FJ25 Hardtop for my 1975 FJ40...

[gifu]

hinges are already there for the hatch... they just look funny.

ok so... maybe FJ40 drip rail? it's just metal... maybe has to be redrilled to match the mounting holes at the top of the fj25 sides.

 

[tahoe40/45]

TC? right around the corner. ha!
So are you guys suggesting that if I had a later hardtop drip rail... I could bolt that to the FJ25 sides?
So... 1975 Fiberglass. FJ40 (year?) drip rail. FJ25 sides/bifold rear?
Or maybe I should go full crazy and graft an FJ40 rear hatch? (been researching rollers and weather stripping for the bifold/guillotine... could be a nightmare)

hey @tahoe40/45 what else you got stashed away? ha ha. Bought this beater 40 from the guy who owns Big Bear Auto (brown bear?) on 89 between River Ranch and TC. He offered to drive it to the house (I'm working out of a buddy's place in ponderosa palisades) and engine seized in the driveway. I guess owning a repair shop doesn't require you to do basic things like... check the oil (zero). Been building it into a "loaner Rubicon rig" for past few months (2F/SM420/35's/disks/Harrop-locker). Everything I've touched has had to be replaced. Was barely worth the $800 I paid (once the motor seized).

But it's getting damn close to being a running/driving/wheeling rig...

Thats too bad about the engine. I have a 4spd and transfer case from a 1979 FJ40 for sale, i might have a 64 to 74 rear door/hatch.

 

[gifu]

already have an sm420 but thanks.
i have a hatch... but no hatch cross member. the part of the hardtop that had the hatch hinges?

 

[nuclearlemon]

already have an sm420 but thanks.
i have a hatch... but no hatch cross member. the part of the hardtop that had the hatch hinges?

the bifold hatch doesn't hinge on the top. it has pins that bolt to each side of the door and fit to the side panels. because of the straight height on the corrugated side panels, i don't think a lift gate would be wide enough to bolt up.

 

[nuclearlemon]

hinges are already there for the hatch... they just look funny.

ok so... maybe FJ40 drip rail? it's just metal... maybe has to be redrilled to match the mounting holes at the top of the fj25 sides.

you can redrill, it will look weird in the back because the drip rail won't hang over the edges of the side panels. will most likely leak without a lot of silicone

 

[gifu]

You say pin I say hinge.
Would still work. I mean... once I cut it all apart and weld it back the other way.

Buuuuut. Until I can get the other donor top pulled apart the world will never know.

 

[gifu]

you can redrill, it will look weird in the back because the drip rail won't hang over the edges of the side panels. will most likely leak without a lot of silicone

So the FJ25 sides sit more...upright?

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

Buuuuut. Until I can get the other donor top pulled apart the world will never know.

This little corner of the world knows, and has been saying it's not the same size since post 4.

Measure the sides and realize the only way to make it look halfway OK would be to cut the later fiberglass down the middle in the straight portion and add about an inch or so, that's why the measurement. Or just cut the corrugations out and weld them into a later top for the look.

In my opinion the fiberglass of the early top is even more distinctive then the sides and the bifold, it's the first thing that stands out on an early hardtop for me. I could spot them from the road behind barns.................at least when there were 40's in fields around here. A couple pics for reference:

Or not. Guess I'll have to find out about that pic posting thing.

 

[nuclearlemon]

So the FJ25 sides sit more...upright?

yes. the rear corner on post 65 tops tapers both forward from the rear and in to the center. these pics shamelessly robbed from the internet may help make it a bit easier to see. essentially from where the rear of the side door is, the later tops taper in

 

[west aussie]

The fiberglass had the vent in the top/back area.

i have only ever seen one early fj40 hardtop in the flesh belonging to my perth mud mate @platebasher. his 63 is missing the fibreglass vent; was removed during a paintjob 20yr ago. platebasher may be willing to buy your old vent if it is salvageable?

 

[gifu]

Old thread.
Still tinkering on this.
New question:
How should the guillotine rear “hatch” meet the tailgate?
Huge gap here.

 

[gifu]

 

[Splangy]

There’s thick weatherstrip that goes in there. There’s a guy selling a good reproduction here in the 25 section.