Hard or Soft?

[laffycaffi]

So it sounds like someone's interested in buying my hard top. I am not sure if I should say no and keep it or sell it and use the $$ towards a soft top.

I have weighed some positives and negatives about switching but maybe someone here has some thoughts that I have not yet thought about. Opinions?

[ClayJ]

How's your heater? Is your bronco a daily driver? I think soft tops are much colder than hard tops. I'm about to find out how well a hard top does through the Colorado winters.

[laffycaffi]

Heater sucks. But not my daily driver.

[Kinder]

This question seems to asked about the same time every year, there was a thread last year on CB.com. A soft top is doable through the winter here, even with a original heater setup, but you'll need to dress for a drafty vehicle and throw a blanket in the back for any passengers. I have a hardtop for mine that I've never put on yet (came w/the purchase), but I keep it just in case the crazy grabs me to put it back on. I ran a soft top all last winter and commuted to work a few days a week and did some 100 mile trips without a problem and the only problem I've had is a cold shoulder from the draft at the door jam.

[sbolt19]

The hard top is cold, no matter what. I have had both headliner & no headliner. Carpet & no carpet. All combos are fricking cold. I remember with my old Willys, that when it was really cold, it would snow inside with the soft top, so take that for what it is worth. I wouldn't do either without a good working heater, stock or doing the Chebby upgrade. I am looking into putting an auxilary heater in so that I don't have to wear gloves this winter.

[ClayJ]

The hard top is cold, no matter what. I have had both headliner & no headliner. Carpet & no carpet. All combos are fricking cold. I remember with my old Willys, that when it was really cold, it would snow inside with the soft top, so take that for what it is worth. I wouldn't do either without a good working heater, stock or doing the Chebby upgrade. I am looking into putting an auxilary heater in so that I don't have to wear gloves this winter.

Man, you're spooking me. Other than my motorcycle, I got nothing to drive but the Bronco for the winter. Maybe I'll have to wear the ski jacket, pants, and gloves while driving.

[laffycaffi]

Thanks for the thoughts. I think I'm going to keep the hard top and invest in an aux heater. good . Now that we're on that subject, any s for new heaters?

I see we have new emoticons. I think I'll use this one to sign off:

[freeheelbillie]

Yup it depends on how much you plan on driving in the winter. Mine is a daily driver rain or shine so I have put a fair amount of effort into getting weather tight and comfortable. Personally, since I know your lady (and women in general) I would stick with the hard top if you want her to tag along for rides. Warmth in an issue with soft tops in the winter of course but so is road noise, draft and condensation, not to mention security. Condensation is the big nasty with soft tops...think about a rain or freezing rain followed by a solid freeze. It will snow inside your car as soon as you break 10mhp! Take it from a guy who rocked a soft top and soft doors on a CJ year round in Michigan.

As far as heat I must be lucky cuz when I run my heater in the dead of winter I do so with the window cracked to keep from getting roasted out! If yours is weak talk to Dana at Bronco Hut, he has a nice way to beef up a tired heater on the cheep. If you do run the hardtop you'll want a headliner for sure! The difference is night and day for heat and road noise.

In a perfect world I would run a hardtop with the sliding side windows to get air moving around in the summer and have a place for the pooch to hang her head out from the back. Also, the EZ lift off door hinges are cool too.

[sbolt19]

First off, I would do the Chevy blower motor upgrade. It is a fairly cheap deal and it moves a lot of air. Almost 2x as much as the original blower does. Make sure you got the right T-stat, that is something that I found out I have a problem with right now, but make sure you got the right one to keep the heat up. Mine is too low so at idle it blows cold air. As for an aux heater, I am still brainstorming on how I want to do it, but I am gonna go junkyard shopping here in the near future to see what is available for a center console out of a car for rear heat. When I come across something, I'll let everyone know what I am cookin' up.

[ClayJ]

I've done the Chevy blower upgrade and it sure puts out more air. Doesn't always put out hot air though, maybe I have too low of a thermostat. I just got whatever was reccomended, I think it's 180 degrees.

Aux heater thread

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showth ... p?t=172348

[sbolt19]

Yep, that's my thread. I like what krisbassett has done, but I want to do something a little smaller, so I am going to go to the junkyard and take apart a small car like an Acura or something small to see if there is a smaller blower motor. But I definitely want to be able to get heat to the back end and to also be able to shut the water off so that during the summer it doesn't get hot sitting next to it.

[laffycaffi]

I've done the Chevy blower upgrade and it sure puts out more air. Doesn't always put out hot air though, maybe I have too low of a thermostat. I just got whatever was reccomended, I think it's 180 degrees.

Aux heater thread

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showth ... p?t=172348

My heater blows a lot of air! Just not very hot. So that in mind... maybe I don't need a new blower, just a new thermostat??? That would be awesome. What do you suggest?

[freeheelbillie]

I've done the Chevy blower upgrade and it sure puts out more air. Doesn't always put out hot air though, maybe I have too low of a thermostat. I just got whatever was reccomended, I think it's 180 degrees.

Aux heater thread

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showth ... p?t=172348

My heater blows a lot of air! Just not very hot. So that in mind... maybe I don't need a new blower, just a new thermostat??? That would be awesome. What do you suggest?

Thermostat is cheap and easy to replace so its worth a shot.

Funny story...when I first bought my Bronco I drove around for a week thinking, "Man! it just doesnt seem to blow very warm air." Turned out I hadnt pulled out the "Heat" or the "Temp" knob!

[sbolt19]

Funny story...when I first bought my Bronco I drove around for a week thinking, "Man! it just doesnt seem to blow very warm air." Turned out I hadnt pulled out the "Heat" or the "Temp" knob!

My heat knob is frozen in the "Heat" position, so I cook my toes during the summer. I'm just too lazy to take it apart or go get a usable one.

[laffycaffi]

Personally, since I know your lady (and women in general) I would stick with the hard top if you want her to tag along for rides. .

Billie, this is my attempt to get her to toughen up! ;) She has actually surprised me. This morning I told her that I'm putting the hard top back on today and she got so bummed out. She actually likes bundling up in down jackets and riding at night with the bikini top.

A related note, I have a rule in the Bronco: When the bikini top is on, rolling windows up is NOT allowed.

[laffycaffi]

Funny story...when I first bought my Bronco I drove around for a week thinking, "Man! it just doesnt seem to blow very warm air." Turned out I hadnt pulled out the "Heat" or the "Temp" knob!

When I got my Bronco, for the first 2 weeks, my gas guage was broken. After running out of gas twice, I brought it to High Country 4x4. They told me the toggle switch was set to "auxiliary" and it just needed to be switched to "main".

Can you believe they actually tried to charge me $25 for that and called it an "electrical repair"?!?!? WTF???