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chopping the top on a 2nd gen...

jekbrown

jekbrown

I am CK5
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ok, I know some of you guys have done this. For those who have, got any pics showing the process? I want to run a bikini top afterwards and was thinking about keeping 1-2" of roof near the windshield to allow for this. How much gap is there between the outer sheet metal and the inner? wait... it is 2 layers on that part of the roof... right? lol. My headliner isn't even removed yet, just trying to figure out how I'm gonna do this so it don't look like chiat. :grin: :cool1:

j
 
There are two layers of metal, had to go through them putting my antennas in. I'd day they're about an inch apart or so, but don't take my word for it... it was a while back when i put the antennas up.
 
cool beans. I was thinking of getting some small square tube, however big that gap between the two pieces of sheetmetal is, and welding a whole series of pieces of it across the cut edge inside that gap... then welding angle to it to provide a good place to mount stainless snaps for the soft top. I assume I'd have to do it in parts cause the roof has some curve to it and one piece of square tube wouldn't work. Only way to know is to have seen a chopped roof though... :) want to do what I can to keep the windshield frame as rigid as possible and allow for soft top mounting. I dunno, maybe I'll just do whatever I have to do to fill that gap and then have that area Line-X'd. ;) it'd wouldn't be very much area, shouldn't cost toooo much. anyway, whos done this?

j
 
well this sucks. :crazy:

I guess I'm going to have to do it myself... take lots of pics and post a write-up... cause you guys ain't helpin at all. ;) :grin:

j
 
good idea... sandman has done this too... but 99% of his pics are red x's these days. :(

j
 
:grin: :cool1:

it does! the grinder/sawzall are comin soon... sorry sheetmetal lovers! lol!

j
 
jekbrown said:
well this sucks. :crazy:

I guess I'm going to have to do it myself... take lots of pics and post a write-up... cause you guys ain't helpin at all. ;) :grin:

j
Click to expand...

Yes! Do a write up. :cool1:
 
i definitely will. I think my 52" spring write up turned out really good (it'll be posted in the "technical" portion of the main site when Steve puts it up) so I'm encouraged and ready to do more of them. I'm gonna do a cage, front and rear narrowing, custom dash etc etc. It takes longer when you jot down notes and take a bajillion pics but I think its worth it. Ive leeched more than my fair share of tech from CK5 over the years... I think its time for me to even the score. :cool1:

j
 
I did a big write-up with lots of pictures on converting my 90 to a Full Hardtop Convertible and posted it here, but the pictures were lost when Steve had some technical problems. I rewrote it in Word with all the pictures and emailed it to Steve as he asked me to but it has never been put on the board. Perhaps Steve didn’t receive it as the file is large (3MB) and maybe too big for his email to handle. I resent him the same email today, so maybe it will soon be available.
 
Yeah, some asshole crashed my server for me.

I didnt do anything about the gap, I just kinda left it there.

I'm thinking about cutting the whole thing off anyway now that its sorta messed up after being dragged down the wall on Upper. :crazy:
 
baja: thanks for the info. I know a write up on converting to full convertable would prolly be have a larger audience, but I wanna ditch the 2nd gen hardtop part to save weight and make it a million times easier to install/remove a full cage. I'd be interested in reading your word file and seeing any pics you have tho!

sandman:

I was thinking about getting some square steel tube to put into that gap in sections (6" long?). It wouldn't have to be continuous. At any rate, from there I'd weld a piece of flat stock to the tube across the entire width of the top. This would mainly serve as a gutter for the soft top so water wasn't pouring under its front edge. Tabs welded to said flat stock would allow for the attachment of stainless snaps for the bikini top at attach too. I think it would work ok... just have to take the various curves the top has into account somehow. Not 100% sure how to do that until I have the top chopped and can look at it. ;)

j
 
BAJA_BLAZER said:
I did a big write-up with lots of pictures on converting my 90 to a Full Hardtop Convertible and posted it here, but the pictures were lost when Steve had some technical problems. I rewrote it in Word with all the pictures and emailed it to Steve as he asked me to but it has never been put on the board. Perhaps Steve didn’t receive it as the file is large (3MB) and maybe too big for his email to handle. I resent him the same email today, so maybe it will soon be available.
Click to expand...

Thank You :D

http://coloradok5.com/full-convertible-conversion.shtml
 
It took me about 10 minutes to cut mine off...
I started by supporting the roof with a 4x4 and a floor jack...
with a little pressure pushing the roof up...I saws-alled the rear B pillars...
then I cut 1" away from the winshield...capped the 1/4's...DONE!!! :D

4275bikinitop1.jpg


Then my Dad made me a bikini. :grin:
 
jekbrown said:
sandman:

I was thinking about getting some square steel tube to put into that gap in sections (6" long?). It wouldn't have to be continuous. At any rate, from there I'd weld a piece of flat stock to the tube across the entire width of the top. This would mainly serve as a gutter for the soft top so water wasn't pouring under its front edge. Tabs welded to said flat stock would allow for the attachment of stainless snaps for the bikini top at attach too. I think it would work ok... just have to take the various curves the top has into account somehow. Not 100% sure how to do that until I have the top chopped and can look at it. ;)

j
Click to expand...

That might not be a bad idea. You might want to attach it to your cage also. Mine wobbles all over the place since its not really connected in the front anymore. I plan on at least attaching the firewall to some of the exo supports. I mad a top type of thing and it seems to work OK. Keeps the rain off and the sun.
 
yeah, I could prolly attach it to the cage... just trying to figure out a way to do that that won't look dumb or mess up the functionality of a softtop. Should prolly put bushings of some kind between the windshielf frame and the rest of the cage eh?

j
 
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