Barn Door for JK factory hardtops
- Thread starter jscherb
- Start date
crusaderJK
Adventurer
And I'm a former dental technician....think I could make some miniature molds 
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Making mold masters from styrofoam isn't a method I've ever chosen to use, but it is covered in the book I referenced.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
And I'm a former dental technician....think I could make some miniature molds
One of the smallest molds I ever made was for this 1:10 scale Safari Cab roof panel... it's about 10" long. Below that size, fiberglass becomes cumbersome to work with.
crusaderJK
Adventurer
You have a vacuum molding machine?
jscherb
Expedition Leader
No I don't have one. I've only got fairly basic tools.
iluv83vettes
Adventurer
Yes I do have concept drawings, but I'll save them for when/if I start a thread on the project.
I'll show this though - at the top is an unmodified FSJ "Rhino" grille. At the bottom is one that's been "selectively scaled" to reduce it to an appropriate size for the JK. Some elements are the same size, but the center grille has been made smaller and the entire panel is smaller, so things are closer together.
Here's a printout of the scaled grille held up to a JK:
I'm going for a more retro look than the Nuikizer/J12 concepts - the Jeep designers did a great job updating the Rhino look to be more modern, but my goal is to stay a little more faithful to the original.
For now this is a design exercise, I definitely won't start construction until after the Safari Cab is on the Jeep and in daily use. For now I'm just working ahead on the design and collecting parts I'll need to make it a reality.
How much for one that's XJ sized shipped to 77043?
I'm not fancy (clearly since I have an XJ) so I just need the paper print out.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The other day as I was working with the new fiberglass upper door jamb pieces I molded I started thinking of another use for them, this time with the factory hardtop. They could be installed as upper jambs to replace the freedom panels of a factory top. They'd provide sealing surfaces for the top of the doors, and also provide a place to secure a canvas roll-up freedom panel replacement. It sure would be a lot more convenient on the road than trying to store the factory freedom panels somewhere when you wanted to open up the roof a bit.
I haven't done enough design work on this idea yet to know if it would be best for the canvas to roll up as pictured, or just to be completely removable. Or to decide whether the fiberglass windshield header I'll be making for the hardtop would be used in this configuration, or perhaps one of the aftermarket bikini headers would work in this application.
I don't know it I'll build a prototype of this idea or not, I'm just always thinking about new ways the fiberglass parts I'm molding could be used.
I haven't done enough design work on this idea yet to know if it would be best for the canvas to roll up as pictured, or just to be completely removable. Or to decide whether the fiberglass windshield header I'll be making for the hardtop would be used in this configuration, or perhaps one of the aftermarket bikini headers would work in this application.
I don't know it I'll build a prototype of this idea or not, I'm just always thinking about new ways the fiberglass parts I'm molding could be used.
Topo.Ranger
Adventurer
Yes I do have concept drawings, but I'll save them for when/if I start a thread on the project.
I'll show this though - at the top is an unmodified FSJ "Rhino" grille. At the bottom is one that's been "selectively scaled" to reduce it to an appropriate size for the JK. Some elements are the same size, but the center grille has been made smaller and the entire panel is smaller, so things are closer together.
Here's a printout of the scaled grille held up to a JK:
I'm going for a more retro look than the Nuikizer/J12 concepts - the Jeep designers did a great job updating the Rhino look to be more modern, but my goal is to stay a little more faithful to the original.
For now this is a design exercise, I definitely won't start construction until after the Safari Cab is on the Jeep and in daily use. For now I'm just working ahead on the design and collecting parts I'll need to make it a reality.
If you can make this I will be interested in this for sure!! Looks ************!!
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Thanks. There's no question I can make it, I've done several before for the TJ/LJ...
The CJ Grille Kit:
and a Hurst Commando Kit:
The JK "Retro Rhino" is about the same level of complexity. Both of the kits above are complete bolt-ons, no modifications necessary to the Jeep. I'm working through the design details now to make the JK Retro Rhino kit a no-mod bolt-on as well.
greggNJ
Observer
That's an interesting idea. The freedom panels take up way too much space so I only remove them if the back is empty and I can lay them flat.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Yesterday I met with the window company that I've been working with on the JK half door slider project. Here's a peek at the windows, these are just the frames with no glass. In this photo the windows are mounted in factory uppers - I've sized the windows so they can also be used to upgrade the factory uppers from zippered vinyl windows to glass sliders. There are only a few more details to take care of before the windows are ready for production.
Another topic of the meeting was fitting sliders in the JK hardtop. I while back I made up a test frame with curved surfaces to match the curves of the hardtop, and I made up a proof-of-concept retrofit kit to allow standard flat RV windows to install in those curved surfaces (photo of the test fixture are below). I brought the test fixture to the meeting and reviewed the idea with them. They had some additional suggestions, and gave me some materials to test with, so I'll implement their suggestions with my test window and fixture.
For the record: I'm not an employee of the company that will be marketing the slider windows. I'm just doing the design project because it's fun for me to do.
Another topic of the meeting was fitting sliders in the JK hardtop. I while back I made up a test frame with curved surfaces to match the curves of the hardtop, and I made up a proof-of-concept retrofit kit to allow standard flat RV windows to install in those curved surfaces (photo of the test fixture are below). I brought the test fixture to the meeting and reviewed the idea with them. They had some additional suggestions, and gave me some materials to test with, so I'll implement their suggestions with my test window and fixture.
For the record: I'm not an employee of the company that will be marketing the slider windows. I'm just doing the design project because it's fun for me to do.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
What configurations they're sold in will have to be decided by the company that's going to market them (not me, I'm not an employee of that company).
I am making molds for fiberglass uppers, and will mold a few sets for testing, but whether or not there's enough demand for fiberglass uppers to make it worthwhile for the company to bring them to market will be something they'll have to decide.
What I've suggested to the company is that they first offer the "Retrofit kit" for the factory uppers - they'll be a very affordable option for people who want to upgrade their factory uppers from vinyl zippered windows to glass sliders. They're very easy to install in the factory uppers.
BTW I believe these sliders will also be able to be installed in Bestop uppers - I'm looking for someone who's got Bestop uppers who can help me verify the dimensions (and maybe do a test install of the sliders if they're interested).