Here are the first of many parts that I am fabbing up for the Factory soft top. Thist is the most simple peice. The most difficult channel peice is above and behind the soft door. I will have that completed in the next week or so I hope. My hope is to fab up 15 complete sets of early soft tops for whom ever is in need. I need one for myself may as well make a few after going through all of the work.
Fj25 / fj40 Soft Top Parts
- Thread starter majojo4
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nice!!! can't wait to see finished products
PM sent 
- Thread starter
- #5
Just to clarify....These will be the softops for the early Cruisers...1962 and earlier. It is a very different setup than the later models. Unfortunatly these tops are not available from Ehsan or anywhere else and havent been for decades.
The door surrounds are the bugger. The good part is it's the same section vertical and horizontal, so all you have to do is make the stock and finish the ends differently. 
- Thread starter
- #8
The door surrounds are the bugger. The good part is it's the same section vertical and horizontal, so all you have to do is make the stock and finish the ends differently.
Right! That I understand too....I have the channels being made right now. They dont look like they are very hard to make but every sheet metal guy you take it to scratches their head at it. It was not made in a normal break. It was extruded. Big money machines made them. They guy I have that took the task is making it in two peices and welding them together. Should be darn near perfect.
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I'm thinking of doing the same thing only with a old kayline top instead. I have all the parts needed to do it just don't have the time. One of my 25 came with a later hard top mounted on a 25 soft tub. They used the bottom part of the B bow to fill in the gap between the door and the hard top. My plan is to used both earlier and later B bows. The earlier one would fit in the stock mount while the later would be in the right location for the kayline top. Fill in the gap between them and your done. I got some pictures of a beater canvas top sitting on early bows. They are really not that far off. I'll try to find them.
- Thread starter
- #11
Here is the first channel made. I am not 100% satisfied with this first one. I did not expect him to use galvanized metal. I have another guy makeing them out of 20 guage cold roll. This is a good start though.
i'll be checking this out.. very interesting.. looking GREAT so far.. 
Any update here?
Mike has been patiently waiting for me to bend up a set of bows. I think his intent was to get some sets out after I send him a copy.
I've been in contact with Mike, probably not often enough, about the progress I've made. I had a set bent up with the exception of the very suttle arch on the top of the three crossmembers. The gentle man that was supposed to arch them for me, later told me that he couldn't
. I actually arched the three pieces with a 1" conduit bender, only to find out that the "other" bends were done with a 2 1/2" radius die, and the OEM bends are more like 1 1/2". They didn't like right at all.
Anyway, I'm in limbo on how to proceed. I don't want to give Mike pieces of crap to copy. I have one more resource that I'm going to drive down and visit with, if that's a no go then I'll talk to Mike about getting him a set that he and I know for sure is available.
Thanks for being patient with me Mike and everyone else waiting on Mike.
I've been in contact with Mike, probably not often enough, about the progress I've made. I had a set bent up with the exception of the very suttle arch on the top of the three crossmembers. The gentle man that was supposed to arch them for me, later told me that he couldn't
. I actually arched the three pieces with a 1" conduit bender, only to find out that the "other" bends were done with a 2 1/2" radius die, and the OEM bends are more like 1 1/2". They didn't like right at all.Anyway, I'm in limbo on how to proceed. I don't want to give Mike pieces of crap to copy. I have one more resource that I'm going to drive down and visit with, if that's a no go then I'll talk to Mike about getting him a set that he and I know for sure is available.
Thanks for being patient with me Mike and everyone else waiting on Mike.
OEM Bows for FJ40 soft top (w/fj25 type door shape)
Hello,
I am in the process of purchasing a refurbished 1963 FJ40 which is a factory soft top. I haven't taken a real close look (or delivery of vehicle) yet but soft top is all there. I just haven't verified that it is still the OEM top. It has newer canvas but from what I recall the bows looked vintage enough. Would some dimensions on these help??
Hello,
I am in the process of purchasing a refurbished 1963 FJ40 which is a factory soft top. I haven't taken a real close look (or delivery of vehicle) yet but soft top is all there. I just haven't verified that it is still the OEM top. It has newer canvas but from what I recall the bows looked vintage enough. Would some dimensions on these help??
Hi Bill,
Welcome to mud!
Do you have any pictures of your '63? Do you know if it was refurbished as true stock, or if it was modified?
