Converting 3b Hard Top To A1 Half Cab

I bought a CJ3B parts jeep last fall and have been mostly parting it out. There were some parts I kept for myself but I couldn't even give the hard top away. Rather than scrap it, I decided to convert it to a half cab to fit my jeep salad M38A1.

3B hard tops are not long enough to fit M38A1 or CJ5...they fall about 7 inches short. The nice thing is this project will cost almost nothing, aside from shielding gas. I have some square tubing lying around which I plan to use for structural issues.

Here's the top put on the A1 so I can take measurements.



Since the 3B windshield does not have a rope channel for a canvas top, the front of the roof section is not curved. I scribed a mark to match the curvature. I will cut this part out with the plasma. You can barely see the scribe mark on the pic below.



I cut the rear corners from each side with the plasma. I'll need to cut the front section and weld the two together. The square tubing will be used on the inside to support this area.



I'll need to either eliminate the stupid roll bar or move it back a few inches. There is barely enough room between the 60/40 seats and the roll bar. I'm putting correct A1 seats before cutting the roof section in half just to be on the safe side. While replacing the driver's seat, I will be replacing the gas tank with a poly unit I've had in storage for years.



The hardest part of this little project will be stitching the rear 6 inches of the roof onto the back of the half cab. If you look at the first pic, you will see that the roof is sloped from front to rear.

Since I'm a bit short on shop space at the moment, this is an outdoor project. I'm at the mercy of the NH elements! This may take a couple of weeks to finish.