Builds Owyhee J.A. BJ75 Troopy Journal

[Owyhee Jackass]

Made a road trip to Sisters, Or the week before last to pick up my pop top from @pdxtroopy 's father-in-law's place. I missed meeting him, but his father-in-law and I were able to load it with the aid of two floor jacks and the rear roller on my trailer.

Saw this new Toyota LC/Prado on the way over. Still not sure what I think of them...this is the first one I've seen. I kind of like the color.

Troopy did okay on the drive, the spare tire on the trailer is right behind my exhaust and it's now covered in diesel soot, so I think I need to adjust my fuel again.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

In preparation for top installation, I cleaned out all the seam sealer in my gutters and found two rusted out spots. So I cut out one and just spot/filled the other.



Applied some new SEM sealant to the gutters after painting the entire seam with POR-15.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

No good pics of the repair...I suck at stopping to document these things.

Next step was to cut the roof off. I used double-cut shears mounted to a cordless drill.

I found this stuck up in the corner of the roof and inside edge. Mexican Salad with Tuna.

No going back now.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

Loaded up and off to a buddies shop about 25 miles away to use his crane for the installation.

The drive with no top was actually pretty nice.

The top has a channel on it that accepts the head of a 13mm bolt...sort-of, I had to grind the heads of a couple bolts to get them to fit. Probably due to paint thickness inconsistency from the top supplier. Anyway, I got some female threaded eye bolts and positioned them to lift with the shop crane. The two chain-falls on either side worked well.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

I had a couple friends come up to help me as I wasn't sure I could guide it on and operate two hoists. I really appreciated the extra hands and sets of eyes.

I did have to adjust the front corners with a dead-blow, ended up removing the dorkel as well, just so it wasn't in the way of spreading the copious amount of spooge.

Ended up going back around it again and making a 'powder 8' figure as when finished the first pass of the inside and outside I think I'd only used 6 of the 12 tubes.
Dropped it on and clamped, 'tooled' out the squeeze out with a gloved finger. I probably tooled out a full tube's worth of goo, but think I got good coverage everywhere. And a consistent gap all the way around on the gutters.

Moved it out of the way in the shop and am waiting for it to cure. Data sheet says 3mm/24 hours at 23C and 50% humidity. So I think it should be good to drive by Tuesday.

I still need to put the steel brackets on that bolt to where the roof bows were, they didn't look like they were going to line up very well, so some massaging of those will be necessary.

 

[svsisu]

In preparation for top installation, I cleaned out all the seam sealer in my gutters and found two rusted out spots. So I cut out one and just spot/filled the other.



Applied some new SEM sealant to the gutters after painting the entire seam with POR-15.

View attachment 3709533

View attachment 3709534

Smart move, and highly recommend to anyone putting a poptop on. Or any other troopy owners.

 

[Guyute]

Looks great! and the "I Suck at Overlanding" sticker is rad.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

Looks great! and the "I Suck at Overlanding" sticker is rad.

After this addition, I may have to update that sticker...

 

[SKULLYOTA]

is the weight of the poptop is supported by the drip rail then?

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

Yes. And I don't know exactly what it weighs, I haven't found that information anywhere.

Found this on an Alu-cab install document. 80 kg is roughly 177 pounds.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

I started a thread for the top install details.

Figured it would be easier to find than buried in this thread or the group buy thread.

Alu-Innovations Pop Top Installation

Figured I'd see if I could compile some of the installation information into one thread, outside the group-buy thread. Draft of @prwillard2 's installation document in this post. https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/closed-alu-innovations-troopy-pop-top-group-buy-interest.1320687/post-15589432...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

Installing the pop-top entailed removing all the bows, including the one with the forward dome light. I still wanted a working dome light, so I ended up chopping the factory bow that it mounted to and screwed it to the bottom of the bed deck.

I had to extend the wires, routed them up to the shelf, then behind the fixed portion of the top, just forward of the bed hinge.

When it's closed, there's a small loop of wire, hopefully it won't get caught on anything. I may add some split loom to it later.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

More work created by the new top.

Solar panel had to be mounted.

The channel that came on the pop-top is the same width as the panel eyelets, but it tapers in at the front, so I had to make a spacer plate for the front eyelets. I could have mounted it further back, but wanted it up at the front.

I had this panel attached to my old roof using VHB backed Velcro and no hardware, the channel allows me the peace of mind of some bolts.

I still used Velcro across to keep it down on the roof and not flap in the wind.

VHB requires some pressure to adhere...

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

VHB backed cable tie mounts for the wires. Not the most elegant solution, but it gets the electrons where they need to go...

 

[Tennessee Jed]

Today I learned about VHB tape and Overland solar panels, which from your pictures look like they can take a beating and still produce power. I have two 100 watt rigids on my roof and I like the semiflex idea.

 

[prwillard2]

Today I learned about VHB tape and Overland solar panels, which from your pictures look like they can take a beating and still produce power. I have two 100 watt rigids on my roof and I like the semiflex idea.

I have heard putting flexible panels directly on the roof can increase heat inside the vehicle. Solar panels get hot and work best with circulation.

But I also have thought about putting flexible solar directly on my roof so

 

[Tennessee Jed]

I have heard putting flexible panels directly on the roof can increase heat inside the vehicle. Solar panels get hot and work best with circulation.

But I also have thought about putting flexible solar directly on my roof so

Yep - I heard that it's a problem of heat making the panel less efficient - they need that air under them to stay cool. People have tried to market a solar panel for the hood but that seems to have gone nowhere. But that semiflex panel looks so tough and my rigids look so fragile...got me thinkin. I come to solar through sailing and lots of sailors are putting these permanently on deck surfaces where they're real widow makers. One drop of water and they're slick as grease. Probably not an issue in this case.

 

[prwillard2]

Yep - I heard that it's a problem of heat making the panel less efficient - they need that air under them to stay cool. People have tried to market a solar panel for the hood but that seems to have gone nowhere. But that semiflex panel looks so tough and my rigids look so fragile...got me thinkin. I come to solar through sailing and lots of sailors are putting these permanently on deck surfaces where they're real widow makers. One drop of water and they're slick as grease. Probably not an issue in this case.

Was hoping to win this at the Toyo Trail Pass, everyone is putting them directly on their roofs so what do I know.

Flex+ — XPLOR by Sunflare

www.sunflarexplor.com

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

Mine's an Overland Solar panel, I need to talk to them sometime soon and they're local, I'll ask about the direct mount heat issue. I think they supply the panels for FWC but am not 100% sure about that.

It keeps up with my loads, so far, so no complaints.

 

[prwillard2]

Mine's an Overland Solar panel, I need to talk to them sometime soon and they're local, I'll ask about the direct mount heat issue. I think they supply the panels for FWC but am not 100% sure about that.

It keeps up with my loads, so far, so no complaints.

This panel looks great!