bp71k5
3/4 ton status
I have since sold my soft top, but still have a nice bikini top I'd like to use which is made to work with the STC fastrac bracket on the windshield. Rather than make a duplicate of the bracket that screws into the windshield frame, I got to work on a bracket that bolts on using the holes for the hard top.
This is a 1/8" aluminum plate that I cut using a jig-saw with a metal blade. The aluminum cuts pretty easily and doesn't rust. It's still rough on the edges, but this first piece was only supposed to be for practice to see how the idea works. It uses the two holes in the sunvisor bracket and on the final version, I will add some additional tabs that come down and bolt into the holes near the rear view mirror.
The inside view.
The front lip overhangs the flat area on the top of the windshield and is bent down at about a 20 degree angle. It took some hammering and a vise to create the bend since it is around a curve. I still need to work it a bit to straighten it out more, but it's close enough to test the idea out for now.
The reason for the bend is to capture the end of the fabric which has a plastic reinforcement stip on it. When the top is tightened at the back, the lip can't come out because it's pinched between the bracket and the top of the windshield frame. Very similar to the fastrac idea. The bend also happens to keep the bracket more rigid and less likely to flap around. Here's a view of the lip and how it fits under the bend. This makes it very fast to attach and detach the front of the top.
And this final shot is with the bikini top temporarily propped up there. The plan is to add a couple snaps on each side of the bracket (not the windshield) to keep the top from shifting sideways. I think something like this could also be made to work with the softopper top as long as they don't install the windshield snaps. One alternative would be just to install the snaps onto this bracket if they couldn't offer a fastrac style.
This is a 1/8" aluminum plate that I cut using a jig-saw with a metal blade. The aluminum cuts pretty easily and doesn't rust. It's still rough on the edges, but this first piece was only supposed to be for practice to see how the idea works. It uses the two holes in the sunvisor bracket and on the final version, I will add some additional tabs that come down and bolt into the holes near the rear view mirror.
The inside view.
The front lip overhangs the flat area on the top of the windshield and is bent down at about a 20 degree angle. It took some hammering and a vise to create the bend since it is around a curve. I still need to work it a bit to straighten it out more, but it's close enough to test the idea out for now.
The reason for the bend is to capture the end of the fabric which has a plastic reinforcement stip on it. When the top is tightened at the back, the lip can't come out because it's pinched between the bracket and the top of the windshield frame. Very similar to the fastrac idea. The bend also happens to keep the bracket more rigid and less likely to flap around. Here's a view of the lip and how it fits under the bend. This makes it very fast to attach and detach the front of the top.
And this final shot is with the bikini top temporarily propped up there. The plan is to add a couple snaps on each side of the bracket (not the windshield) to keep the top from shifting sideways. I think something like this could also be made to work with the softopper top as long as they don't install the windshield snaps. One alternative would be just to install the snaps onto this bracket if they couldn't offer a fastrac style.
