mistmatched top and body. (1 Viewer)

[sandec]

I just bought an 81 bj42. I sold my old bj42 and missed it so I've got another one now. I I'm in Portland Oregon and drove a ways up into BC to get it. It's a project but all things consider it's in pretty good shape. The frame is surprising good, runs good, not too many rust issues so I'm happy with it. I'm diving into it now to fix some quirks.

I did some research on here I thought most tops fit on most of the bodys. I think one thread said tops 61-84 were all the same. But here they are obviously not lined up. Can anybody guess what's going on here and a good remedy to fix it? I think either a) the body came off a very early cruiser and the top is newer and doesn't fit. B) The top sides are old the body is stock. C) The body is kind of a home repair job and they didn't get it right in the back.......... If I can't find the right top sides that fit it I'm thinking I will either cut off and reweld the spot on the body to match, or get ride of the ambulance doors and get a hatch and tailgate.

 

[JohnnyC]

The repair looks ... off

Is it even square or is the picture distorted?

More ... way more pics of the tub

 

[middlecalf]

What’s the other side look like? Wonder if PO was wanting a wider opening in the body for some reason.

 

[sandec]

It is square and the other side is off the exact same amount. Lots of repairs on the rest of the tub. Overall the repair jobs are pretty decent. I wouldn't say a pro did it but it's better than your average high school project. He got the part by the passenger door right. Just this section is off. Maybe he had a specific tailgate in mind he wanted to use that was wider?........ I bought it from a guy that only had it for a few months and he deceided it was too much work. He bought it from the second owner so any info I got was lost in translation between him and previous owner. He did have the original owners manual though. Not something you see everyday.

 

[JohnnyC]

From that one pic I can see he redid the entire rear tub ... floors are redone wheels wells done and modded rear corner done

He most likely had been running a softtop

He rebuilt the back and did measure twice

 

[Living in the Past]

Put a straight edge on the floor up against the wheel well and believe you will the back corner tub you will see it falls short of reaching the straight edge. Probably find a square on the straight will rear against the end of the hard top side.

 

[sandec]

Put a straight edge on the floor up against the wheel well and believe you will the back corner tub you will see it falls short of reaching the straight edge. Probably find a square on the straight will rear against the end of the hard top side.

I see what you are saying now. I thought you were talking about the opening being squared............... So the conclusion I'm getting at from those that replied is the mismatched top and tub are due to the DIY job on the tub? This is not a case of a certain year of hard top that doesn't match with a certain year of tub? So I believe my options to fix it are 1) cut off the end and even it up. 2) put a different tub on it. 3) Trade in my ambulance doors and put a tailgate with a wide lip around it like the aqualu tailgates are made and attach a hatch to the top part.

 

[Living in the Past]

I see what you are saying now. I thought you were talking about the opening being squared............... So the conclusion I'm getting at from those that replied is the mismatched top and tub are due to the DIY job on the tub? This is not a case of a certain year of hard top that doesn't match with a certain year of tub? So I believe my options to fix it are 1) cut off the end and even it up. 2) put a different tub on it. 3) Trade in my ambulance doors and put a tailgate with a wide lip around it like the aqualu tailgates are made and attach a hatch to the top part.

No tubs didn't change width of the door openings at any point. Ambulance doors the tub was notched so the doors fit flush but past the notch the width was the same. The hard tops had a changed mid 1965. After that top were easy to change. The tub notch for ambulance doors was a bigger challenge than hard top sides. Especially if trying to had ambulances to a tub without the notxh. Earlier than mid 65 would work but challenges were from the front doors forward. What it boils down to is a PO hacked up the back of the tub. Possibly because the lower corners were rusted out. Maybe cut the rust out and welded the side back on after removing the rust. Originally I installed 77 top and ambulance doors on my 79. I am currently working on repairing 84 troopy ambulance doors because they have the correct lower corners used on the 1/79+ 4X series.

 

[MOTOV8R]

I see what you are saying now. I thought you were talking about the opening being squared............... So the conclusion I'm getting at from those that replied is the mismatched top and tub are due to the DIY job on the tub? This is not a case of a certain year of hard top that doesn't match with a certain year of tub? So I believe my options to fix it are 1) cut off the end and even it up. 2) put a different tub on it. 3) Trade in my ambulance doors and put a tailgate with a wide lip around it like the aqualu tailgates are made and attach a hatch to the top part.

4) weld in some steel to make opening smaller on your tub.

 

[sandec]

Good point. I didn't think of that. Thanks for adding a number 4.