FJ25 and Early FJ40 Soft Top Project.

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FJnotCJ said:
Tell me you like the way that canvas smells...say it! You know you like it, say it again!

Made my allergies flare up.........had to make a dash for the Benadryl...... :D

I have to admit, I like the OD canvas, even the smell. ;)
 
Just to keep you posted, stopped into the shop doing the door surround pieces / bows. They were giving him fits, but they looked pretty good. He just needs to get the angle a little sharper. :bounce:
 
Canvas Shop

Any updates on the soft top project? I know there is a ton of canvas shops in the southwest. We have really great weather for the soft tops :) . of course the sun does dry rot the canvas in a couple of years which creates the need for all the canvas shops :frown:

John
 
Okay, tell me if I'm going in the wrong direction with this . . . :rolleyes:

I want to go with a soft-top for the time being, and hopefully make it look "vintage correct" for the age of my 25.

SOR sells an OEM style canvas top that fits the tub of an FJ40 ($582 minus bows).

http://www.sor.com/sor/cat268b.tam?xax=32281&anchor=

And, it just so happens that my hardtop 25's tub has the very same dimensions as an FJ40. So, wouldn't stand to reason that the SOR soft-top would fit my 25 if I could track down some FJ40 soft-top bows and early FJ40 hard doors? :confused:

It would look like this, but with a 25 body . . . . I think(?)

:confused: :confused:
SORoemTop.webp
 
Steve-

A 40 top would be your easiest option, especially since your posts are already cut off. There is something funky at the top of the windshield frame, I think the top width is different. Since you have both a 40 and 25, I'd check the windshield frame width, the height, and a diagonal.

Yes, the FJ25 bows are significantly different than a FJ40. Lucky for you the FJ40 tub appears to have evolved from the 25 hardtop tub.
 
Dang, a OEM softtop would be awsome, I hate my besttop. Hmm, if you guys are still selling these after I gradumatate then I might have to get one. Would these work for a 64/65 FJ40, or is that too late a year?
 
Chase... Get in on a Ehsan order. I have a top and bows from him. For the $ I don't think it can be beat. I'd really like canvas vs the viynal but I can't complain. The only thing I don't like about the SOR ones are they they are denium, black or grey.
 
Cruiser_Nerd said:
Steve- A 40 top would be your easiest option, especially since your posts are already cut off.
That's what I was thinking. All I have to do now is track down some OEM FJ40 bows. How hard do you think they would be to fabricate compared to the FJ25 bows??
 
Cruiser_Nerd said:
Since you have both a 40 and 25, I'd check the windshield frame width, the height, and a diagonal.
So far, the measurements match up exactly, including the crucial distance from the top of the windshield back to the top of the tailgate (82 1/8" on both). And, the windshield top width isn't all that different between my 25 and 40, so I'm assuming that would likely make my 25 a candidate for an FJ40 soft-top (including SOR's OEM clone).

Refresh my memory as up to what year FJ40s had the same style of front hard doors as the hardtop 25s. 1964?? :confused:
 
~65 with the bug catcher windows. You could make front bows out of a used hard top... I think charlie gabe did that. I would either get some ehsan bows or hold out and have folks keep and eye peeled for you. OEM bows are out there they just don't pop up all the time and just about everyone is unwilling to ship them because they are 1 piece. Ehsan Made his bows so they collapse down to 3 pieces. The rest of the pipe bows wouldn't be difficult to bend.. the front door piece you'd have to RIP a hard top. HTH
 
I have a set of the later style soft top bows...

Do you need any detailed pictures or measurments?
 
What ever happen to getting the tops for the 25s, you know the 25 OEM soft tops:frown: I'm not getting any younger:rolleyes:

I always thought the back bow would be the hardest to reproduce. All the bends at different angle. Ever time you make a bend that's not right there goes another piece of pipe. Go look at a job site and see all the conduit that was bend wrong. The main door bow can be made from the hard and the piece over the doors also from the hard tops. Old beat up tops are all over the place. Besides Steve by the time you buy the top and get the bows made you could probably Forward Air a hard top and restore it for less.:doh: I even know where there is a early FJ40 soft top in a junk yard that has the 25 soft top door openings. You could install those and get the same soft top as the rest of us. Of course you will find it easier to find doors to fit a 40 than it is to fit the OEM 25 soft top:rolleyes:

John
 
Living in the Past said:
What ever happen to getting the tops for the 25s, you know the 25 OEM soft tops:frown: I'm not getting any younger:rolleyes:

You must have snoozed through the pre-order then. :flipoff2:

I stopped at a top shop today to get some ideas, I'll be talking to Mike to get the project back on track. I'm getting to old to get soaked while driving around. :rolleyes:
 

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