MIC Top 1.0 inside construction & material (cross section) - pics

[Rayder]

I would venture to say this is the material that a lot of the members on this board are claiming is cardboard. It took 2 minutes to search and find this, and I really don't believe an advanced car company beholden to its investors, would produce $40-60k vehicles with cardboard reinforcing the top...just sayin

I wish, she's cardboard unfortunately, this is from Webasto's sell sheet on the product.

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[Rkgzx9leftcoast]

A multi Billion Dollar company.....all they had to do was buy a jeep hardtop and reverse engineer it.... what has been working for decades. They didn't ask the right people.... and way to many so called experts still have their jobs......

 

[RoLyMa27]

You are correct that car inflation has been quite low for the past 20 years

In January of 97 I paid $21,900 for a 97 model F150 XLT. (sticker was $24,555). It was an extended cab with the third door, 5.4 V8. Nice truck!
THE 2019 F150 XLT FX4 crew I bought in January of 20 stickered for $55K, I paid $45k! Y'all consider that low inflation???

 

[rugbysecondrow]

I'm no top expert, but the innards don't appear to be the problem, right? The issue seems to be the outer layer of construction.

All this hand wringing about what the inside looks like is fraught with concern but would be much ado about nothing had the outer layer been constructed better and more consistently.

Seems like misplaced angst, IMO.

 

[heavyD]

A multi Billion Dollar company.....all they had to do was buy a jeep hardtop and reverse engineer it.... what has been working for decades. They didn't ask the right people.... and way to many so called experts still have their jobs......

Everything is built to a cost. It's not likely that Webasto can't build decent roof panels. It's likely that they are having trouble building these panels with profit margin which is why corners are being cut. Auto manufacturers grind their suppliers to supply quality products for as cheap as possible and sometimes the suppliers bite off more than they can chew. It certainly appears to be the case here. I would have no issues paying $500 more for a Bronco if it was going to come with a higher quality roof and maybe Ford should consider raising the price on the MIC tops if suppliers can't build a quality roof at the current price point.

 

[SasBLSven]

Hello! My store recently replaced a MIC 1.0 top for one of our customers, and part of the replacement process required us to cut up the old top panels. Would anyone be interested in seeing the inside of the MIC top?


Edit: Below are some pictures that I took of the MIC 1.0. After inspecting the top and seeing just how thin that outer shell is, I can see why the honeycomb structure of the top was showing through when exposed to extreme heat/moisture.

And that's why the to is under $700

 

[PDiddy]

Now, I am no expert at interneting, but I can not find a single section image of a Wrangler hardtop. Apparently, people have not needed to cut one up.

I have a soft top now. I think I will skip past a Ford hard top and buy an aftermarket one, when available. I love my Bronco, but quality control has not been priority 1, 2, or 3.

 

[mdonathan56]

I would venture to say this is the material that a lot of the members on this board are claiming is cardboard. It took 2 minutes to search and find this, and I really don't believe an advanced car company beholden to its investors, would produce $40-60k vehicles with cardboard reinforcing the top...just sayin

This is a paper core coated with a resin to make your desired density core, i.e. 2, 4, 6 or 8 pounds per square foot. Worked the Aircraft industry and saw enough core to last two lifetimes.

 

[kkooch]

If this bothers you then you never want to visit an assembly plant to watch how your vehicle goes together.

Same with hot dogs....

 

[mdonathan56]

I think the confusing part for me is why not just make a single-layer fiberglass top? Maybe reinforce the edges where the roof rack connects and put some decent insulation inside. Why does it need to be a composite sandwich?

Full disclosure, I know nothing about tops so there may be an easy answer to this.

one word; Weight.

 

[Fonz54]

If this bothers you then you never want to visit an assembly plant to watch how your vehicle goes together.

You might like to eat the hot dogs but you probably don't want to see them being made.

 

[heavyD]

one word; Weight.

Yeah these vehicles are already far heavier than Wranglers and Ford already has issues with fleet fuel economy hence them cutting back horsepower figures for 2022 Mustangs.

 

[FLSTFI Dave]

Everything is built to a cost. It's not likely that Webasto can't build decent roof panels. It's likely that they are having trouble building these panels with profit margin which is why corners are being cut. Auto manufacturers grind their suppliers to supply quality products for as cheap as possible and sometimes the suppliers bite off more than they can chew. It certainly appears to be the case here. I would have no issues paying $500 more for a Bronco if it was going to come with a higher quality roof and maybe Ford should consider raising the price on the MIC tops if suppliers can't build a quality roof at the current price point.

Yep, they make the top for the Hard Top Convertible mid engine corvette. They make this top to GM's specifications and what they said they would pay for it.

They are making this MIC top to Ford specifications, and what Ford said they would pay for the top.

To me the issue is not what's in the middle, its the inner and outer layers are too thin, and the edge seams are not well sealed.

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