My factory hard top sealed across the top of the windscreen frame with the same
type of gasket setup as the soft top. Though with the bolts mounting the hard
top you could get more gasket crush . There's a couple of different ways to
help
any top seal, using kayaking type tricks (shields, drain chanels, etc). Though
my
stock soft top doesn't leak there, nor do I remember any of my fathers Spitfires
leaking across the windshield frame. Side windows are a different story.
As for heat, I've got the usual over abundance of it. Weak heaters isn't
a normal Spitfire malady. Not a fun job to replace, but it might be worth
considering. I've regularly taken my Spitfire out in sub freezing weather,
top down (or tanneu off), heater cranked up, and been just fine in a
light jacket. Though I admit to being accused of being Nannuk of the North
by my friends that think Florida in the summer is dandy.
I agree that the stock hard top is a very striking and good
looking piece. Too bad the soft top can't follow those
lines.
Incidently, somewhere I read a thing where a couple stuffed a black
foam sheet up in the soft top between the bows and the fabric. They
claimed it greatly increased climate control and noise reduction. It
probably does. I've had the nice tops before (Mercedes, VW) and
they are vastly different then the single sheet of fabric our Spitfires
have. Just another notion to consider.
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