1989 HDJ74 FRP to FST conversion

[bottombracket]

@coldtaco same part number? 90K18?

 

[coldtaco]

@coldtaco same part number? 90K18?

Don’t know.

 

[bottombracket]

Getting some sun to smooth out the soft top wrinkles. Gotta love Texas winters.

Violet hates bucket seats, because Nate is a seat hog.

 

[bottombracket]

Time to ride.

 

[fireball]

Fan-freakin’-tastic!!!

Want to do another one?!

 

[FJBen]

Awesome!

Can you show closeups of how the roll up part attaches to the body?

 

[bottombracket]

@fireball sure, bring all of your parts to the barn and we can assemble.

@FJBen how the roll up sides stay rolled up? Two straps with snaps on each side.

 

[FJBen]

@fireball sure, bring all of your parts to the barn and we can assemble.

@FJBen how the roll up sides stay rolled up? Two straps with snaps on each side.

How it attaches to the body, the roll up section.

 

[bottombracket]

How it attaches to the body, the roll up section.

It just attaches to a pair of straps on the underside of the soft top itself. I’ll snap pics tomorrow in the daylight.

 

[bottombracket]

It absolutely poured in Austin last night. I came out this morning to find the entire right side of the truck soaked.

…because my kids left the passenger door open. The soft top didn’t leak a drop.

@FJBen might take me a minute to get some good pics of how the top rolls up.

 

[FJBen]

It absolutely poured in Austin last night. I came out this morning to find the entire right side of the truck soaked.

…because my kids left the passenger door open. The soft top didn’t leak a drop.

@FJBen might take me a minute to get some good pics of how the top rolls up.

yeah, that happens lol.

Here's what I'm trying to figure out how it connects.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

It just attaches to a pair of straps on the underside of the soft top itself. I’ll snap pics tomorrow in the daylight.

So it does not utilize a “cleat and rope” setup like a Land Rover?

 

[bottombracket]

OK, I see what you’re saying now.

No cleats or ropes. At the bottom of the window flap is a pocket that has a steel bar with steel eyelets at the ends. The fabric and steel eyel at the bottom corners of the flap fit over the two post connectors. The outer flap of the soft top snaps over it. Let me get some better pictures.

Here are two pics showing the front and rear connectors.

 

[bottombracket]

Ok, sorry about parking garage pics with crappy lighting.

Front snap connector is on the leading edge of the soft top flap. Unsnap the connector, and lift the metal bar and canvas soft top eyelet off of the post connector. Repeat at the rear. The black metal rail runnng above the fender has no additional connectors to hold it all together. It’s just some dense foam padding along the entire soft top side.

 

[FJBen]

Great! Now I understand what is going on there. Just getting ideas for rollup windows on mine.

thanks!

 

[bottombracket]

Figuring out how the soft top goes together and how all the layers fit really reinforces why the connectors are the length that they are.

Here’s a visual rundown of the three sizes of snap fit connectors used on the top. I don’t think I’ve posted this before but I could be wrong.

90530–06003 are used on the rails above the doors and to secure the soft top to the C pillar above the rear doors. A total of 14 are used - four above each door, and six above the rear frame on top of the rear doors. They are used where the soft top goes directly against the metal rail with no additional padding. They are not wind proof as I hear a lot of noise coming in from the rail above the door, but they are waterproof.

90530–06004 are only used twice – one on each side of the B pillar where there’s an additional layer of foam padding. They are slightly longer.

90530-06005 are the longest, and four total are used. They go at the bottom of the side frame rails on top of the fenders and are used to secure the soft top sides with the metal rod through its eyelets.

Length comparison below.

 

[FJ73Texas]

Met @davegonz for a drink.

View attachment 2904427

You need a diesel badge for that cruiser grill (if you don't have one already)! You can get one from @bhicks here: 70 Series Cruiser Diesel Grille Badge – BH3D Printing - http://www.bh3dprinting.com/product/70-series-cruiser-diesel-grille-badge/ He was kind enough to reproduce them awhile back as the original is NLA.

 

[bottombracket]

Matt, thanks for the link. I’ll be ordering one or two of those ASAP.

Got one more big box from Dave at Japan 4 x 4. There are SO MANY parts that are not interchangeable. Here’s the soft top door strike that goes on the upper rail. Note that the factory soft top door frames do not have a latch at the top. The hard top frame and door has a secondary upper latch. I did get new weatherstripping so I will have to get the new door frames and glass in place soon.

 

[bottombracket]

Another one of the million little things:

The B pillar seals from the rollover bar to the tub are different for FRP versus FST. The FRP seal, which I was using, does get in the way of the edge of the soft top and make it hard to seat the fabric top into the snap connector. Note that the new one does not extend backwards.

It’s the little things.

 

[bottombracket]

Right side