Make Your Own Soft Top (12/2021) Ref Md Juan Tub Build

The JPET post offers quite complete information on fabricating the canvas top with either metal framed polycarbonate, or fabric binding enclosed vinyl. I don't have a source for the metal frames, and I suspect they would be expensive anyway. And I got some practice with vinyl windows on a 1970 AMC (Whitco?) Top I tried to repair.

So, bottom line, I don't plan to practice with vinyl on the prototype, I feel pretty confident I can closely follow the JPET instructions successfully.

 

Does anyone have an opinion about the way the front and side curtains hang over the top edge of the tub?

I suspect an overhang will help keep out the elements. But I notice the back side and its flap is shorter. It just feels like maybe the side curtains should not hang below the shelf around the top edge of the tub.

 

I like how the sides match the doors, the average person won't know there is a shelf.

 

I like the look of the current overhang too.

 

Time permitting I checked a number of photos on line and find the overhang on nearly all of them, which agrees with the opinions I'm getting, so... overhang it will be!!

 

I wanted to pre shrink my first piece of fabric (front top) but didn't want to use our ho.e washing machine, so I cut it oversize by 6" both ways and stuck it in a clean outdoor watering trough and covered it with water.



Reggt away I thought I might have a problem because the material repells water.



But with a jet spray and some persistence it finally soaked all the way through. Then I laid it out in the sun to dry.



I don't know absolutely, but it seems that the peak solar radiation here in Pittsburgh is about 1kw/hr/m2 (about the same power as a 1000W hair blow dryer). It dried pretty quickly laying on the paved driveway, but water was trapped underneath, so I draped it over the Jeep bows in an unshaded area.



I figured getting soaked with rain and sun dried would best approximate life on a jeep. Well, a 59.5 wide piece only shrunk about 3/8". So I threw it into a clothes dryer set on high. In 15 min, it shrunk another 1/4".

I know that's not a very exhaustive test, but I gave it an honest effort, and I'm,m willing to give it a shot. My HF tarp prototype fit a bit loose anyway so I can still tolerate a bit of shrinkage.

Then I referenced my original mark-up of the JPET patterns, checked them against my finished prototype, and began marking my pre-shrunk canvas with a soapstone marking pencil (wipes off later). Despite taking my time, I caught myself making mistakes three (!!!) times, so I quit and will start over tomorrow. It is nice to be retired without a deadline or a customer to satisfy. I don't mind starting over at all.

 

Who is hosting your photos? I switched to BeamingPix but none of my photos are coming over and I'm getting blocked from accessing the site

 

I use Google photos but it's kind of a pain to use.

 

Despite being currently unable to post photos I'm going to try to document my progress now (before I forget and before life gets back in the way) and catch up with photos when BeamingPix returns.

So... TheCJ2aPage.com "Make Your Own Canvas Top" by JPET (Jeff) does a much better job at walking you through this than I am, but I'll also talk about some differences I discover with the CJ5 and/or other surprises. I recommend he be your first source for information.

I made the following modifications to the JPET patterns:

Thin rope sewed into leading edge of front top for attachment in windshield channel.

Slightly elongated piece just above the entry to match my door opening.

Changed the top curves to match my hand made EMT conduit bows.

Cut clearances for larger diameter conduit door jamb in place of solid 3/8(?) rod.

Added extra bow flaps to attach to my extra supports.

Aftermarket roll bar interferes with a standard center (wood) support. I used conduit.

And... I cut my first canvas!!! Per the JPET recommendation, everything else works off the front TOP and the front CURTAINS, so I cut the top piece(s) first.

Not having sewed before I began working on my Jeep, I never thought of sewing as "assembling", but that's exactly what we are doing. But instead of using, say, a welder, we're using a sewing machine to hold several pieces together in a finished assembly.

The front TOP is made of at about 10 separate pieces of fabric plus a box of hardware. I used my HF tarp patterns and traced each piece's outline on to my canvas using a soapstone pencil. I checked, double checked, and triple checked my dimensions by measuring my patterns and also referencing my mark-ups of my printed JPET patterns. I also took the opportunity to incorporate final adjustments marked on my HF tarp patterns.

Accurate tracing is difficult, maybe impossible. I tried just holding my HF tarp down and tracing the outline but it moved around too much despite my best efforts. So then I pinned the HF tarp patterns to the canvas, but the tarp was a bit stretched from being worked with and being dissassembled... and even pinned, the edges wiggled around and the outline showed it. My final approach was to pin, outline, and then use the JPET patern, a yardstick, and several plates and glasses and cups to smooth the straight lines and curves. Just before cutting, I'd reposition the HF tarp pattern over my finished outline and if it looked good I grabbed the scissors!

I should mention that I spent a considerable amount of time laying out several of my patterns on the cloth at the same time to minimize waste. Fortunately, my fabric didn't have a "right side" and "wrong side" so I could flip my patterns at will to get the best fit. I also reduced my piece count a bit by occasionally just folding over an edge to supply needed reinforcement.

But sometimes I increased my piece count by using two smaller pieces to make one bigger piece of reinforcement. The caution with splitting the reinforcement is to recognize you're creating a weak spot. If the reinforcement is just there to spread the load of one of many fasteners, maybe no big deal. But if it is spreading the load of say a tie down strap or a stressed edge, I wouldn't split it (or. If I did split it I'd bridge it with another small piece). Bottom line: if you have plenty of fabric, don't split reinforcements; if you are afraid of running out of fabric, there are work arounds.

I found that where my HF tarp front TOP pattern had a double fold edge (formed around a thin rope) fit into the windshield channel, my thicker canvas TOP edge would not fit. I'll try a thinner rope or eliminate the double fold. If it wears through, it is easily repaired. I could also widen the channel gap if absolutely necessary.

I also found my cut canvas TOP to be an exact fit... so exact it is a bit scary. I have a bit of extra fabric consumed by that same double fold around the rope for the windshield channel edge. If I get some shrinkage later, I'll be able to rip out the seam at that edge and use that extra material to lengthen the top as needed. It very nicely doesn't have fasteners to deal with.

I bought an edge binding accessory which makes my sewing look WAY better than it is. Any material edge I sew together freehand thankfully gets covered by binding with it's nearly perfect straight and even seam near the binding edge.

 

Yikes, almost July!
Sorry for the lack of updates, but I got a new right knee, left to follow. I thought I'd get more done, but...

The "complete" military-ish top I'm copying from theCJ2Apage.com, "Make your own canvas top", by JPET, has 10 major sub assemblies:

Front Top
Rear Top
Front Side Curtains (2) mirror images
Rear Side Curtains (2) mirror images
Half cab Rear Curtain
Half cab Rear Curtain Flap
Rear Curtain
Rear Flap

I've just about completed the first sub assembly, the Front Top.



It still needs an attachment flap at the extreme back edge which captures the front edge of the Rear Top. I'm stalling because the attachment Common Sense Turn Button Fasteners I purchased (which must capture 4 thicknesses of fabric) are extra high and only available with a rivet style flange. And the rivets don't seem to be working out

Here's a shot of the internal attachment flaps holding the Front Top to my EMT conduit bows:




There's a second set of three of these attachment flaps inside the extreme rear of the Front Top. They are just hidden by the small skirt at the back edge of the Front Top.

And maybe a better look at the attachment flap above the door. My attachment flap is split to clear the extra bow I added above the heads of the front seat occupants. Your copy may have a support running front to back.

 

I'm doing the Rear Top or Front Side Curtains next...

 

Nice Work, Sir. I specifically like the turn / lock grommets . Very functional detail.

 

Oh. I finally measured my Canvas Duck fabric... It's #8 (0.040" thick). Yikes. Thick!

 

Wow, that's looking great!! I Love your sewing machine setup and the pingpong table accessory!

 

Where does the line start / who is next?

 

At my current rate, Elon Musk will have a colony on Mars before I finish my 10 major pieces

 

The secret is the pool table under the ping pong table. When I started, the table height was just a bit higher than my sewing machine table and it kept catching the edge of my work, causing it to screw up the stitch. ("Cloth management") 2/3 of my sewing issues ended when I aligned the two surfaces. Duh.

 

I've gotten a bit more done on my DIY canvas top. The REAR TOP/REAR CURTAIN is really, really far along. It only needs tie down straps and the side curtain attachment fastiners and a bit more work on the FRONT TOP to REAR TOP fastiners.

Here's the REAT ROOF/REAR CURTAIN being fitted:





And here it is installed after adding rear window and shown with front SIDE CURTAINS:





So... What worked? And what didn't work?

I'm overall very, very pleased with my progress so far. Only a very knowledgeable military jeep expert will know it's only a replica (so long as they don't look too close at my stitching!)

I could have made the two TOPS an inch-inch and a half wider to better cover the EMT tubing a bit more.

I don't like the job I did with the rear window. I intend to rip it out and resew it.

The REAR ROOF is pulled forward about 1/2" too much (but should be ok once tie down straps are added to the REAR CURTAIN.

So far the patterns are plenty close enough and deliver an authentic reproduction.

 

I'm learning that small things can make big headaches :/

There are curves cut into the corner of the Rear Side Curtain so its top edge can be tucked under the Rear Top while its side edge can still be wrapped around the outside corner at the back of the Jeep. It makes a nice clean upper corner where the Rear Top/Rear Curtain/Rear Side Curtain all meet.

Well, I didn't cut the corner curve deep enough, so the upper edge of the Rear Side Curtain doesn't fit properly under the Rear Top. And that makes it impossible to install the twist fastiners in the proper locations. I have to remove the binding, cut the corner relief deeper, and then sew it all back together before I can locate and add the fastiners. Grrrrrr...

I missed this with my prototype because I didn't add my fastiners to it.

 

Grrr, that's frustrating. Hopefully it'll be a minor fix.