Dealing with body shop guys: need some advice

The "wrong" bracket:

The fixed bracket:


Other various:



Exhaust:



Engine now looks horrible compared to the rest, lol. I can't wait to take the power train out for an overhaul. Side note: tapatalk is kinda awesome (although buggy).

 

I think those brackets are both correct... pics when I can get them to follow.

added later: nope, you are correct, the right side is wrong.

 

What you have labelled as the "wrong" bracket is correct as is. The hook will tighten the tailgate.

The "fixed" right hand body bracket , on the body, is wrong. The slot should get closer to the tub at the bottom.

Tailgate is all good.

 

right side


left

 

Yeah, just dealing with it now. But here is the new problem: I got the soft top installed, and after a LOT of wrestling with some help from the wife, we barely got it on. But now there are two problems:


1. The latch on the door is an inch away from the catch on the frame. I can either A. put spacers in the catch to move it forward on a longer bolt (but i worry about how strong it will be, it needs about 1/2-3/4"), or B. Move the ENTIRE side bracket (the one that mounts on the frame to allow the soft top to snap in) forward that distance, but not only will new holes need to be drilled, it's a little late to reweld them all considering the fact that it just got painted. That was the hole point of having them all rewelded so that it didn't look jacked up. I could just never take off those brackets during the summer, but still...

2. The door top doesn't fit (see pics in next post). The windshield tweak (from the hood slamming into it twice) is now very evident in that the top of the door overlaps it by an inch. Technically you COULD close it, but it's a bitch, and may be impossible from the inside. This is also evident in the complete lack of tension in the driver's side winshield latch. I could add a shim under the windshield, but I'm thinking the soft top, which BARELY fits as it is, would just pull it back down like it is now. I don't have an inch of slack to spare by any stretch of the imagination (or vinyl).

3. The only other idea is to redrill the holes for the door hinges, which may be the best solution. That would not only allow the door latches to work in the back, but give the top a little free play. Again, though, I'd be redrilling some pretty substantial diameter holes for those hinges. I suppose you wouldn't notice, but I don't know if that's a good idea or not.

Any ideas? ARGH!

 

I installed a new tiger top (besttop) a couple of years ago. I also had trouble with it reaching the back edge. I don't remember the measurement, but the instructions had a length of I think 68 inches from the top edge of the windshield to the top edge of the tub at the rear, mine was an inch longer. My jeep is all stock and has never been severely damaged. I was trying to install the top in winter, so I figured out that I would have to wait for a warm day. Eventually after the weather warmed and with lots of pulling and stretching, the top did go on. After being on for some time it has come to fit better and easier to put on and take off.

As far as the windshield slope, yes something looks weird there in your pics but I can't see any bends in the frame. You may need to replace the rubber pad under the frame to get it to stand up correctly.

The door latch measurement in the tiger top instructions wouldn't even come close to working on my install. I had to bend the door latch bracket quite a bit to make it work, then once I got the door installed I located the latch before I match-drilled the frame.

Personally I would not re-drill the hinge holes until I figured out why the windshield slope is off.

 

Do both doors have the same issues, or just the driver's side? That would be a clue to where the root of the problem lies.

Before you re-drill - Perhaps the hinge mount in the door itself needs to be tweaked - rotating the door down and to the rear? Sounds as if that might correct both the latch and the windshield alignment.

It is true the top will stretch when warm. Not much consolation on cold days though.

 

I took a look at my windshield frame to check the angle. The front edge of the windshield supports - the cowl piece that forms the base where the frame sits- is in a straight line with the front edge of the frame when you look at it directly from the side.

 

Yes, the problem is symmetrical on both sides. Are you saying, homer, that basically the dash and windshield form a straight line?

Also, rotating it won't work because the bottom half fits fine and flush against the bottom of the opening.

 

[/IMG]here is a pic of the door hinges on my 69 cj5 they are besttop hope this helps love the paint color on your 5

 

a straight line on the front edge of the windshield with the front edge of the windshield support. I am at work right now and can't get a pic, but I will try to this evening. What I am calling the windshield support is the side panel of the body/cowl area that your upper hinge us attached to in the above pics.

 

Yeah, I think I understand what you mean about the straight line. If that's correct, then I have a problem (well, I definitely have a problem), although I just checked the door and there is a slight angle between the front edges of the top half of the door and the bottom half (I'll post pics in a few minutes from my phone).

Sieg: HUGE. Well that was a reality check; you're right. I didn't use the instructions for the hinges because I used the old hinges from the TigerTop that was installed before. When we lined the door up in those old hinges, they worked, so I left them as-is assuming they'd work for this also. Moving them to the correct location will gain me maybe a half inch, although I don't know if it's enough to reach...I'm pretty sure I could make it work. What remains to be seen is if the top half will fit now, which I doubt...the discrepancy between the door angle and the frame angle is due to the slam incident tweaking the windshield. I almost think that the problem may have been a bit of compression in the frame itself (around the dash) due to two large quasi-creases on the driver's side of the dash where it bows out a little (I can post these later too).

SO: I'll hold those hinges up and see if they work. But if that does, what the hell do I do with the old holes from the hinges where I have them now?

 

If it was me I would find a bolt I could paint and paint it body color with some touch up. Maybe a washer as well. Once painted it will be better than a hole. You can also use some plastic body plugs and push them in the hole. Either way the hole with a bolt in it looks better than a hole.

 

Good idea.

 

I am in process of putting my meyers top back on the jeep . windshield frame must follow the shape of the hard doors , with about a 1/8" gap between windshield frame and front edge of doors . went out to garage . and with a craftsman magnetic protractor . this what I got . Front of windshield frame 73*(degrees) and the inside lower panel (the one with the holes ) I got 90*(degrees) . I know that your jeep has that new paint job . so I am guessing that you can't loosen windshield hinge bracket and move windshield upright . so I would put strip of rubber in-between frame and top of dash

 

Thing is, I did that already. I suppose I could add more rubber, but wouldn't that prevent me from installing my soft top, or possibly be negated when the windshield latch is closed? If it matters, here is the door:

 

It looks like you have the supertop, not the tiger top, right? What does the instruction manual say about the position of the windshield?

 

Yeah I have the supertop, had the tiger top before. Some differences but I figured since the hinges worked before they would now. And in the shop, they did, but not now that the jeep is reassembled. It doesn't mention windshield angle or anything Like that.