making your own soft top.. because lets be honest.. you've built everything else (1 Viewer)

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Ant's got ya there. Make sure you have a smaller phillips driver in very good condition because some of those screw might not want to come out...

As a side I'm planning on moding the rear tops of the doors to slide out without having to take out the hinge bolts. Then I can pull them easily and when I roll up the sides adn pull the rear door tops it will really be open back there.

Also I've been using this makeshift arrangement for holding up the sides. It allows for a much more open feeling. I'd love to see a good system based on this idea rather than the usual straps as it makes for a better viewing area for the rear passengers i.e. the rug rats.

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Pete
 
Ant,

Thanks for the confirmation. Having examined it very closely, that was the conclusion I had reached but was hesitant to try and slide the rubber channels out and damage them if that wasn't how it came out. I'll try to attack that this weekend and in the meantime, get some replacement channels from SOR.

Peteinjp: I like the thought and had the same one before I sewed the side panels on. In a different version, I would make the side panels a zip-in option at the top so that if you wanted to drive for a few days/weeks without the side at all, you just zip 'em out. Wouldn't be that tricky to do, it would just take a little more time/measuring. You could use velcro also but wouldn't be as solid a fit as a good zipper.

For yours, you could cut/few a similar beige fabric "strap" (5"-6" wide running front to back on either side and then tuck your sides up and into it. Basically the same functionality of what you've rigged with the bungee cords but might look a little more OEM. If you wanted to go overboard, you could get male twist-locks on the strap to snap it up when the sides were in the "open" position. Anyway, plenty of options/ways to do it. Good luck!

Evan
 
Whew - finished it! Learned a ton, loved the process, would kill for a dedicated workspace to do something like this 'cause I can't tell you how much time I spent just getting all the gear out, setting it up, then breaking it all back down, putting it away, etc. The actual work wasn't nearly as taxing as prepping the work.

In any event, I'm thrilled with the fabric (Seamark from Sailrite). It rained all weekend long and not a drop came through the top in any way, shape, or form. For my effort, I would give myself an 8.5 out of 10 (I'm generous that way). I inadvertently erred slightly on the side of being a hair too large, which is infinitely better than it being too small (read: not fitting). It looks 100% better than what the PO sent it with (which was not waterproof/watertight) and I personally love the way the black looks. Footman loop hardware works well, as does the hideaway flap for the twist-lock fasteners.

In any event, some pictures are attached and I'll write up a fuller description of what I did/didn't do right, materials, tools, and more so folks on this thread can learn from my mistakes.

Thanks again for starting this thread Ant and good luck to those of you tackling this project!

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Hey all,

So, as was always the plan, I drove the BJ44 around this summer while restoring the top (see previous pictures in this string) and then sold her to a guy in Texas. As I write, she's either in Texas or on her way down. I hope they really enjoy her as she is/was an amazing rig with (IMHO) literally hundreds of thousands of miles of life on that diesel yet to go. But I digress...

In the course of restoring the top, I took the original 1979 top and very carefully cut it apart with an exacto knife to act as a pattern for the new top. It saved a great deal of time and angst and went a long way towards the new top being as good as it was. But now I don't need it (the original top). In the interests of paying it forward to to this community, if it would help anyone - @Trollhole ?- in the business of creating LC soft tops, I would be happy to pack it up and ship it to help serve as a pattern for similar tops/projects.

As a quick note, in case you think you might be getting a free top, the fabric is totally and absolutely shot. As noted, it's from 1979 and crackling with age. It's a great reference for a pattern but not much else.

So, if y'all think it would help in any way, please let me know. Between work, kids, and city living it will take me a few weeks to get it packed up and shipping out but happy to do it to help the LC cause. Just let me know!
 
That is an awesome offer. If that top ended up with Trollhole it would be a great thing for me because I am planing on ordering one from him and I have rear amby doors- which I figure is the hardest part to get right.

Being in Japan and facing the risk of having a top arrive and having to live with any in any in accuracies is what has been holding me back on an order.

Pete
 
I've been mulling this over and i thought I'd throw it out to you guys...

i love riding with the top off but i live in a rainy climate so i have to take it off and put it on weekly in order to enjoy that wonderful full view open feeling. I'm getting better at it but its still a pain and then there is the wear and tear as well. specifially im wondering if there is not a better way to attach the top to the B pillars, the over door runners and especially the windsheild frame in terms of easier removal and attachment.

Any thoughts in terms of alternatives to the channel/welt system?

Pete
 
Pete over the door you can do what kayline used to do for their oem replacement tops... The welt above the door is just the fabric... The welt is an aluminum dowel that is bent at one end...

Very easy removal

If nobody posts pics of it... I know I posted some here before... But... My pics are at work... Can post tomorrow if nobody does (not dies.... stupid spell check) before me :)
 
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Pete over the door you can do what kayline used to do for their oem replacement tops... The welt above the door is just the fabric... The welt is an aluminum dowel that is bent at one end...

Very easy removal

If nobody posts pics of it... I know I posted some here before... But... My pics are at work... Can post tomorrow if nobody does (not dies.... stupid spell check) before me :)

I would like to see pictures of this setup.

EDIT: HA HA. Just as I posted, your pictures posted ahead of mine.

Thank you for the "preemptive response"!
 
That's a cool idea. I would think the windshield would be harder to do. But maybe one from each side?

I'm down with the 44 pattern. Would help considering I doubt I would ever get a 44 in the shop. That being said what is the difference between the 44 and the FJ43 top wise and length? I've got a 43 in the shop right now that I'm doing a soft top for so will have that done hopefully by the end of the week.
 
Hey Peteinjp, I thought about this same issue given the number of times I had to take the top on/off in its construction. At the same time, I liked how simple the existing system is. Very little to go wrong with it and the Sailrite welting (http://www.sailrite.com/Keder-Awning-Rope-Black-5-16) was awesome.

One thought I had is that with some precise measuring, you could likely create a piece that was essentially just welting and half of a good marine YKK zipper. The other half of the zipper would be attached to the top at the appropriate places. Then, to put the top on you would just feed the welting/zipper into the channel(s) and ultimately zip it to the top. Removal would (obviously) be the reverse. I found that the biggest hassle was simply the unwieldiness (is that a word? it is now) of maneuvering the bulk of the whole top while getting it into/out of the channel(s). If you could separate those two things, I think it would be much, much easier.

If that's not clear, I can probably sketch it out. It's different - but related - to my previous idea of creating the side pieces as zip in/zip out panels so you could zip in the entire top as/when necessary but also easily zip out only the side panels and effectively have a bikini top. With a little more time/work space, I definitely would have done this with the '44 top.

Trollhole, as mentioned, happy to send you the original '44 top if you think it might come in handy one day. Let me know if you want it and if so, a good address to send. If not, I'll figure out another use/destination for it.

Thanks all,
Evan
 
I still say someday I'd like to make a convertable top that is easy to fold down/up. Weather changes fast in the Sierras.
 
bumping this thread... it's been a while and my guess is a lot of the new folks haven't seen it. I haven't made a top in almost 5 years but I'm itching to get the machine out again. I still dream of making a twilfast multi-ply heavy duty canvas top. It'll cost almost $1200 in materials - let alone the 20+ hours to make the top. The last top I made was for my 1971 FST build and it came out very nice. It was my 10th top or so. I sold a bunch but never saw pictures of them installed. Are any of my old tops still out there?

These first pictures are of my... third? or so top


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Building a top is still on my to do list. I'm even now on my second industrial triple feed walking foot machine. Went from an 111w153 to a 211G166. Reminds me of going from non-syncro 3speed to an H55f.. Reverse is a game changer! Add the Needle position sensor and servo motor and bam. you can really do stuff easier than the old feather the clutch motor and a gear reduction pulley. Plan to come back to this thread and learn when the time is right. I did my own seat covers and boots. @antFJ are you using a dual needle/feed machine to get the lines that tight?
 
Yep...
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bumping this thread... it's been a while and my guess is a lot of the new folks haven't seen it. I haven't made a top in almost 5 years but I'm itching to get the machine out again. I still dream of making a twilfast multi-ply heavy duty canvas top. It'll cost almost $1200 in materials - let alone the 20+ hours to make the top. The last top I made was for my 1971 FST build and it came out very nice. It was my 10th top or so. I sold a bunch but never saw pictures of them installed. Are any of my old tops still out there?

These first pictures are of my... third? or so top


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I was just reading this thread yesterday...

What a trip....
 

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