Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

Nope, no threaded holes that I'm aware of. We'd have to leave the freedom panels in place when running with no sides. But IMHO, if I wanted both the sides AND the freedom panels off, I'd just run topless. I often run with my soft top up and no sides or back windows. With your barn door, you could do the same with the hard top.

Have the wheels in your brain been working on a way to run "hard top, soft sides"? That'd be the cat's ********.

Yes, when I do the detailed write-up of the conversion process I do plan to cover how to make roll-up soft side panels to swap out for the hard sides, and the one additional mod to the fiberglass parts necessary to support them. The details of the soft sides will be pretty much the same as the soft sides for my LJ Safari Cab, only the dimensions will differ.

In order to run soft sides, the roof panel will have to be secured to the roll bar, so something will have to be devised. I can think of several ways it could probably be done, but I don't have a 2dr here to do some measurements to design the necessary parts.

I'm not going to worry about it for a little while, first I'm going to paint the Safari Cab roof. I started disassembling it this morning to begin the paint prep work. The soon-to-be-modular 2dr hardtop is waiting its turn leaning up against the covered trailer in the next bay.

 

[jscherb]

Have the wheels in your brain been working on a way to run "hard top, soft sides"? That'd be the cat's ********.

Here you go, I cut the soft sides off the LJ photo and pasted them on the factory modular concept just for you...

 

[jscherb]

Through the build phase of the Safari Cab project I've had temporary plexiglass windows installed - didn't want to take a chance messing up more expensive glass while I was working on the parts. But now it's time to get the final glass, so today I stopped by a local auto glass place to see what they could do for me. This must have been the guy's Jeep day, he told me that this morning he replaced the windshield on a J8. J8? I asked him if he was sure, and yes it was a J8, but more on that in the next post. Back to my windows...

I want the hardtop windows to match the tint of the rear door windows of the JK, and the challenge with that is that the kick-out vent windows I've designed my side panels for are from a late 70's Toyota FJ40 and they're clear. This photo shows the challenge - tinted rear door windows and clear kick-out vent windows. The Alpine windows that are intstalled in this photo are tinted and a pretty good match for the rear door windows, although I also have a set of 4 Alpine windows in clear (and several more tinted sets).

So to match the tint of the rear door window, I've got several options:

1. Have the hardtop glass made up in clear safety glass, and then have that and the FJ40 vent windows tinted with tint film (BTW 20% tint film is a perfect match for the Jeep's rear door windows).

2. Have all of the windows made up in tinted glass and have the glass tempered. This would also involved making new vent windows in tinted glass.

I had made up templates for the glass yesterday, so I left them with the glass place and they'll call me with a price quote for both options in the next day or two.

I'm leaning towards the tinted glass and having it tempered but I'll make a final decision when they get back to me.

In the meantime, I've just about got the roof panel prepped for painting, just a little more sanding to go.

 

[jscherb]

Back to the J8...

Yes, he did install a windshield on a J8 this morning. I told him I'd like to see it and he said I couldn't because it's under the lake. Huh? The Jeep is under the lake? It turns out this J8 is doing duty in the deep salt mine at the south end of Seneca Lake in Watkins Glen. Apparently a 4wd pickup with a fairly low roofline was needed in the confines of the salt mine, I'm told they needed 4wd because of the slopes inside the mine. It's a 2.8 diesel BTW.

My glass friend sent me this photo (apparently taken during the windshield replacement, the glass is out and the adhesive applicator is sitting on the hood). The dust that's covering the Jeep is salt.

 

[Jurfie]

Looks like a JKU with half doors. But a diesel 2.8L? Imported, perhaps? Is the mining company Euro?

 

[Haf-E]

Since mining vehicles don't need to be registered and need to be diesel, they often use models not available normally in the USA.

Its a J8 alright - easy to see the hood scoop, bumper and rear leaf springs in the photo. would think the salt would rust out a vehicle pretty quickly down there...

 

[Jurfie]

Since mining vehicles don't need to be registered and need to be diesel, they often use models not available normally in the USA.

Its a J8 alright - easy to see the hood scoop, bumper and rear leaf springs in the photo. would think the salt would rust out a vehicle pretty quickly down there...

Ah, I'm a dumb-********...I was thinking the J8 was the military pickup. Brain fart.

 

[Ryan1035]

Just little info, since I knew it would cause a bit of confusion when I saw the post.

All Jeeps are made in Toledo, Ohio regardless of their end destination. The diesels have been around for decades, much to the dismay of so called "automotive journalist" that just make up tabloid headlines and Jeep owners that eat it up. The J8 comes standard with a 2.8 Turbo Diesel, rear leaf springs for double the towing capacity (7700lbs instead of 3500) of the standard coil spring rear end. Stock rear Dana 60 and front Dana 44 which are actually supplied by Dynatrac instead of Dana/Spicer, and only come in 3.73, and 5x5.5 bolt pattern. These versions are typically built without a radio, and are available in 2dr or 4dr models, but they don;t make short 2dr J8's only 4dr length, but with just 2 doors. It also still runs regular command trac as opposed to the rubicon rock trac transfer case.

 

[jscherb]

The Safari Cab roof will have an insulated headliner to reduce noise and heat. I'm working on the details of the headliner now. The roof panel is pretty much ready for paint, but I decided to cut and fit the headliner pieces first because I always prefer to work on a unpainted part than a painted one I could scratch if I slipped with a tool. The headliner parts will come out when I paint, and will be covered with fabric and reinstalled after painting.

I'll begin painting the roof on Saturday, there are multiple steps just as there were with the side panels.

 

[jscherb]

I heard back from the glass place today - they priced two options for me:

1. Make new windows from laminated safety glass, and use tint film on the new windows and on the Toyota vent windows to match the tint of the factory rear windows/factory hardtop windows. About $450. Not too bad for making 5 new windows and tinting them.

2. Make all new windows (including the vent windows) out of tinted glass and have the glass tempered after cutting. This is 7 windows, including two new vent windows which have 3 holes drilled in each one. Less than $600.

To me there's no choice, I'm going with the tinted/tempered glass.

He says it'll be about 3 weeks until I can pick them up (he has to send them out for tempering, which could take two weeks).

So by the time I get the glass, installing the glass will be the only task left to complete the hardtop.

 

[AZJim]

Just to clarify. JK with diesel is built in Toledo. The J8's are actually built in Egypt and have been all along. Also they run a 24 volt system.

Jim

 

[Ryan1035]

Just to clarify. JK with diesel is built in Toledo. The J8's are actually built in Egypt and have been all along. Also they run a 24 volt system.

Jim

They are built in Toledo and exported. There used to be a company that built TJ's in Egypt called Arab American Vehicles. They were actually called TJL's

 

[jscherb]

Since the topic has turned to the J8 (sorry I mentioned it, maybe someone should start a thread on it instead of turning this into a J8 debate), here's a "J8" style configuration 2-door that will be possible with the factory modular conversion project I'll be posting...

The illustration above is a quick photo-hack of a long wheelbase J8 down to 2-door length.

When I post the factory modular conversion writeup, I'll also cover what would be necessary to run just the roof panel like the concept above.

The same thing would be possible if a factory JKU hardtop were to be converted to modular using the same procedure.

 

[Comanche Scott]

I heard back from the glass place today - they priced two options for me:

1. Make new windows from laminated safety glass, and use tint film on the new windows and on the Toyota vent windows to match the tint of the factory rear windows/factory hardtop windows. About $450. Not too bad for making 5 new windows and tinting them.

2. Make all new windows (including the vent windows) out of tinted glass and have the glass tempered after cutting. This is 7 windows, including two new vent windows which have 3 holes drilled in each one. Less than $600.

To me there's no choice, I'm going with the tinted/tempered glass.

He says it'll be about 3 weeks until I can pick them up (he has to send them out for tempering, which could take two weeks).

So by the time I get the glass, installing the glass will be the only task left to complete the hardtop.

I think that is a great choice. Much lighter weight. Wold be great if they will supply you with the drawings for quick future replacement.

 

[jscherb]

I think that is a great choice. Much lighter weight. Wold be great if they will supply you with the drawings for quick future replacement.

Thanks.

They're working off full size templates I gave them, and I'll get the templates back when I pick up the finished glass, so I'll keep the templates around just in case. Also I've got the temporary plexiglass windows I used during the construction phase, so I can keep those around as emergency windows as well.