shortened and I can reach the pedals by hand. Worked great but the batteries are kaput.

An experiment. Half inch pipe and foam core with fiber glass

This top ended up too heavy and a hell of a lot of unnecessary trouble to make. It does work though!

Btw, bondo and styrofoam are not compatible. Neither is polyester resin and styrofoam. Oh well…

UT made from 1/2" pipe some ply and a little construction screen… note gas spring.

 Pull up along side on the prone cart.

Gotta pull a pin to pivot into the upright operational position.

A gas spring assists the lifting.

A pin holds the top in the upright position.

Rebar clutch extension. I've been using this mower for years now and it's never let me down yet. They just don't build 'em like they used to.

Ha Ha!!! The Ford got a face lift. Took the old fixed mount off and built a pivoting mount like the mtd has. I use this tiller in the garden.

Second generation top is 1/2" sch. 40 pipe and fiberglass laid right over it. Smooth it on the topside with Bondo. Velcro patches glued on help hold the cushion in place.

A nitrogen gas spring assists the lift. You still have to do a little "push up" (weight transfer) to effect the tilt but the spring is enough to take up the rest.

Parallel arms keep the top level as the top pivots. Yeah I know they don't look parallel, it's just the camera angle. Rod ends at each end of the links.

In operating position, gas spring extended.

An old piece of band iron welded to a door hinge make up the clutch lever.

When the top's up in the operational position, one of the parallel arms fits into this shackle and then is trapped in with a pin. Here you can also see that when the top's down, the frame sits on those doohickeys under it. You can also notice in this photo, an easy way to lay fiberglass up smooth is to use poster board bend it to the proper radius and masking tape it into place. Then just glass over it, shiny side first. That's what the white is on the side of the top in this pic. If you try to just lay the glass cloth in loose and then apply the resin it will get way too wavy. Sometimes I use saran wrap on top of the poster board, it comes off the fiberglass ok and then you can pull the poster board out.

This little number is an old lawn mower I was using to go around the yard sawing off multiflora rose and picking up rocks. The multiflora tend to give me flat tires on the prone cart so I built my version of an all-purpose buggy..

Took the steering wheel off and made it a lever that connects to the linkage on the axle. It now steers like an airboat, push front to turn left, pull to go right. Works great!

The top pans and tilts, kinda like an az-el mount. Galvanized angle iron tripod at front keeps it locked into operating position.

Here you can see when it's down I can reach the ground, a plate under the top sit's on top of the pipe. Just the weight of my upper body holds the top down like many of my other things. Just gotta make sure the pivot point is somewhat to the rear of the center of gravity, but not too far back. Here you can also see the curvature of the UT. It holds you in snug.

I can pivot it over 90 degrees to each side.

Here you can see the shackle that locks the top into the operating position. The entire dashboard, consisting of throttle, ignition and ammeter, was reduced to a few square inches and welded right onto the sheet metal engine cowling. No clutch or brake extensions are necessary as I can reach them by hand when operating it.

The cg was too far front and doing a push up wasn't enough weight transfer to effect the pivot, so I just added some lead weights to the rear and now it pivots nicely. Also note; these 2^nd gen tops have plywood in the rear, where your feet push against. It's simpler and quicker than laying up heavier glass and gives a very sturdy back.

I think for my 3^rd generation top I will try to use some form of thermoforming plastic, like the stuff used for those plastic sleds the kids use in the snow. Make it so it will drape over a metal frame. I'll have to build some kind of oven, and it's somewhat costly, so perhaps not today…