Here's a project I've been thinking about since I got the BJ74.
I love having a hardtop. It's kind of a pain to take on/off like a weekly thing, not going to happen.
I love driving without the top, most of the time. We get A LOT of afternoon showers/hail here so lots of risk. The interior is really nice on this so I don't want to mess it up.
As much as I want a softop, it's not in the cards right now $$$ wise. That would pretty much solve it all.
I've toyed with the idea of a safari/bikini top and then buying a trail cover if it rains while I'm at work. It's fairly cheap and I will probably do that, but it's not without fabrication ~$250.00 so not bad. And driving in a storm is still going to get things wet, Not too mention that whole issue with the back full doors. I still will never understand why they didn't half-door ALL FRP top rigs.
That said, all 73/74 series owners have dealt or will deal with rusty windows slides, shrunken gaskets on the slider windows. Those windows are great overall. The dog loves them. They are like an RV window, and a bit of a pain to take out, fix and put back in with adhesive.
My first thought was to make a modular hard top. You can take the sides off for a safari top option, pull sides and top. Would make the whole thing easier to deal with removing/storing. However you still have those dumb doors to deal with, and a chunk of fabrication on an old top, thats pretty much impossible to replace. It is however repairable being fiberglass so thats a plus.
I also thought about finding a spare hard top and hacking/mod it. I might, but again they are hard to find.
So I found some threads about gull windows on 80 series, troopies etc which are pretty great, but not 100% useful if you have passengers in a BJ74. I believe some of the Euro rigs had FRP with solid windows for tax purposes. Having dog windows open, or kid windows is good air flow. Getting closer. I decided with RV windows they are replaceable so I could fit some sort of removable window or soft window to get almost a safari top type of setup. Those side windows are big on the 73/74.
Low and behold, I found a guy thats really good with fiberglass, hacking up jeep tops, modding them pretty much all what I had in my head so most of the thinking/design has been done and tested. Here is a good thread, albeit Jeep, about this guys hard top modding, and how he engineers it for other companies and such:
Converting a factory JK/JKU hardtop to modular
The idea, pull the sliding windows out.
Repair/restore them.
Get a piece of Lexan, shape to the window size. Put a sealing trim on it, and "lock" it in place with clips or something on the inside. Lots of options.
Pull these out for more of a safari top with hard top feel. Easily put back on in a storm and you are only out $60ish buck for lexan if you break it. You could use wood, aluminum whatever, gull wing, soft window (to roll up and store easier)
Window installed in top:
Taken out: you can see the clips on the inside. Lots of options here for latching.
Lexan piece and trim: The snaps he was using for a soft roll up window insert, which he said works fine with the hard lexan/trim setup.
So I plan to move forward with the window mods fairly soon. They are 100% easily put back to stock and it gives a way to repair the OEM windows. Now the best form of this would be to have a lexan setup with sliding windows which can be done, it will just take some work. That way you can still get airflow without removing windows.
Of course, this could all change depending on how the setup looks without a window in place. I'm not sure how much of a lip is on the FRP tops for the glass frame to attach to?
In the future I will be making some half doors or my own removable glass doors or a new tailgate setup. Not sure.
It's possible to do the snaps in lexan, although I wonder if it will let weather in? maybe not be as easy to take off??
err only Land Cruiser...well the only Toyota besides my tundra. Lots of thumbs up! (the key word was stay in your cars)
Only on this side, and the only spot in the whole engine bay. I just put some paint/rust cover on it for now. Add it to the list.
