Figured I'd see if I could compile some of the installation information into one thread, outside the group-buy thread.
Draft of @prwillard2 's installation document in this post.
forum.ih8mud.com
Email from @svsisu and notes from him.
I used an electric caulk gun, 10-12 tubes of adhesive, and electric shears. I used both the Mission 4x4 installation document, and some info from the Alu-cab installation documents and a few DIY youtube videos to come up with the best method for me. The Alu-Cab document has steps that do not apply to our installations (mainly dealing with the internal brackets), but there are some good tips. There are at least 3 Alu-Cab documents that have probably evolved as the tops have changed.
This is an older one, but I like the "Job Card" on P6:
https://www.alu-cab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Hercules-Fitment-Instruction-2.pdf
Newer:
https://www.alu-cab.com/wp-content/...78-Series-Fitment-Instructions-compressed.pdf
I had previously done a bunch of rust repair in my gutters and sidewalls of the roof. My gutters were nearly full with new seam sealer after the repairs. I'm not sure if this is why I had some minor fitment issues or not. I do feel it is asking a lot of Alu-Innovations to expect a custom top to fit a range of vehicles from a 40 year time span and not have some idiosyncrasies/fitment issues come up.
Some notes on caulking- use lots of good painters tape (3M blue 2095) to keep adjacent surface clean. Put more caulk in the corners (especially at the windshield corners) than you think you would need. And, I would suggest doing two thick lines on the roof body, one down low near the gutters and one up near your fresh cut line. Also caulk the inside of the pop top. You want good squeeze out from the lower edge of the top. Don't try to clean this up, let cure, then cut and peel dried caulk with a razor knife. Then go back and back fill the gutter and roof joint with more caulk, applying caulk in 3 foot sections and smoothing/removing excess using mineral spirits and gloved finger. Lots of small pieces of paper towel are good for cleaning caulk off gloved finger. Have paper towels pre-torn into small pieces at the ready, and have trash bucket at hand.
I ran into some problems with fitment and needed to "persuade" the front corners with a small dead blow (~2.5 lbs) hammer, to bend the corner pieces in toward the body of the truck. Wait until you have set the roof and the adhesive has cured some before drilling and mounting internal brackets. More on this later.
I have a bunch of photos I took while doing my install, I'll email you some so you can see the different steps. I like looking at photos; hopefully it helps you in some way.
I did the install over a couple of days- marked and taped cut line, cut roof, cleaned out "inaccessible interior areas" with compressed air, cleaned cut surface with degreaser, painted (2-3 coats) cut edge with rustoleum, fluid filmed "inaccessible interior areas", wiped down areas where caulk goes (both pop top and roof sides) with degreaser/dewaxer, lightly sand truck body where adhesive goes, wipe down again with degreaser/dewaxer, dry fit pop top (I had to manually manipulate drivers side front corner with dead blow hammer and "bend" it closer to body), taped off pop top and truck body, blocked pop top above roof, caulk, caulk, caulk, lower roof into place, clamp and wait, let caulk dry then cut excess squeeze out with razor knife, back fill gutters (do in small sections ~2-3 feet at a time and smooth with glove finger and mineral spirits) and any areas where there was not squeeze out. Do interior clamps/mounts after top is set.
None of the holes drilled in my clamps matched up with the troopy captive nuts, they all needed to be egged out to fit. Also, the side bends on my brackets interfered with the flashing closure pieces and need to be modified- I still have not done this, and am cruising with out the closures in place. I don't know if this is due to poor QC on their part or just tolerance differences in 30+ years of troopy manufacturing. Not a big deal, just small hurdle. I had set and drilled the holes for the brackets when I did the dry fit, and this turned out to be a mistake, as the pop top final fit ended up in a slightly different (better) position from when I dry fit it and I had to re-work the holes I drilled. This is why I suggest you don't fool with the brackets until the top is glued and clamped in place. They are a bit of a PITA. You have to drill a hole for the lower bolt on the rear latch brackets. Don't forget to caulk/seal both mounting holes for the rear brackets.
Also, I fit the awning brackets and drilled the holes in the pop top, but did not mount the brackets to the top, prior to installing the top on the truck. I think you have to mount the brackets once the top is in place, because the lower bolt holes (where I think the rivenuts go) would go through the body of the truck. Thus if you fit the brackets to the top prior to top installation, the back side of the rivnuts are going to interfere with setting the pop top on the truck. Hopefully that makes sense. Be careful where you locate the front awning bracket- I placed mine just aft of where the pop top angles down towards the wind shield. My forward most bolt holes are very close to some internal bracing of the pop top making it very difficult to install the nuts. If I had fit the bracket even an inch back it would have been easier/better. It was dumb of me not to check the inside of the top where I was mounting the bracket . I didn't have any instructions for mounting the awning brackets but used instructions that I found online for Alu-cab brackets. I still do not have the brackets installed so don't know the best course of action.
https://www.alu-cab.com/wp-content/...-suit-Hercules-Roof-Conversion-compressed.pdf
I'm not sure I did everything the "right" way, but overall I'm pleased with the results. I'm still not sure if completely back filling the rain gutters is necessary or even the correct thing to do, but I think it does add an additional level of protection to the seam sealer there.
Draft of @prwillard2 's installation document in this post.
[CLOSED] Alu-Innovations Troopy Pop Top Group Buy Interest
Instructions and writeup to come! 🫡🫡🫡
forum.ih8mud.com
Email from @svsisu and notes from him.
I used an electric caulk gun, 10-12 tubes of adhesive, and electric shears. I used both the Mission 4x4 installation document, and some info from the Alu-cab installation documents and a few DIY youtube videos to come up with the best method for me. The Alu-Cab document has steps that do not apply to our installations (mainly dealing with the internal brackets), but there are some good tips. There are at least 3 Alu-Cab documents that have probably evolved as the tops have changed.
This is an older one, but I like the "Job Card" on P6:
https://www.alu-cab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Hercules-Fitment-Instruction-2.pdf
Newer:
https://www.alu-cab.com/wp-content/...78-Series-Fitment-Instructions-compressed.pdf
I had previously done a bunch of rust repair in my gutters and sidewalls of the roof. My gutters were nearly full with new seam sealer after the repairs. I'm not sure if this is why I had some minor fitment issues or not. I do feel it is asking a lot of Alu-Innovations to expect a custom top to fit a range of vehicles from a 40 year time span and not have some idiosyncrasies/fitment issues come up.
Some notes on caulking- use lots of good painters tape (3M blue 2095) to keep adjacent surface clean. Put more caulk in the corners (especially at the windshield corners) than you think you would need. And, I would suggest doing two thick lines on the roof body, one down low near the gutters and one up near your fresh cut line. Also caulk the inside of the pop top. You want good squeeze out from the lower edge of the top. Don't try to clean this up, let cure, then cut and peel dried caulk with a razor knife. Then go back and back fill the gutter and roof joint with more caulk, applying caulk in 3 foot sections and smoothing/removing excess using mineral spirits and gloved finger. Lots of small pieces of paper towel are good for cleaning caulk off gloved finger. Have paper towels pre-torn into small pieces at the ready, and have trash bucket at hand.
I ran into some problems with fitment and needed to "persuade" the front corners with a small dead blow (~2.5 lbs) hammer, to bend the corner pieces in toward the body of the truck. Wait until you have set the roof and the adhesive has cured some before drilling and mounting internal brackets. More on this later.
I have a bunch of photos I took while doing my install, I'll email you some so you can see the different steps. I like looking at photos; hopefully it helps you in some way.
I did the install over a couple of days- marked and taped cut line, cut roof, cleaned out "inaccessible interior areas" with compressed air, cleaned cut surface with degreaser, painted (2-3 coats) cut edge with rustoleum, fluid filmed "inaccessible interior areas", wiped down areas where caulk goes (both pop top and roof sides) with degreaser/dewaxer, lightly sand truck body where adhesive goes, wipe down again with degreaser/dewaxer, dry fit pop top (I had to manually manipulate drivers side front corner with dead blow hammer and "bend" it closer to body), taped off pop top and truck body, blocked pop top above roof, caulk, caulk, caulk, lower roof into place, clamp and wait, let caulk dry then cut excess squeeze out with razor knife, back fill gutters (do in small sections ~2-3 feet at a time and smooth with glove finger and mineral spirits) and any areas where there was not squeeze out. Do interior clamps/mounts after top is set.
None of the holes drilled in my clamps matched up with the troopy captive nuts, they all needed to be egged out to fit. Also, the side bends on my brackets interfered with the flashing closure pieces and need to be modified- I still have not done this, and am cruising with out the closures in place. I don't know if this is due to poor QC on their part or just tolerance differences in 30+ years of troopy manufacturing. Not a big deal, just small hurdle. I had set and drilled the holes for the brackets when I did the dry fit, and this turned out to be a mistake, as the pop top final fit ended up in a slightly different (better) position from when I dry fit it and I had to re-work the holes I drilled. This is why I suggest you don't fool with the brackets until the top is glued and clamped in place. They are a bit of a PITA. You have to drill a hole for the lower bolt on the rear latch brackets. Don't forget to caulk/seal both mounting holes for the rear brackets.
Also, I fit the awning brackets and drilled the holes in the pop top, but did not mount the brackets to the top, prior to installing the top on the truck. I think you have to mount the brackets once the top is in place, because the lower bolt holes (where I think the rivenuts go) would go through the body of the truck. Thus if you fit the brackets to the top prior to top installation, the back side of the rivnuts are going to interfere with setting the pop top on the truck. Hopefully that makes sense. Be careful where you locate the front awning bracket- I placed mine just aft of where the pop top angles down towards the wind shield. My forward most bolt holes are very close to some internal bracing of the pop top making it very difficult to install the nuts. If I had fit the bracket even an inch back it would have been easier/better. It was dumb of me not to check the inside of the top where I was mounting the bracket . I didn't have any instructions for mounting the awning brackets but used instructions that I found online for Alu-cab brackets. I still do not have the brackets installed so don't know the best course of action.
https://www.alu-cab.com/wp-content/...-suit-Hercules-Roof-Conversion-compressed.pdf
I'm not sure I did everything the "right" way, but overall I'm pleased with the results. I'm still not sure if completely back filling the rain gutters is necessary or even the correct thing to do, but I think it does add an additional level of protection to the seam sealer there.
