Meyers CJ5 full hard top conversion to half top?

Now I realize for some of you guys, ANYTHING is possible when it comes to fabricating/conversions. In fact I am always amazed at what some people can do in their home garage. However, I am thinking about buying a Meyers CJ5 Full Hard Top (to fit a 1970 Kaiser cj5) and converting it to a half top and I'm not sure if I am oversimplifying this project. It seems like I could cut the full top just behind the front seats to shorten it. Then cut off the back 6-12" with the glass and door all still intact in the sheet metal. Essentially this would amount just removing roughly 3+/- feet from the center section of the full top. Then mate up this rear section with the back of the shortened front section and weld it back together. Finally, make a lower section for the tub (3/4" plywood covered with liquid bed liner inside and out). I am not real experienced working with metal, better with wood. How possible is this or is it a pipe dream? Any suggestions for how to best achieve this would also be welcomed. Thanks in advance for your input.

 

Anything is possible, but if it was me, I'd look to buy a half top.

 

Sounds like a fun project, Youll need to keep the top on the Jeep soas to keep it in shape..I would use fiberglass cloth an mat, with epoxie. to hold it together. just a thought.

 

Long&Low, I wished I could. They are about impossible to find for sale in the Northeast. Occasionally one comes up for a CJ2a/3a, but not a cj5. Thanks.
Teach

 

I've been thinking of doing the same thing since this Konig hardtop is so rough and no one wants it. Might as well hack it in half. I may make it a bit longer than a factory type half cab, to add some interior storage space.

 

I have a Meyer hard-top, it seems complex to make it shorter , the metal is very thin, it will be a lot of work. There is the question of windows.
It is possible to cut the metal and screw some metal bars to give rigidity. What is good is to have the doors, nice in winter.

 

I wonder if you could tack weld some 1" (or less) angle along both seams that are cut, and then weld these two pieces together when you put the two halves back together. Then of course the entire outside seam would have to be welded(?) or sealed somehow. Like you said though, it is thin, so welding might be difficult. This is good though, it helps me to think it through. Thanks!
Teach

 

Welding possovle on a metal frame fixed with some bolts then will be ok but probably difficult to make a rear door.
You cab fix one of the large window for the rear and use the 2 small rear windows for the sides. Of course easier to get one on ebay or craiglist...

 

Here's one that was modified/fabricated in the early 80s.
I don't recall all the specifics: good CJ6 roof panel, damaged full top side panels, good doors, etc etc.
The windows are all glass.
He constructed a metal bulkhead.
There is a cut down across-the-bed toolbox behind the front seats.
The owner used several big tubes of a heat sink/heat block/heat soak product along the two roof line seams to be welded.
Stitch welded in short sections to hold together, then welded the whole seam.


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Maybe it would be easier to just build a new one from scratch, since you could have a basic pattern to work from. It seems like a lot of work to shorten one up and not much more to build one all new

 

That's about the length I was thinking, in the pictures. Maybe even a few inches longer. I guess it could be called a 3/4 top? Only, I was planning to delete the rear side windows altogether and use one of them for a rear window. My plan was to stitch the two halves back together, then reinforce the seam with a 16 or 18 gauge strap or belt type piece, inside. Maybe 4" wide or something. Of course the stitch weld on the outside would then be finished. The Konig top is built a bit differently than a Meyers though so, I have been developing another idea on how to accomplish the task with this style of top. A better plan but more costly.
I'm not sure I'd do this to a nice top, as Dan mentions. I'm dealing with a rusty but complete, mass of metal.

 

If you don't nee doors, is faster to build one. If you need doors, it is easier to buy one and cut it or find a half one.
With the doors, the hardtop Meyer is pleasant in winter.

 

its only sheet metal... hack the chunk out and weld it together. low heat little beads(tacks) spread em out and wait for them to cool before welding more "patience grasshopper". over lap the two but edges about a half inch and alternate welding the inside and outside. only need to weld the outside solid "tons o tacks". way easier to refab the existing top than fab a new one.

 

Sterician, Great tips. I couldn't imagine trying to rehab a new one, but now I am thinking that fabricating a new 1/2 cab from an old/poorer condition one might just be possible as a good winter project. Thanks for your input. Keep it coming everyone.
Teach

 

There enough tops in bad shape you need to find one that is good where you need it but bad enough it's not a heartbreak to cut it. I think if it was me, I'd cut it, try to weld it (small wire) and if that worked great. IF not, I'd tack weld it in place and then, as suggested above, fiberglass it. You can do it but it might take some work to get it as you want it.

 

There is a type of heat sink putty like Jpflat2a mentioned that you put on the metal near where it 's being welded. It really does help. Reuseable too. Probably available through Eastwood or Autobody/paint supply houses. I can't remember what it's called but I know a couple guys that do professional restorations that swear by it.

 

I debated doing this with my DJ build. I was just going to remove the side windows and the corresponding part of the roof and then weld it back together. The trouble with starting from scratch building a top is it will be tough to duplicate things like the rounded rear corners, front area shaped to the windshield, etc..

The metal in the top is thin, but by using various techniques it can definitely be welded. It could be little more than backing up the seams with a strip of 16 or 18 gauge that you spot weld the top to and then tack the seam together. Your biggest challenge will probably be to keep the thin metal from warping from the heat of the welding. There are ways to minimize that (and burn thru), such as CO2/argon mix, thin wire, copper spoons, wet rags, heat sink, don't get in a hurry, etc. I used chunks of aluminum plate to back up many a weld on thin metal and between that and paying close attention to heat setting and wire speed, I learned to rarely burn thru even the thinnest metal (all the way down to 22 ga on occasion).

The bulkhead will be the easy part- just fabricate a piece in there behind the seats. You'll probably have to ditch the rear door and just fill it in with a panel and some auto glass (go to the picknpull and grab one of the side or back windows out of a postal jeep). Turning edges on sheet metal is just a case of securing the sheet between two heavier pieces of metal and getting the hammer out. You can make rain gutters and the like, but rounded /radiused work is (IMO) much more difficult- therefore the reason to modify an existing top that already has those difficult areas done for you.


Oh, and try not to use a grinding wheel to clean up your work- it can gouge the metal pretty badly; a flapper disc works better.

edit: sounds like you have good glass for the rear window and you have thought about the strip of metal to back up the seam. If nothing else you'll get some good practice! I know I did...