1. Registration trouble? Please use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom right corner of the page and your issue will be resolved.
    Dismiss Notice

Top Support Attachment To Body

Discussion in 'Early Jeep Restoration and Research' started by Wirework, Nov 10, 2016.

  1. Nov 10, 2021
    Wirework

    Wirework Navy_Jim

    Pittsburgh, PA
    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2016
    Messages:
    542
    My wife gave me the day off :)
    so I took a shot at adding another transverse, side to side horizontal top support.

    I thought I would be clever and taper the top towards the windshield (the center now is highest and higher than the windshield). I thought I could avoid adding another break in the top's profile. So I measured the slope.

    [​IMG]

    Then I went to YouTube and watched a few video lessons on how to bend tubing. Since I was essentially just making a simple "U" shape, really, how hard could that be?

    Hmmm... I thought I followed the example exactly, but my "U" ended up an inch too narrow and the two uprights, while at 90 degrees, shot off in two different directions front to back (dogleg??)... and the bend radius made the bow too high. I didn't have enough material to try again so back to LOWES for more material. :(

    During the trip back I decided to try and modify the piece I'd already made.

    Conduit benders generally have handles with internal diameters slightly larger than the conduit so you can slightly unbend a small mistake. First I took out the dogleg. It put a slight wobble in the long run of the bow, but not enough to notice under a soft top. Then I started working out the 90 degree bends, a little at a time, back and forth, one side then the other until I added about two inches the length on each side, which also reduced the height. Then I cut each side to fit them into the MAKER connectors.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Here's how it turned out. I centered the support between the windshield and the first vertical bow (@ about 18").

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    But I'm not happy with how it works with the Bimini top... it really doesn't work with it :)

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I'll redesign and sew a new Bimini top and see if I can improve the way they fit together.
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2021
    Fireball likes this.
  2. Nov 10, 2021
    mickeykelley

    mickeykelley Well-Known Member

    Republic of Texas
    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2015
    Messages:
    1,897
    In your last picture, I saw your front bumper and thought, boy that cat looks comfy. Then I zoomed in and saw it was just rope. But ar first glance looked like a yellow tabby cat.
     
    Cj5dale likes this.
  3. Nov 13, 2021
    Wirework

    Wirework Navy_Jim

    Pittsburgh, PA
    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2016
    Messages:
    542
    Oh, that's a hoot. I have a pound puppy dog (approaching 2 yes old) whom I got about a year ago. She's a "Treeing Tennessee Brindle"; a coon/squirrel hunting dog. I can imagine where a cat would be... One heck of a lot higher than my front bumper :)

    Here she is in a crazy moment popping up behind the couch:

    [​IMG]

    Look out cats!!!
     
    mickeykelley and Fireball like this.
  4. Nov 27, 2021
    Wirework

    Wirework Navy_Jim

    Pittsburgh, PA
    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2016
    Messages:
    542
    So... I thought I should get my door attached before I launch into a top sewing adventure.

    I mentioned earlier in this or the MD Juan Tub post that I had acquired an old, aged, black 1970 Whitco top with bows, doors and door jamb rods.

    The door jamb rods are specific to the Whitco top. Whitco's forward leaning top support bow reaches further forward than the vertical OE design forward bow. So the supplied horizontal door jamb rod is too short, and its welded "washer" and bushing location (made to capture the vertical door jamb intersection) won't work for me.

    [​IMG]

    I wondered if my body's door frame attachment hole was misplaced in my MD JUAN body, so I checked it:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    They are in the same location... So Whitco's horizontal door rods are made to compliment their bows, not mine.

    I think someone here found or gave me some door mounting hardware (various aluminum channel and several different hinges.

    [​IMG]

    But after replacing the clear window material on my Whitco doors, I never got back to mounting them. Frankly, I never really figured out how to do it.

    The metal hinge rods extending out of the doors seem to be misaligned. And I was never sure I had the right hinges to mount to the body. I have a hodge podge of hardware and no readable instructions. (Instructions available on our site here can be unreadable when I zoom in on my phone. :( Thanks to help I got here, I did figure out that I was missing the cup bracket that receives the door's top horizontal frame member at the windshield. I'd have to acquire or fabricate one of these if I followed the Whitco door frame example.

    [​IMG]

    Also, as I said above, I do have the door frame vertical and horizontal solid steel bars, but for my build I already fabricated an EDM conduit frame that omits at least the standard horizontal door frame (see above photo).

    Today I started working out which way to finish mounting the door. I have two sets of doors, Whitco (1970, black) and an unknown white. When I align the doors' curves the hinge sides are completely different.

    [​IMG]

    I've decided to use the Whitco doors but to just store the Whitco door jamb rods (as is) with its bows and top (should I ever want to switch back to that design). That means I need to fabricate a vertical conduit door jamb to compliment the horizontal piece I already have.

    This is my first pass:

    [​IMG]

    I used my last remaining set of MAKER conduit connectors and dropped a vertical piece of conduit in line with the hole in the body too side edge located to receive the door frame rod. I don't know yet how the door latch mechanism is going to work with the larger diameter conduit.

    [​IMG]

    There are a lot of issues with the fit of the soft cover on the door. I put a lot of time into it just to find out later it does not fit.

    [​IMG]

    I'll modify it until I have the fit I want and then use that as a pattern for my final product.

    [​IMG]

    Thanks to photos shared here and pared with instruction manuals found here, I did figure out how to mount the door hardware (hinges and aluminum channel). I only taped it together, but I'm confident I have it correct.

    [​IMG]

    The aluminum channel does interfere slightly with my horizontal upper door frame connection at the windshield, but I can bump that around a bit.
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2021
  5. Nov 27, 2021
    mickeykelley

    mickeykelley Well-Known Member

    Republic of Texas
    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2015
    Messages:
    1,897
    Pics as you have time and make progress.
     
New Posts