1/2 top conversion **Step 3 COMPLETE

[diesel4me]

half as cold too..

You'll appreciate the "half cab" when the weather gets colder!--I put a bus heater in my 72 K5,it was like heating a full sized ROOM --not quite as bad as my G10 van was to heat,but close..that's one reason I like a pickup in the winter--less waiting for heat,and it stays toasty in the cab!..

I put a curtain across the van to block the front seat area off from the rest of the " cooler"!..it took 20 minutes to heat it up to 50 degrees!..

 

[NEK5]

ok, heres the pics.....the window i`m using has 2 "channels", the front one has a big lip, which is the side that faces out...so the outer lip will rest on the plywood...then a second peice will be cut out...using either some thick sheet metal, or thinner plywood, to go into the inner lip.....but it may not be necessary...the 1st pic in the outer lip, the second is the inner, the rest are what the piece looks like

 

[NEK5]

Step 3

then i used 3/4 in thick ply wood for the wall...i cut out the space for the wheel wells, then made it so there is about 3/4 of an inch from the top of the wall, to the top of the bedside, so i can use a piece of strapping in between the window piece, and the actual wall...the strapping will also serve as a mounting point for the plastic pieces(on the blazer tailgate, where it meets the weather stripping on the bottom of the cap....

EDIT: because i left it out when i cut it, i cut out little corner pieces, that will be put in the corners for the wheel wells....

 

[beater_k20]

here's a suggestion... wrap the plywood in fiberglass, that way it wont eventually rot out and leak. plus, it will look alot better too. truck cap companies have been wrapping strips of plywood in fiberglass for years using it as baserails to attach the cap to the bedrail of the truck without issues. i dont see why it wouldnt work in this application too.

personally, i'd use steel for the rear wall, and make it solid mounted to the body, then when you put the full top back on (if you do) you'll just have a wall behind the back seat.

 

[Chevy305]

Keep it going!! I wanna see it all together!!

 

[NEK5]

well, what i was just planning on doing was using a smooth bedliner to seal it, as i heard it did a good job for that purpouse

 

[NEK5]

here's a suggestion... wrap the plywood in fiberglass, that way it wont eventually rot out and leak. plus, it will look alot better too. truck cap companies have been wrapping strips of plywood in fiberglass for years using it as baserails to attach the cap to the bedrail of the truck without issues. i dont see why it wouldnt work in this application too.

personally, i'd use steel for the rear wall, and make it solid mounted to the body, then when you put the full top back on (if you do) you'll just have a wall behind the back seat.

well, i considered using steel, but went this route instead, it will be mounted to the bed walls,floor....so if i were to, which i dont plan on doing, put the cap back on, it will be totally doable, just having the wall behind the rear seat...

 

[NEK5]

Keep it going!! I wanna see it all together!!

soon enough.......i`m acutally quite proud of myself, lately i`ve been having a tough time getting $h!t done....and it gets pretty agrivating, so the other day i just said to myself "i wanna see this done"....so...now i`m half way through with it, and want to keep going....unfortunately, plans are being put on hold, because tomorrow i drive to NH in the rig to swap in a good front end, then its time to go wheelin again!

 

[muddybuddy]

hurry up! haha any more progress?

 

[MattK]

cool project man.

have you thought at all about having the rear wall removeable to some extent? i know i'd like to still take advantage of the storage room you gain when you flip the rear seat up when needed. how much room do you have between the rear wall and the inside of the tailgate?

 

[NEK5]

hahah....the truck`s in NH right now, so no more progress yet....

MattK, the wall will be removable, all it will be held on with is some l-brackets and possibly carriage bolts.....so it will be, the space available will be from the rear seat to the gate.

 

[NEK5]

well, i bought basically all the stuff to install it today, mines brackets and bolts....got some rubber stripping, and some adhesive...

 

[NEK5]

ok guys, i would like to get some feed back....i`m wondering if i`m going to be alright, as far as using the wood goes, if i put a few coats of bedliner on it, will it be alright? or is it gonna still rot out fairly quick???...if you have any ideas, suggestions, maybe ways you might have done it, let me know

TIA

 

[NEK5]

here's a suggestion... wrap the plywood in fiberglass, that way it wont eventually rot out and leak. plus, it will look alot better too. truck cap companies have been wrapping strips of plywood in fiberglass for years using it as baserails to attach the cap to the bedrail of the truck without issues. i dont see why it wouldnt work in this application too.

personally, i'd use steel for the rear wall, and make it solid mounted to the body, then when you put the full top back on (if you do) you'll just have a wall behind the back seat.

about wrapping the wood in glass, any idea how much i`m looking at to do it? or would it be better for me just to use metal, cost wise?? if i made it out of metal, what should i use, as far as materials?

 

[Greg72]

Fiberglass is cheap.....since you've already invested this much time, why not do it RIGHT?? Bedliner as a weatherseal sounds kinda "ghetto" to me. Fiberglass would be a nice paintable solution and could end up looking really nice. Nobody would even know that the underlying material was wood once you were done.......

My $.02

 

[NEK5]

Fiberglass is cheap.....since you've already invested this much time, why not do it RIGHT?? Bedliner as a weatherseal sounds kinda "ghetto" to me. Fiberglass would be a nice paintable solution and could end up looking really nice. Nobody would even know that the underlying material was wood once you were done.......

My $.02

yeah, you`re right. there are a few other things that i want to get before it really goes on, such as new weatherstripping, unless if you think i can get away with using the weather stripping from my current top????

as far as wrapping the wood in glass, is that something i`m going to have to do, or can i have it done? is it possible to wrap the "window frame" i made in glass too???

 

[Greg72]

Fiberglass is a DIY item...

Basically just fiber matting and a two-part resin (like an epoxy) that you mix together to start the chemical reaction. Once it cures, it's durable and water resistant and you can sand and finish it with a matching auto paint.

There are a number of folks on here (Ryoken comes to mind!) who are pros when it comes to fiberglass work....so find a way to get their attention (PM) and link them to this thread for advice.

 

[NEK5]

Fiberglass is a DIY item...

Basically just fiber matting and a two-part resin (like an epoxy) that you mix together to start the chemical reaction. Once it cures, it's durable and water resistant and you can sand and finish it with a matching auto paint.

There are a number of folks on here (Ryoken comes to mind!) who are pros when it comes to fiberglass work....so find a way to get their attention (PM) and link them to this thread for advice.

ahh, good ol Ryoken...fine, fine man, has given me plenty of good advise....

 

[NEK5]

well it seems as though one of the main reasons for me doing this project, carrying around my snowblower, wont be neccessary, as my parents are goin to FL

 

[muddybuddy]

well it seems as though one of the main reasons for me doing this project, carrying around my snowblower, wont be neccessary, as my parents are goin to FL

wana sell it now ? keep it going. its going to be nice