Removable top......... (1 Viewer)

[EarthX]

Maybe I'm just thinking crazy but what about a removable top for the 60? I'd want it to work similar to how a 40 top works. Sealed and quiet in winter and topless in summer. How hard do you think this would be? Ever seen it done on a truck. Think it would be possible to keep a stock look when the top is on? Pictures?

 

[samibattlemaiden]

do it and take lost of pics so when i finally have the $$$ i can do it too.

ive thought about this alot. i think you would hafta cut the top off. weld everything "closed" then make the mounting points.

 

[bergerob]

Tencha

Check this one out.

Last few pages show a soft top.

 

[EarthX]

Check this one out.

Last few pages show a soft top.

Yeah, I've seen that, but I want a removable HARDtop. Like the previous post says, I'd have to cut the top, seal up the two meeting surfaces, making sure there is an area to put a rubber seal, then some how make the mounting points. I really don't want to change the stock look when the top is on. I was hoping someone has seen it done, even on another vehicle.

 

[samibattlemaiden]

i havnt seen it done, that i know of ive seen trucks i suspected to be pretty custom but only ever at a glance never been able to propperly drool on em or ask questions....

i think our best bet would be to look at a scout for inspiration, only thing i can think of with a metal-removable-hard top, did some of the old cj's have em? i guess though you could do it like any removable top.

when you seal the gap between the inner and outer body panels you would need a pretty heavy flat piece to bridge the gap and on the upper pinch the 2 body panels together and use an "L" shaped piece.

tap the flat piece on the lower (or nuts on the under side) and drill a hole in the horizontle part of the "L" and viola


ill do it one of these days........i hate how offen i say that

 

[kling-on]

I was going to do that but after I cut the top off it looked like to much trouble si tossed

 

[fowldarr]

Anything can be done with enough time and money and resources....it does sound like a lot of work, if that is what I wanted, I would just by a scout for a second vehicle, I had one before, and if it hadn't burned down, I'd probably still have it. That thing was awesome.

 

[samibattlemaiden]

oh yeah it'll be alotta work but i don't want another truck i wanna converta 60

 

[EarthX]

oh yeah it'll be alotta work but i don't want another truck i wanna converta 60

exactly....

 

[kling-on]

I was going to do the crew cab with 6 of these latches and centering pins ... but after the first roll I said f-it

 

[fowldarr]

I say go for it then, I think it would be sweet.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

I would like to do a hard top in a year or two. I'm helping my friend do this on his 4Runner. Depending on how well it turns out it will push me to do it or to stay away.

 

[rusty_tlc]

... I'd want it to work similar to how a 40 top works. Sealed and quiet in winter and topless in summer. ...

I don't think I've ever been in an FJ40 that was quiet with or without a hard top.


You might want to look at how the old Blazer tops were made. My old Blazer had a removable top but no roll bar so I never did it. At any rate the body construction is much more like a 60 than the 40's are.

 

[samibattlemaiden]

randy take pics and post em here not the same rig but it would be inspiration

 

[EOE_overland]

If I remember correctly, my brother's '82 Blazer top was mounted the same as my '89 4runner: body had a ~2" flat lip that the top sat on. The lip was tapped for ~1/2"-9/16" bolts that went thru the top every foot or so- along the horizontal and vertical edge. I've never done a cut like this before (so take this with a grain of salt), but I suppose if the top was cut in a way that the "damage" could be overcome by grinding, then attaching a piece of 1/4"x2-3" bar stock to the body and the top, then it's possible? I have no experience in this type of job, but the Blazer (post-'75) and 4runners were basically a rectangular fiberglass box with windows and a wide ledge on the mating edges. And they sit and mount to a wide steel ledge on the vehicle. The only tricky part for those tops was the slot for the rear window to slide in to. But that's not going to be an issue in this project.
I have a few pics somewhere with the top and doors off, but nothing too close.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

randy take pics and post em here not the same rig but it would be inspiration

Ok. I will edit this post when I get my friend's pics.

 

[samibattlemaiden]

most appreciated, i figure the more i can look at it the more ill wanna start cutting mine up.