Ragtop Sunroof on a 55

[abruzzi]

Ok, is liking the idea of something like this sacrilege:

Sliding Ragtop Kits Homepage

I've loved these old euro sliding ragtops from my VW days, plus I thought they would be quite nice on a pig while out wheeling. Not quite like a 40 removing the cap, but close.

On a more serious side, would cutting a 4ft x 5ft hole in the roof have a negative impact on body rigidity? Would there be other negatives to doing this?

Geof

 

[cruiserbrett]

dont do it to a clean cruiser!

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

I don't think it would ever be a bad idea to beef up the roofline in a 55. I would brace the header rail of the truck in at least 3 places along the length if I were to cut out any of the roof. X2, not on a nice rig, they're getting harder to find. I'm not sure I like the euro roof on anything besides a bus/bug. I've seen some pics of rag top and topless iron pigs, and if I had a rusty old pig, I might just do a post factory soft top.

 

[PabloCruise]

I wouldn't do it to yours, since you got a nice clean roof.

Redline Motor Sports here in CO has cages for Piggies.

Search "FJBen" in here and see what happened to his roof when he rolled his Pig. They could use a little more structure...

 

[LC_Hamma]

"Your kit is built around a TIG welded aluminum frame and finished in black wrinkle finish powder coat"

I actually thought of that too before I whacked the backend off mine. For a DD rig, maybe that alum. frame is good enough. For off roading where you get some body twisting & to prevent wrinkling, I'd add an additional channel around the perimeter & tie it to each sides @ 4 places, 2 each side. Haven't seen it done to a yet.

 

[3jvj]

Do it! Do it! Do it!

I'm with the others; add some steel for strength.


Take some pics too please.

 

[abruzzi]

My brother is going to hack up the 60 I sold him (shorten the rear, leave the back upen, SOA, etc) and he is probably going to do the ragtop on his, so I'm probably going to wait to see how his turns out before I decide on mine. I'll update if and when that happens.

Now the real brave could do the ragtop and some windows up there:

Geof

 

[Lito]

we did the sawzall version 25 years ago to our lv and its still holding up.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj45-owners-club/36116-owners-post-here-3.html#post527321