M6 in corners and the hex
After stepping back and giving this a think ,I reckoned I would answer your questions with "What I know" and "What I don't know" answers. In this particular conundrum, the "What I don't know" far out weighs the "what I know" category by a fer' piece.
What I know:
When I bought the mule awhile back, it came without the jump seats. The bolt kits come in packs of 8 or packs of 10 (10, I believe is for the double wide jump seat up to around 71 or 72) . When I purchased the jump seats now residing comfortably atop my wheel wells, I also ordered bolts accordingly, 8 instead of 10. That gets me through most of the "What I know" category.
What I don't know:
Envision the port side of the mule. Starting with the M6's just left of the rear hatch (stern). There is a matching set on the starboard side as well. There were two inside homemade footman type loops attached at these locations when the mule arrived. These are threaded (metric) and I am not quite sure if that is a factory thread or the "Mule Skinner" before me added them.
Along with the "footman loops" the PO had installed 4 I-bolts along the bottom edge of the hardtop. Two where the hex head bolts are now. These are also threaded metric.
The PO was an outdoors-man of sorts and kept a canine companion (I pulled enough hair out of the tub to knit socks for a Laplander) I surmise, and this is only speculation, the eye-bolts were used to keep a "cargo type net" in place. I found a couple broken plastic cargo anchors that lend some credence to the "Net theory".
Now there were/are three 12mm bolts along the port side that are threaded and appear to be factory 12mm bolts. The purpose of these bolts fall into the uncharted category as well.
Even more of what I don't know. I assume that my top is factory installed. I assume the PO may have made a mod er' two. If the top is of an earlier variety (year) I don't know which year.
A bit more of what I know. If it had a threaded hole "I plugged it" with the best of intentions. Hoping, as the years progressed, that these mysteries (and others) would be revealed to me....
I have answered as best I could and interjected as much truth into the matter as my Appalachian upbringing dictates. Simply stating "I don't know" would have somehow diminished the fact that the Ole' mule once "hunted, fished and enjoyed the wide open spaces out west. The scars, nicks, rust, and mystery items only lend intrigue into the origins of the PO's purpose and intent.
There are rumored to be men of renown and great wisdom residing within the "threads of MUD". Men of keen intellect and photogenic memories who by superior reasoning and highly evolved acuity, can quote "line and verse" from the FSM's each nut, bolt and errant screw location. I am hoping that one of these distinguished "rust warriors" will have an applicable answer.
Be as it may, concerning the mysteries of the "extra hard top bolts", I can only add more chin scratching introspective speculation........
