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Topper idea

jtrapani

jtrapani

1/2 ton status
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
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Tempe Arizona
I often come up with an idea that I think would be pretty cool, only to find out that someone on here has already done it years ago. But here it goes.

For my 74 k5 I'd like to get a soft top. But all of us 2nd gen guys are just told to wait because its under development. How about this: Take a stock 73-75 top, cut it where the 3rd gen soft top would reach and mount like it was a 3rd gen k5. So you'd have a removable cab over fiberglass top, and the back half would be the soft top. Doable? opinions please.
 
Not sure I follow you bub can you detail it for me a little more I have a 74 as well and if it looks good I will follow your footsteps
 
Well picture your top off the truck. Now cut the back half of it off, so that you only have the part that goes over the front seats. thus making it look similar to the 76 and newer k5's. Now just install a soft top that fits the 76 and newer trucks. The back half is soft top, the front half is hard top. But still fully removable.
 
The only problemI could see would be that you would limit yourself to a custom soft top. The only currently available soft top that I know of, requires the steel header area on the half cabs to bolt the front securing points to the cab. It doesn't drill into the body at all that I have seen, and so without a header of some kind to bolt to, it might not work without having something custom made.
 
When I can get my hands on another top I'm gonna try. I posted an add for one in the wanted section but none are for sale within reasonable driving distance.
 
jtrapani said:
Well picture your top off the truck. Now cut the back half of it off, so that you only have the part that goes over the front seats. thus making it look similar to the 76 and newer k5's. Now just install a soft top that fits the 76 and newer trucks. The back half is soft top, the front half is hard top. But still fully removable.
Click to expand...

Ok now I got the picture in my head I was thinking of just cutting top myself but I was thinking about taking out the sides of it. Giving all the benefits of shade but with the open air feel? If you can find one in Cali I will be making a road trip to texas from there in may of 10' dunno how big a rush you are in:wink1:
 
You will need to fabricate a mounting surface for the front of the newer top to connect to. I you have access to an 80's cab, you could cut that portion of steel off and graft it to the front of your early topper. I wonder if just the front few inches of an 80's topper would also work for this??

You might be able to get by with just adding fiberglass material to the cut early topper, with holes to put bolts through. Then bolt the softop to that with nuts and bolts. This is assuming that the softop can support itself mostly just from the bedsides and you just want a weather seal up front.
 
Totally doable, EVERYTHING is doable with a little inginuity. I know exactly what you describing. Like was said, other then a mount on the hard top it should be bolt in. Give it a shot. I'm doing the full custom soft top build. Fram & top. It will lift off just like the hard top does. You have some work ahead of you with cutting the hard top and figuring out how to mount the topper top to it but thats part of the fun of fabricating.



My build link. http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253791
 
I agree that what you are considering is TOTALLY doable. If I were to go about this I would get the last couple inches off the later model top and get friendly with some fiberglass. Embed the back lip of the later model cab into the fiberglass top you are going to chop so that the stock soft tops will be a bolt in deal.

The other interesting thing you will need to overcome is how to bolt the top in as I don't think there is a place to bolt it down in that first 4 inches of fiberglass to the bed rail. I might look into bolting it down from the bottom of the bed rail after inserting some kind of taped metal plate into the bottom edge of the top with fiberglass so that bolt has something to grip onto.

Have fun and FABRICATE! That is half the fun of working on our junk. :D

Cheers,

Rufus
 
thanks that helps. I don't think its going to be that hard. I think the cuts on the fiberglass top are going to be the most important issue.
 
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