Looks great, RED trucks rule. You have the pop top up there, or is it a safari wagon ride back to the coast to install it?
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theglobb
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- #2,042
After looking at my paint more and more, it kinda got on my nerves. Had a rhino liner like texture in some places, smoother in others, etc. I decided to sand it down a little bit and repaint it properly. I didn't mix the enamel thinner enough last time so the paint came out poorly as it wasn't atomizing correctly. Since I've never painted before, I had no real clue on what was going wrong or what I could be doing better, then I painted my doors on a separate day at the proper ratios and it came out so much better.
Here is an example of all of the orange peel it had before, felt rough on the hands.
and here is it after!
@Felde was infact correct, the messed-up side of my troopy is now even more noticeable. I'm not gonna lose sleep over it as it still looks much better than it did previously haha.
for painting in the dark it came out pretty well!
Threw all the panels in my house for the night so they would dry a bit better
also check out this old 70s fridge I got for $20. Bought new by the PO in the late 60's plugged in and has never been unplugged until the other day. The only time it was shut off was during power outages. Fridge and freezer work VERY well.
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I'm going to California for roughly 2 weeks. Mainly for a wedding at first but then will have a week or so of extra time out there to do whatever, will be driving up the coast with my mom and dad @Shyrock. If anyone reading this is out there shoot me a message, maybe we can meet up. Will be driving my dads Toyota Dyna back up to Boone with me with the pop top on the flatbed and then installing it. I guess that'll be the next update this thread gets! Progress!
Here is an example of all of the orange peel it had before, felt rough on the hands.
and here is it after!
@Felde was infact correct, the messed-up side of my troopy is now even more noticeable. I'm not gonna lose sleep over it as it still looks much better than it did previously haha.
for painting in the dark it came out pretty well!
Threw all the panels in my house for the night so they would dry a bit better
also check out this old 70s fridge I got for $20. Bought new by the PO in the late 60's plugged in and has never been unplugged until the other day. The only time it was shut off was during power outages. Fridge and freezer work VERY well.
---------------------------------------------------------------
I'm going to California for roughly 2 weeks. Mainly for a wedding at first but then will have a week or so of extra time out there to do whatever, will be driving up the coast with my mom and dad @Shyrock. If anyone reading this is out there shoot me a message, maybe we can meet up. Will be driving my dads Toyota Dyna back up to Boone with me with the pop top on the flatbed and then installing it. I guess that'll be the next update this thread gets! Progress!
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Sometimes you have to learn by doing !
More importantly is that you’re willing to try
Looking great overall.
Love that bumper sticker on the rear bumper !
More importantly is that you’re willing to try
Looking great overall.
Love that bumper sticker on the rear bumper !
Time to think about a cool sticker to go on that dent ... maybe a bandage.
I once saw a truck with a heavy messed up rear tailgate, where he had incorporated the creases into a piece of artwork of a manikin p***ing down a cliff... can't find the pic
.Our just outline the creases to give it some character. You may use Gemini AI (works better than chatGPT with pics) to create a preview from a photo.
Here is a first, unspecified attempt
Have fun on your trip!
Cheers Ralf
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theglobb
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- Thread starter
- #2,046
Back from California!
The Rolls-Royce the bride and groom drove away in. The pricetag on this vehicle may be impressive but I am simply not interested or impressed with it at all.
Met up with @Broski while I was out there! Always great to meet people from mud and match people's real names/faces to the usernames I see so regularly. Checked out his BEEEFY 80 and grabbed some Mexican food. Was a great night.
Made it back home to NC and loaded up the pop top into the bed of my dad's Dyna. We modified the wooden frame that we had built originally to protect it. The poptop with some 2x4s on each side of it was the perfect width to fit in the Dyna's bed with both of the sides up, where as before one side was up and the other was folded down.
Some of y'all may remember from last summer but my pop top ended up getting damaged in shipping. Made it all the way from South Africa totally fine and unscathed. Then some (I'm assuming) methhead forklift operator who works for Estes decided to mutilate it. The photos dont really do it justice, its pretty chewed up on the front and rear. I had worked pretty hard for this thing, and spent really all the money I had saved up on purchasing it at the time. Probably not a wise decision, but I knew that I'd never get one cheaper. Needless to say I was quite heartbroken and angry when it arrived all torn up.
Well, a lot of time has passed since then and I have come to not care at all. My troopy is a total hack job so it's kinda fitting that my poptop arrives pre-damaged. I fought with insurance for a solid month or 2 on it; they kept saying "they didn't damage it", I kept saying "yes, they did". Eventually, I just became a relentless annoying b!tch to whoever I was dealing with on the other line. Low and behold, after about a week of me being a vile human to them, they sent me 2 grand. I think that's one of the few situations where being the worse person ends up actually working out for you
Spent all of today with a heat gun and some specialty body work tools.
Behold... a Harbor Freight dead blow hammer, an autobody hammer with tape on the face of it, and some wood I found behind my house.
After hours and hours of beating on this thing, I got it pretty dang straight! (any wobbly or bright spots are where I sanded the metal and paint for some self-etching primer to adhere to)
Not too shabby for 2 hammers and a block of wood. Heading to the Outerbanks on Thursday with my girlfriend for her fall break trip, and also to return the Dyna to my dad. Will hopefully have the poptop on the weekend after this one!
The Rolls-Royce the bride and groom drove away in. The pricetag on this vehicle may be impressive but I am simply not interested or impressed with it at all.
Met up with @Broski while I was out there! Always great to meet people from mud and match people's real names/faces to the usernames I see so regularly. Checked out his BEEEFY 80 and grabbed some Mexican food. Was a great night.
Made it back home to NC and loaded up the pop top into the bed of my dad's Dyna. We modified the wooden frame that we had built originally to protect it. The poptop with some 2x4s on each side of it was the perfect width to fit in the Dyna's bed with both of the sides up, where as before one side was up and the other was folded down.
Some of y'all may remember from last summer but my pop top ended up getting damaged in shipping. Made it all the way from South Africa totally fine and unscathed. Then some (I'm assuming) methhead forklift operator who works for Estes decided to mutilate it. The photos dont really do it justice, its pretty chewed up on the front and rear. I had worked pretty hard for this thing, and spent really all the money I had saved up on purchasing it at the time. Probably not a wise decision, but I knew that I'd never get one cheaper. Needless to say I was quite heartbroken and angry when it arrived all torn up.
Well, a lot of time has passed since then and I have come to not care at all. My troopy is a total hack job so it's kinda fitting that my poptop arrives pre-damaged. I fought with insurance for a solid month or 2 on it; they kept saying "they didn't damage it", I kept saying "yes, they did". Eventually, I just became a relentless annoying b!tch to whoever I was dealing with on the other line. Low and behold, after about a week of me being a vile human to them, they sent me 2 grand. I think that's one of the few situations where being the worse person ends up actually working out for you
Spent all of today with a heat gun and some specialty body work tools.
Behold... a Harbor Freight dead blow hammer, an autobody hammer with tape on the face of it, and some wood I found behind my house.
After hours and hours of beating on this thing, I got it pretty dang straight! (any wobbly or bright spots are where I sanded the metal and paint for some self-etching primer to adhere to)
Not too shabby for 2 hammers and a block of wood. Heading to the Outerbanks on Thursday with my girlfriend for her fall break trip, and also to return the Dyna to my dad. Will hopefully have the poptop on the weekend after this one!
Back from California!
View attachment 4006845
The Rolls-Royce the bride and groom drove away in. The pricetag on this vehicle may be impressive but I am simply not interested or impressed with it at all.
View attachment 4006842
Met up with @Broski while I was out there! Always great to meet people from mud and match people's real names/faces to the usernames I see so regularly. Checked out his BEEEFY 80 and grabbed some Mexican food. Was a great night.
View attachment 4006840View attachment 4006841
Made it back home to NC and loaded up the pop top into the bed of my dad's Dyna. We modified the wooden frame that we had built originally to protect it. The poptop with some 2x4s on each side of it was the perfect width to fit in the Dyna's bed with both of the sides up, where as before one side was up and the other was folded down.
View attachment 4006839
Some of y'all may remember from last summer but my pop top ended up getting damaged in shipping. Made it all the way from South Africa totally fine and unscathed. Then some (I'm assuming) methhead forklift operator who works for Estes decided to mutilate it. The photos dont really do it justice, its pretty chewed up on the front and rear. I had worked pretty hard for this thing, and spent really all the money I had saved up on purchasing it at the time. Probably not a wise decision, but I knew that I'd never get one cheaper. Needless to say I was quite heartbroken and angry when it arrived all torn up.
Well, a lot of time has passed since then and I have come to not care at all. My troopy is a total hack job so it's kinda fitting that my poptop arrives pre-damaged. I fought with insurance for a solid month or 2 on it; they kept saying "they didn't damage it", I kept saying "yes, they did". Eventually, I just became a relentless annoying b!tch to whoever I was dealing with on the other line. Low and behold, after about a week of me being a vile human to them, they sent me 2 grand. I think that's one of the few situations where being the worse person ends up actually working out for you
View attachment 4006865
View attachment 4006864
Spent all of today with a heat gun and some specialty body work tools.
Behold... a Harbor Freight dead blow hammer, an autobody hammer with tape on the face of it, and some wood I found behind my house.
View attachment 4006835
After hours and hours of beating on this thing, I got it pretty dang straight! (any wobbly or bright spots are where I sanded the metal and paint for some self-etching primer to adhere to)
View attachment 4006836View attachment 4006837
Not too shabby for 2 hammers and a block of wood. Heading to the Outerbanks on Thursday with my girlfriend for her fall break trip, and also to return the Dyna to my dad. Will hopefully have the poptop on the weekend after this one!
Really happy that you had some recourse with the shipper!
Dude! I am so annoyed I am missing you on your trip! Like I said drive safe!
theglobb
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- #2,049
Welp, the trip to the Outerbanks has been delayed as there is a pretty big storm hitting this weekend. Made the most of it today and got the poptop on the roof and test fitted!
It was quite a struggle to get the poptop up there as the gantry crane was just a couple of inches short... I messed with the chain to get as much of the slack out, messed with everything I could and it was obvious it wasn't gonna get any higher, so I made the troopy lower by deflating all of the tires.
This is awesome! It has finally started to take its final form. That being said not everything is perfect...
As you can see in the video, everything isn't totally perfect, which I was fully expecting as I welded the roof up on my own with zero prior experience. There is only 1 part that genuinely bothers me, the back driver's side of the vehicle. You can see on the left that stuff starts to not line up.
A closer look
I have 2 theories on why this is happening.
#1: When I was welding the roof together a year and a half ago, I just did it wrong at the incorrect angle. I know for sure I welded the rear rain gutter 1/4 - 3/8 of an inch higher than it should have been, only noticed that after the fact of course. I dont know why its totally fine on the passenger side and has this horrid thumbsize gap on the driver side.
#2: The roof is protruding outward a bit in this corner, thus the pop top is hanging up some in this corner and not fully seating down in the joint.
I think it is definitely a mix of the two. I'm just really hoping it will mostly sort out when I bash this corner of the roof in.
I also have a pretty decent gap in the front where it should join the windshield frame. Not too concerned about that as I'll just bash it in with a deadblow somewhat evenly.
It's all coming together...
Lucky to have a girl who actively wants to help me and has fun doing it
Will update with more progress when I make it. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for making the gaps fit better, feel free to let me know!
It was quite a struggle to get the poptop up there as the gantry crane was just a couple of inches short... I messed with the chain to get as much of the slack out, messed with everything I could and it was obvious it wasn't gonna get any higher, so I made the troopy lower by deflating all of the tires.
This is awesome! It has finally started to take its final form. That being said not everything is perfect...
As you can see in the video, everything isn't totally perfect, which I was fully expecting as I welded the roof up on my own with zero prior experience. There is only 1 part that genuinely bothers me, the back driver's side of the vehicle. You can see on the left that stuff starts to not line up.
A closer look
I have 2 theories on why this is happening.
#1: When I was welding the roof together a year and a half ago, I just did it wrong at the incorrect angle. I know for sure I welded the rear rain gutter 1/4 - 3/8 of an inch higher than it should have been, only noticed that after the fact of course. I dont know why its totally fine on the passenger side and has this horrid thumbsize gap on the driver side.
#2: The roof is protruding outward a bit in this corner, thus the pop top is hanging up some in this corner and not fully seating down in the joint.
I think it is definitely a mix of the two. I'm just really hoping it will mostly sort out when I bash this corner of the roof in.
I also have a pretty decent gap in the front where it should join the windshield frame. Not too concerned about that as I'll just bash it in with a deadblow somewhat evenly.
It's all coming together...
Lucky to have a girl who actively wants to help me and has fun doing it
Will update with more progress when I make it. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for making the gaps fit better, feel free to let me know!
If it was mine and the goal was to use and enjoy it and not make a show car.... I would go around that gap between the body and the pop top with some dense spray foam. Then trim it back with a knife so it just fills the gap. Then cover with silicone RTV. Then a paintbrush with the same color paint to match blend in.
Man, considering all that top went through and your rust remediation/welding, everything looks great! I bet that was a good feeling popping the top!
Your dead blow, time and patience, plus a lot of caulk will take care of most of the gaps. Everything looks pretty damn good; really the only "bad" spot is the rear, DS drip rail. Is it the drip rail or roof causing the problem? Very hard to tell what the issue is there. Pushing the top back some might help with your front gap and allow the back to sit lower, and/or you might be able to beat that corner of the troopy body in some so it is not interfering with the top sitting lower down in that corner.
Don't do anything with the interior brackets until it is glued and set up. If your truck/top is anything like mine was those will require some work too.
Do NOT use any silicone RTV; I wouldn't use spray foam. The sikaflex polyurethane is a far superior product, it's a strong adhesive and sealer, and it is paintable, which RTV is not.
I posted some photos of the gap mine had over in the poptop thread, if you want more let me know and I'll post more here. I think Paul did a nice write up his install that is over in that thread too.
Pop the top, pop a beer and enjoy!
Your dead blow, time and patience, plus a lot of caulk will take care of most of the gaps. Everything looks pretty damn good; really the only "bad" spot is the rear, DS drip rail. Is it the drip rail or roof causing the problem? Very hard to tell what the issue is there. Pushing the top back some might help with your front gap and allow the back to sit lower, and/or you might be able to beat that corner of the troopy body in some so it is not interfering with the top sitting lower down in that corner.
Don't do anything with the interior brackets until it is glued and set up. If your truck/top is anything like mine was those will require some work too.
Do NOT use any silicone RTV; I wouldn't use spray foam. The sikaflex polyurethane is a far superior product, it's a strong adhesive and sealer, and it is paintable, which RTV is not.
I posted some photos of the gap mine had over in the poptop thread, if you want more let me know and I'll post more here. I think Paul did a nice write up his install that is over in that thread too.
Pop the top, pop a beer and enjoy!
At least it's not a Sissy Hankshaw sized thumb
gilmorneau
SILVER Star
I was thinking this, too. Not sure if it's a possibility, but it might help.
Is should be possible; moving mine around made a big difference in fitment.
grind down the side(s) that hits the gutter first, (the passanger side and front drivers), until it sits closer on the drivers rear, then massage with a hammer like you did before, pull it in with long bar clamps from side to side when you SIKAFLEX it ( no silicone or sprayfoam anything as said above ) you may be able to fill that front with backer rod before sikafex after bending it in some. get like 8-10 tubes of sika
The last 5% is the part that most cant or wont do, sit back and re-asses and do it right ( or as best as you can)
The last 5% is the part that most cant or wont do, sit back and re-asses and do it right ( or as best as you can)
This is the problem corner, right? I'm guessing you beat that straight as much as possible, but it might be worth checking to make sure that it is out far enough that it's not hanging up. And, make sure the bolts holding the latch aren't interfering.
On the plus side you have much nicer latches than I do, and the tent awning pole holes on your top are a MUCH better design.
And those welds could be causing some interference... so many small things going on that could be compounding the situation.
Who am I kidding, by now you probably have it sorted and are out camping some where.
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Work the roof in and the top out tell everything comes together
The Aluminum is going to be softer and work easier.
I know it’s a pain but you got this.
I’m sure the the hardest part is getting the top up and off every time to make adjustments.
I’m thinking pizza,Beer & friends.
The Aluminum is going to be softer and work easier.
I know it’s a pain but you got this.
I’m sure the the hardest part is getting the top up and off every time to make adjustments.
I’m thinking pizza,Beer & friends.
Not sure how many clamps you have, but you can use clamps to pull that rear down and close up that gap. Like Broski said, the aluminum will form fairly easily.
Start at one end, form and clamp as you go. It may be helpful to use something like a thin strip of wood or metal to hold the gap as you work around the vehicle.
I used a gantry and two chain falls on mine, I think the two hoists made it a bit easier to adjust as it wasn't swinging on just the one pick-point. And you can raise and lower each side independently to adjust the gaps.
Start at one end, form and clamp as you go. It may be helpful to use something like a thin strip of wood or metal to hold the gap as you work around the vehicle.
I used a gantry and two chain falls on mine, I think the two hoists made it a bit easier to adjust as it wasn't swinging on just the one pick-point. And you can raise and lower each side independently to adjust the gaps.
theglobb
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You would be right
by the time you sent this message I was already out in Asheville camping with some freinds at an abandoned fire tower.used a whole case of 12
Close. Girlfriend and a fine thank you dinner afterwards. Most all of my car friends have either moved away or were out of town on fall break for college.
I banged and banged on the roof at everywhere I thought could be interfering with the pop top sitting flush, absolutely nothing changed or helped anything. So I just grabbed the biggest ratchet strap I could find and locked it down with all of my body weight. Worked great!
I was able to lift up one side of the pop top on my own from the inside while my girl slid a 2x4 in between the roof and the top.
Here it all is sitting flush!
A ratchet strap on the front also helped bring that front gap in a TON, especially cause I couldn't push the top backwards anymore like @gilmorneau & @svsisu suggested.
I figured 3 of them, all at the tightest I could pull them to, would work well while the caulk dried.
From there we pulled all of the tape off and started to clean up the caulk while it was still somewhat wet. That arguably took the longest time.
It's been 3 days or so since all of this. I'll drive it back to my place from my coworkers tomorrow. Definitely keeping it ratchet strapped tight during the drive as I'll start to attach the mounts once I get it back to my place. After that I need to put the glass back in it, fix the hardline going to the rear brakes, and get some new batteries for it. Then it'll be good to actaully drive around!
and to end this update, here's a photo of the Dyna during sunset
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, photos, and advice given. It is always greatly appreciated!
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