73/74 Aftermarket Soft top,I found one.What do you think of it? (1 Viewer)

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joekatana

joekatana

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After searching for a long time now to find one of the softops made by that german company that made them in the 90's I gave up on them and then I found one that is made somewhere in Europe by probably a convertible specialist .

It is made out HD material as you find on German made Porsches,Audi's and so on.It uses a bunch of small and bigger parts that are bolted to the cruiser at oem spots.The softop is in 2 parts so you can remove/fold down the rear while still keeping the front closed or even halve open.All the windows zip out of it also.

I like it a lot and want to find a good company in the US to reproduce the cloth part if people are interested ,I can make all the metal parts. Seeing that it is pretty complex I have no idea how much anything like this would cost to reproduce but I guess it would be at least 2K.If anyone has a good conection with a company or person that makes quality tops please let me know.


hzj73 softop.jpgw.jpg
hzj73 softop.jpgu.jpg



Let's start the discussions to see how much interest there is in a non oem softop

Joe
 
YES Joe!

HIGHLY interested. That one looks a lot better than what the German company was putting out anyway! Would the required windshield mods still allow for the FRP top to be used?

Can't quite tell from looking at the pictures and a little confused by your description but I'd been interested in windows that roll up and zip out.

I'm sure you don't want to post pics that reveal details you might want to keep to yourself for repro purposes but I'd love to see any and all pics you're willing to share.

I'd be happy to help you with some cost sharing in the development phase if necessary.

As for connections for a manufacturer, you may want to check with @Trollhole. His aftermarket 40 series tops appear to be the bee's knees and get good reviews. Per his thread, his manufacturer can be contacted at sc_redhead@yahoo.com.

Anxiously awaiting the outcome!
 
Have you got a link to the company that produced it?
 
jfrench said:
YES Joe!

HIGHLY interested. That one looks a lot better than what the German company was putting out anyway! Would the required windshield mods still allow for the FRP top to be used?

Can't quite tell from looking at the pictures and a little confused by your description but I'd been interested in windows that roll up and zip out.

I'm sure you don't want to post pics that reveal details you might want to keep to yourself for repro purposes but I'd love to see any and all pics you're willing to share.

I'd be happy to help you with some cost sharing in the development phase if necessary.

As for connections for a manufacturer, you may want to check with @Trollhole. His aftermarket 40 series tops appear to be the bee's knees and get good reviews. Per his thread, his manufacturer can be contacted at sc_redhead@yahoo.com.

Anxiously awaiting the outcome!
Click to expand...

I just agreed to go and pick it up on Tuesday, I will be taking more pics as we are disassembling it to get a better idea of what all is involved in this softop.
 
beno said:
Is this going to be just for the 73/74 iterations Joe?
Click to expand...

I am afraid that is it. I can easily copy the existing hardware and have the fabric made but unless someone donates a swb 70 there is no way I could make one.
 
cruiserpilot said:
Have you got a link to the company that produced it?
Click to expand...

Nobody knows who made it, the current owner got it with his cruiser many years ago.

Seems like none of the few companies that made these in the early nineties are still offering them.
 
You could ask Julie (I think that is her name) that makes those trollhole 40 series tops. I spoke to her briefly awhile back asking if she could duplicate my soft top and she said that she could if she has the original. She mentioned that she will have to take the original apart. She won't do it for less than $1K though or so she said. (Edit: I didn't see jfrench's post prior to making my post)

I have a lot of parts to put on my cruiser and little time to do it these days so the original is still on it. Judging from the amount of people that ask me about my soft top...I would say there is a lot of interest.
 
Last edited:
FJ73Texas said:
You could ask Julie (I think that is her name) that makes those trollhole 40 series tops. I spoke to her briefly awhile back asking if she could duplicate my soft top and she said that she could if she has the original. She mentioned that she will have to take the original apart. She won't do it for less than $1K though or so she said.

I have a lot of parts to put on my cruiser and little time to do it these days so the original is still on it.
Click to expand...

Problem with the oem top is that there are to many softop specific parts and it is very hard to remove and put it up again.

I realize that the only way to copy them is to take it apart :(

I had to pay a premium to get this top so there will need to be several interested parties or I won't be able to do this.
 
I hope you can make it happen Joe. Then I can buy a HZJ73 soft top from you or buy the kit itself and put it on a HZJ73 from LCD. :)
 
Interested.....
 
Looks good Joe. Seems like the best aftermarket soft top I have seen on a 70 series compared to all the others I have come across online. It was well thought out by whomever made it.

The best part is that you don't have to seem to buy all the other ridiculous bits and pieces that the OEM top requires.
 
I just purchased a BJ74 and new to ih8mud. I currently have 89 4Runner with kit from Softopper. Softop is a must have for my BJ74. Been looking high & low for top for it. Is the top Joe posted above available? Price? To answer Joe's initial question: I'm very interested. All help welcome. (Apologies in advance as I will certainly be posting additional Qs about the 74 as I get deeper into owning it).
 
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