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Sometimes it pays to go to work

Moody

Moody

1/2 ton status
Joined
Aug 4, 2005
Posts
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Location
Yakima, WA
I usually don't like to go to work on Thursdays because of the 80 mile one way commute I have to make to one our satellite offices. So I get to work yesterday and my co-worker calls me from the main office and asks me to pick up a giant nickle saver for him on the way home. So I run down to the store and pick one up. I'm browsing through the truck parts for sale and come across an ad for a Bestop for a 69-72 Blazer. The guy wants 300 for it which is a little steep for me. So I call him up and see if I can look at it, turns out he's five blocks from my work. So I go to his house on lunch and he pulls out what appears to be a brand new bestop in immaculate condition:eek1: Says he bought the thing several years ago and put in on his blazer one time for three months and it was stored in his garage. That winter he puts the hardtop on and stores the soft top in the attic. He sold his blazer three months ago and remembers the soft top in the attic. I ask him if he's had any calls for it and he says no. I offer him 200 for it and it's a done deal:D No rips, tears, windows don't even have any scratches! Now, if I can just find instructions so I don't drill a million holes in the truck!:doah:

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Major score! Herb101 has a bestop and I think he did a great install post over in the K5 subforum at 67-72chevytrucks.com.

Almost seems like Bestop had instructions viewable on their website when they had them. If Herb101 doesn't have a copy I bet Bestop will still have instructions.
 
It's funny, I'm sitting in the car on the way home thinking what a great deal I got, until I got home and spread the thing out to wash the dust off and I find the sticker on one of the bows with the price........220.00:eek1:
These things are getting to be worth their weight in gold!
 
Was the sticker indicating the original price for the whole top or the price for a replacement bow?

Regardless, it doesn't matter, you got a good deal! When they stopped making them the price was around $600 IRC - pretty much priceless now that they aren't making them IMO.
 
The price was on one of the bows and they all looked like they are new and from the orginal set. I can't image new bows costing 220.00! As hard as these are getting to find I'm thinking I should have someone locally reproduce it with more durable materials. This one won't last forever and who knows how hard they will be able to find in the future!
 
Yea, nice find. It looks like it's the snaptop version so you'll need to drill holes for the snaps all along the bed, tailgate, and windshield.

Instead of that I'd think about making some kind of L shaped bracket that bolts to where the hard top does and then snap the top onto that instead. Drilling all those holes is just asking for rust to creep in them. Ask me how I know. :)
 
If you look close you can see the L brackets in the middle....the snaps are attached to them. I only have to worry about the visor and tailgate.
 
yep the L brackets are there. I put on a Kayline without instructions. I had to drill and install snaps on the windshield frame, across the top of the tailgate and one snap on the rear quarter by the tailgate, might have been two on each side.

We started the installation by getting the hoops set up roughly then spread the top out and began in the center of the windshield from then worked each direction from there, then we got the L brackets and door frames in position and attached them to the vehicle then attached the top to the L brackets and did the tailgate last.

The top will stretch in heat and shrink in cold so I would make sure you don't install in major heat so you don't get the snaps too far apart for when it is cooler.
 
I only have to worry about the visor and tailgate.
Click to expand...

You might be able to make something similar for the tailgate. I don't like how mine has the bracket screwed on all the time. I was going to try using that metal seal strip that's screwed onto the inside of the tailgate to mount the fastrac rail.
 
Thanks for all the help guys! I found Herb's post over at 67-72 trucks and the Bestop instuctions are great! I was thinking this evening and I've got some good ideas for brackets that I can attach the snaps to without drilling into the truck. I make prosthetics for a living (artifical limbs) so I make make molds of stuff every day and then duplicate it using acrylic resin and carbon fiber. I'm thinking about making an impression of the top of the tailgate and the top of the windshield out of plaster and then laminating a bracket out of carbon to attach the snaps to. Carbon is super strong and lightweight. I would need to find a way to keep the brackets in place without holes. Hmmmm, this could turn into an interesting project!
 
Just use the mounting holes that are there for the hardtop and incorporate them into your bracket. Heck if you can make two, I'd buy one to get rid of those snap holes.
 
For the front I was thinking the same thing. I could use the existing holes on the inside to secure the bracket to the windshield frame. For the tailgate it might be a little tricky to keep it in place without drilling holes. But on my truck when I did all the bodywork I sandblasted the whole inside of the tub and rhino lined the entire inside including the inside of the tailgate. If I have to drill a couple of holes on the inside of the tailgate I'm OK with that.
 
My tailgate has a piece of 1 by 2 aluminum angle. The 2 inch side is on the inside of the tailgate and the one inch side is on top. There are a row of snaps on the one inch side. 4 screws I think hold it on to the tailgate on the 2 inch side on the interior side of the tailgate.
 
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