Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

I've ordered a rattle can of Spice touch-up paint to do some color testing.

I also spent about 45 minutes yesterday with the guys at Elmira Auto Paint, the local auto paint supplier. They're a great bunch of guys, they always spend whatever time necessary to advise me on my projects and find the right materials for me. They came up with several Spice options:

1. They can mix the original formula, which was a single-stage (no clearcoat) matte finish with an activator. It's pretty expensive ($200+/quart).

2. They can match the original color with a single-stage industrial paint, typically used for things like dump trucks and other industrial equipment. It's a gloss paint, so a flattening agent would have to be added. It also has an activator. Probably 60% of the price of the first option.

3. Once I get the rattle can I ordered, I can spray a sample for them to scan, and then they'd make up a base coat to that scanned color. A matte clear top coat would be required. Base + clear would probably run $150 per quart.

Of the 3 options, I like #3 best - base + matte clear, I think it would probably give me the most control over the end result, the best UV protection, and the best look.

The next step is t go back and see them after I spray a test panel and we'll see what their scanner comes up with for a base coat.

Also, once I get the test panel sprayed, if I still like the color and decide to go ahead with it, I'll order enough yardage of Spice soft top fabric to make the roll-up soft sides and the soft barn door. I'd like to have the fabric on hand to compare to the color sample before I get them to mix the paint; if the paint sample and the fabric are a ways apart I might decide to alter the paint formula to better match the fabric.

 

[jscherb]

There's a decal/embroidery shop nearby that I've used many times for both decals and embroidery for my projects. I'm going to drop by there next week and see if their embroidery machine can handle a spare tire cover. Might be better to do something this large by silkscreening though, I'll see what they think.

The basic idea...

 

[kojackJKU]

Jeff, Jeff, Jeff......PLEASE for all that is holy stop teasing me with this roof setup! Or, hurry the ******** and get someone to make them already! I am waiting inline with money in hand for the full modular hard/soft with upper windows, rack etc! ha ha ha!

 

[jscherb]

Jeff, Jeff, Jeff......PLEASE for all that is holy stop teasing me with this roof setup! Or, hurry the ******** and get someone to make them already! I am waiting inline with money in hand for the full modular hard/soft with upper windows, rack etc! ha ha ha!

So sorry, my goal isn't to tease! I post all this detail because I get very valuable input, feedback, criticism and new ideas from all of you that help me make the project much better than it could be if I did it without everyone's input. And mostly the concept drawings are to inspire me to create the end results shown by the concepts.

I haven't talked to any companies about this project since I was at SEMA, so I don't have an update on if it'll ever get to market. Getting it to market isn't my focus though, my focus is completing this first prototype to a level of quality and standards that it could be on display next to any of the Jeep concept vehicles and look at least as good as they do .

 

[kojackJKU]

Yeah yeah, sure! ha ha. You get yours finished, I will put 10g on one if no one buys the design.

 

[jscherb]

Yeah yeah, sure! ha ha. You get yours finished, I will put 10g on one if no one buys the design.

If I come across someone who wants to use my molds to build one for you for 10g I'll let you know .

 

[kojackJKU]

ha ha ....for sure!.

 

[jscherb]

I'm working on something right now that suggests it would be a fairly straightforward project to turn a factory hardtop into a modular top like the Safari Cab. Here's a 2dr hardtop side panel that was cut from a factory hardtop, I added a bolt flange to the top of it. If you cut the sides out of a factory hardtop, added flanges like this to both sides of the cuts, you'd be able to use the flanges to bolt everything back together.

The factory hardtop comes with lines between the panels that make perfect places to cut:

I'm not actually making a factory modular hardtop, but I am working on this side panel for another project so I decided to post it in case anyone might have thought about turning their factory hardtop modular.

The reason I'm doing this panel is to have a test panel for the hardtop slider window project. The idea is that you'd remove the bonded-on factory hardtop windows and replace them with RV-style sliders (or some other type of window, such as tilt-up or cargo hatches). I've designed a retrofit kit to enable the flat RV-style windows to be successfully installed on the curved mounting surface of the factory hardtop, so the next step is to get the RV window company I've been working with to make up some prototype frames that I can test install in some hardtops (which they've agreed to do).

To make the first test install easier and not require removing the windows from an actual hardtop, I'm going to use this hardtop fragment. I believe it was in a rollover accident and the person was selling it for the glass, which wasn't damaged. The fiberglass was damaged, and needed repair, here are before and after photos:

I added the flange to the top in this case to strengthen the panel, but as I was doing it I decided it's an easy way to turn a factory hardtop modular. The flange was added by simple clamping a board to the top of the panel, covering it with masking tape, which polyester resin doesn't stick to, and using the board as a form to lay up fiberglass against to make the flange.

Cutting a factory hardtop apart at the seam lines and adding flanges to both sides of each cut would be a reasonable way to end up with a modular hardtop with removable sides. You could end up with something like this...

 

[Jurfie]

I'm working on something right now that suggests it would be a fairly straightforward project to turn a factory hardtop into a modular top like the Safari Cab. Here's a 2dr hardtop side panel that was cut from a factory hardtop, I added a bolt flange to the top of it. If you cut the sides out of a factory hardtop, added flanges like this to both sides of the cuts, you'd be able to use the flanges to bolt everything back together.

The factory hardtop comes with lines between the panels that make perfect places to cut:

I've bandied about that idea exactly myself. I've just got to pick up a second-hand hardtop, because m'wife would beat me senseless if I chopped up her hard top! She's claimed the Jeep, since I just bought myself something with four rings and two doors.

 

[jscherb]

I've bandied about that idea exactly myself. I've just got to pick up a second-hand hardtop, because m'wife would beat me senseless if I chopped up her hard top! She's claimed the Jeep, since I just bought myself something with four rings and two doors.

I've got two factory hardtops here, an early model and a late model. I won't need either one when the Safari Cab is done and installed, so maybe I'll turn one of the spare factory hardtops into a modular top - it would be a lot easier to store in pieces than as a one-piece top .

A JKU factory hardtop turned modular would look something like this when the side panels were removed:

 

[Jurfie]

Nice! I'd think this arrangement would work fantastic with your barn door mod. Ideally, it would be nice with a bolt-on lip for those of us who don't have fiber-glassing skills. I've also thought about modifying the soft top door surround to possibly allow rolled up soft top with a hard top. I think it would be a nice modification on my 2-door since the side panel would be a little wider than on a JKU.

All I need is time and/or money...:********:

 

[jscherb]

With a roll-up side panel (rolled up):

Or, here's what a modular factory hardtop on a JKU might look like with half doors...

 

[Jeeptrip Pete]

...factory hardtops into a modular top - it would be a lot easier to store in pieces than as a one-piece top .

To be honest, when I saw the JK come out, in 2007, after many years of dealing with taking off and putting on the hardtop, always needing a friend to help, finding a place to store the darn thing, etc., and I saw the very square shape and the seam lines on the JK hardtop, I said "Hey, the finally got smart and made the hardtop modular! Now you can take the top off yourself, one piece at a time, and stack the pieces against the garage wall, easily, with very little space. What a great design!"



....Then I realized that they didn't do that. :squint: Unless there's one already out there in the aftermarket, I think that idea alone is fantastic.



Always enjoy your projects - you do nice work.
Pete

 

[jscherb]

To be honest, when I saw the JK come out, in 2007, after many years of dealing with taking off and putting on the hardtop, always needing a friend to help, finding a place to store the darn thing, etc., and I saw the very square shape and the seam lines on the JK hardtop, I said "Hey, the finally got smart and made the hardtop modular! Now you can take the top off yourself, one piece at a time, and stack the pieces against the garage wall, easily, with very little space. What a great design!"

....Then I realized that they didn't do that. :squint: Unless there's one already out there in the aftermarket, I think that idea alone is fantastic.



Always enjoy your projects - you do nice work.
Pete

Thank you.

Storing Safari Cab parts: (the roof doesn't fit under a bed but it could lean up against a wall in the garage, it's not too thick).

 

[jscherb]

The 2dr JK hardtop side panel I posted I posted the other day is part of the slider window project for factory hardtops. I also made up a side panel with a JKU factory window for testing using a Safari Cab modular side panel. This way I can do test installs of slider windows in a factory hardtop mounting surface, and install the test panel on my JK Safari Cab for road testing. I started with this window/hardtop fragment I found on eBay:

Because the seller cut the fiberglass pretty close to the glass the fiberglass was no longer strong enough to use for window installation testing, so I spliced it into a Safari Cab side panel that I molded on Monday just for this purpose. Here's a work-in progress photo:

And once a little bodywork and some paint were done, here's the result, left to right: this panel with factory JKU window, a Safari Cab panel with a kick-out vent window, a Safari Cab panel with a cargo hatch installed.

Because I spliced in a section of a factory hardtop, the black panel has a curved window mounting surface, which is what I need for testing the slider retrofit kit. The other two panels in the photo have the Safari Cab flat window mounting surface.

Next I'll remove the factory window from the black panel and document the removal process. Then I'll make a mold of the new panel so I can mold several more side panels to use for test installations of prototype slider windows.


Safari Cab project update: the rattle can of Spice paint is due to arrive on Friday, so I'll spray a sample then and photograph it next to the Jeep to see how the color combo looks. I've also got some headliner fabric samples on the way, they should be here by the end of the week as well.