Question: Custom cut out hardtop

[Johnny Wayne]

I bought a donor top today. I am wanting to cut the top out of it, the side windows are already out. I found a couple of write ups , thru the search, that people have done it but more would be good to get different ideas. I need to figure out the best way to make the side windows.

I will be posting some pics along the way also.

Thanks.

 

[Broncobill78]

I went this route a couple months back. I have the 2nd top on the truck now & the good "winter" top is in the garage. I have the windows out but didn't get much further because I got caught up dicking around with the tranny swap, then tracking down the fact that the pushbutton 4x4 didn't work because some moronic prev. owner had swapped in a manual xfer case but then replaced the carpet and FORGOT to cut a hole for the shifter & reinstall it (THAT made for a really fun weekend) so there was NO evidence that the swap had been done and then finally once everything was squared away it turned out the same brain-surgeon had installed the fuel-pump relays in upside down (so they COLLECTED water) and shorted out the relays AND the pump. I'm JUST getting the thing up & running again, I STILL need to set the throttle-pressure for the AOD tranny but hopefully by THIS WKEND I'll be marking out the lines on the top of the cap and using the body-saw to buzz out a nice big 4'x5' sunroof in the rear. I'm planning to use wiring conduit or some other lightweight tubing to reinforce the cap structure by forming a framework with it and fiberglassing it into place. I Plan on scoring some new batteries for the wife's digital camera so I can take some hi-res photos of the project. Haven't determined just how much (if any) material I'll take out from around the side window openings. With the glass gone you can see there really isn't a lot of material there to work with, especially on the bottom. I was thinking about leaving those openings alone so I'd have enough fiberglass to set a few button-snaps. I was thinking about getting a large piece of clear plastic (the type used for convertable rear-windows) and putting some snaps in it so I could toss it across the top & snap it into place around the bottom & sides of the rear-glass. It doesn't get cold down here very often (South Florida) but it DOES rain wickedly every other week or so. I thought it would be a good idea to have something clear that would cover both the side openings and the moonroof. The easiest solution seemed to be heavy gage clear plastic that I could snap down across the top and along the sides.

 

[miesk5]

yo!

here is some info and pics of side window panels;

Camper Top Cut-Outs & Side Window Fabrication & Installation in an 85

Source: by my pal Chris B

 

[Johnny Wayne]

Thanks for the help I think Chris's Blue truck looks the best for the windows and the top. I will post some pics up today or tomorrow of what I have done so far.

http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff23/robertsjjad/ there are some pics of the top so far

 

[Tennessee Jed]

When I cut one apart I looked at cutting the lip that holds the window rubber out and found it binds the outer shell to the inner shell and left it alone for fear of it eventually separating the two halves.

I think it would be nice to have a top like the one you are doing so the rear window could be used. It would be the best of both worlds, imo.