Barn Door for JK factory hardtops
- Thread starter jscherb
- Start date
jscherb
Expedition Leader
In deciding on the color for the fiberglass parts of the hardtop, I also am thinking about the color for the canvas parts - the roll-up soft sides and the soft barn door. If I did a black roof with color match sides (or an all-black hardtop), I'd probably just use black soft top material, but if I paint the top something in the tan/sand/khaki range, I could do the soft parts in a tan. There's a pretty good range of tans in sailcloth soft top fabric, so I should be able to pick something for the soft sides/soft barn door that goes well if I choose to paint the top something in the tan/san/khaki range.
I've posted this illustration before, it shows the roll-up soft sides.
I've posted this illustration before, it shows the roll-up soft sides.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
JK Safari Cab build phase complete!
One last thing I had to do on the roof panel before declaring it done and ready for paint prep was to finalize the Alpine window openings. I had cut the openings and temporarily installed the windows before the last time I put the top on the Jeep for fitting, but I didn't do the final trimming of the openings or try installing the window gasket lock strip. I've done that now, so I can now declare the build phase of this project is basically complete. I'll do one last fitting of all the parts on the Jeep to ensure everything fits and works to my standards, then the parts will be ready for prep/paint and final safety glass window installation (it still has the temporary plexiglass windows). Here are a few photos of the (dusty) completed top as it sits in my garage right now.
Paint phase to begin whenever I decide what color(s) it should be.
One last thing I had to do on the roof panel before declaring it done and ready for paint prep was to finalize the Alpine window openings. I had cut the openings and temporarily installed the windows before the last time I put the top on the Jeep for fitting, but I didn't do the final trimming of the openings or try installing the window gasket lock strip. I've done that now, so I can now declare the build phase of this project is basically complete. I'll do one last fitting of all the parts on the Jeep to ensure everything fits and works to my standards, then the parts will be ready for prep/paint and final safety glass window installation (it still has the temporary plexiglass windows). Here are a few photos of the (dusty) completed top as it sits in my garage right now.
Paint phase to begin whenever I decide what color(s) it should be.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Thank you!
jscherb
Expedition Leader
While I'm thinking about what color I want to paint the top, I'm working on a few of the finer details of installing it. Today I put the barn door wiring in the Jeep, it runs under the carpet from the driver's side where the hardtop connections are to the passenger side, and then out to the barn door. I also finished up the dressing of the door, the mounting stakes are painted and a wiring cover panel has been trimmed to fit between the stakes. You can also see how the wiring/washer hose runs from the tub to the barn door.
I haven't yet explained how the barn door gets mounted to the tailgate, it's pretty simple. The stakes bolt to the tailgate with 4 bolts. The bolts are longer bolts installed in 4 of the spare carrier mounting holes. It's a simple task to drill from the outside through the spare carrier holes to make the necessary holes on the inside of the tailgate. Once those holes are drilled, the long bolts are run in, which stick out on the inside and serve as studs to mount the stakes to.
When the barn door isn't installed, the inside of the tailgate looks like this:
I haven't yet explained how the barn door gets mounted to the tailgate, it's pretty simple. The stakes bolt to the tailgate with 4 bolts. The bolts are longer bolts installed in 4 of the spare carrier mounting holes. It's a simple task to drill from the outside through the spare carrier holes to make the necessary holes on the inside of the tailgate. Once those holes are drilled, the long bolts are run in, which stick out on the inside and serve as studs to mount the stakes to.
When the barn door isn't installed, the inside of the tailgate looks like this:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
While I haven't picked a hardtop color yet, here's what I'm thinking at this point...
- I'll do a single color in the earth tone range: desert sand/tan/khaki. I'll color match the paint to fabric for the soft soft sides/soft barn door or if that's not practical I'll pick paint and fabric colors that look good together; I'm in the process of getting fabric samples now.
- I'll do 2-stage base/clear. The clear will be a catalyzed matte clear. The clear will give the finish a nice depth that a factory hardtop finish doesn't have. I won't texture the finish.
- Any raw fiberglass on the inside will be finished in white bedliner. The inside of the barn door, which has a smooth gelcoat surface, will be done in base white/matte clear.
- The insulated headliner will be either white or a complementary earth tone. I have to research headliner fabric colors to see what's available.
- Accents: the jerry cans I carry in the side mounts will be color matched to the top. The small "Safari" logos that I'll put in the rear lower corner of each side panel will be a complementary brown.
- I'll do a single color in the earth tone range: desert sand/tan/khaki. I'll color match the paint to fabric for the soft soft sides/soft barn door or if that's not practical I'll pick paint and fabric colors that look good together; I'm in the process of getting fabric samples now.
- I'll do 2-stage base/clear. The clear will be a catalyzed matte clear. The clear will give the finish a nice depth that a factory hardtop finish doesn't have. I won't texture the finish.
- Any raw fiberglass on the inside will be finished in white bedliner. The inside of the barn door, which has a smooth gelcoat surface, will be done in base white/matte clear.
- The insulated headliner will be either white or a complementary earth tone. I have to research headliner fabric colors to see what's available.
- Accents: the jerry cans I carry in the side mounts will be color matched to the top. The small "Safari" logos that I'll put in the rear lower corner of each side panel will be a complementary brown.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I've been researching various earth tone colors for the hardtop, and I'm thinking Spice would be a good choice, for a bunch of reasons:
- It's a factory color and was used for many years on hard tops, soft tops, interiors and accessories, so it will have a factory look.
- Spice soft top fabric is available by the yard, which I need for the roll-up soft sides and the soft barn door.
- Accessories are available in Spice, at least some of which would be useful on a JK, like a spare tire cover.
- Being a factory color, my local auto paint supplier can mix it for me.
- Touch-up paint is available.
I'll order a rattle can of touch-up paint to do some tests before making a final decision, because using photos it's impossible to see what the actual color will look like. I've done some new digital painting in Spice (below), but it's impossible to really know what the actual color will look like until I have a sample to photograph in the same light as the Jeep.
I added a Spice tire cover to this one:
Some photos I've found of factory spice hard tops and soft tops. Hard to tell exactly what the color is in these too. The body color on this first one isn't too far from the body color on the JK:
Impossible to really tell from photos though.
- It's a factory color and was used for many years on hard tops, soft tops, interiors and accessories, so it will have a factory look.
- Spice soft top fabric is available by the yard, which I need for the roll-up soft sides and the soft barn door.
- Accessories are available in Spice, at least some of which would be useful on a JK, like a spare tire cover.
- Being a factory color, my local auto paint supplier can mix it for me.
- Touch-up paint is available.
I'll order a rattle can of touch-up paint to do some tests before making a final decision, because using photos it's impossible to see what the actual color will look like. I've done some new digital painting in Spice (below), but it's impossible to really know what the actual color will look like until I have a sample to photograph in the same light as the Jeep.
I added a Spice tire cover to this one:
Some photos I've found of factory spice hard tops and soft tops. Hard to tell exactly what the color is in these too. The body color on this first one isn't too far from the body color on the JK:
Impossible to really tell from photos though.
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
That should look really nice. Great color combination. :beer:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The roof mold is designed so that the window openings and third brake light are optional. If neither are desired, then the window holes don't get cut and the screw and wire holes for the third brake light don't get drilled. Here's a roof panel coming out of the mold, no holes in it...
jscherb
Expedition Leader
A concept drawing in Spice over Silver. It's got roll-up side panels in Spice and color-matched jerry cans. Also in the upper corner is a first draft of the graphic I'll probably get made in vinyl to put on the lower rear corner of the side panels and embroider in the same place on the soft sides.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Another concept image - Spice over Flame Red. I think the actual Spice paint will be a bit darker than this, I've found photos of Spice ranging from a light color like this to almost brown. Photos on computer monitors aren't to be trusted for color, but for now this will do.
