I have a set of black flares I could swap on if people think black flares would be a better choice .

 

I vote for Textured Black because I like the contrast, and Black goes with every color. Matching factory colors exactly could be problematic, certainly an extra expense.
White on the other hand, would be good for hotter climates. So Black and White.

 

White over red seems to be getting the most votes, but a few other suggestions were made - white over black, white over Africa tan, and a darker tan.

 

I like the textured black finish.

 

Coming along great! I still want to buy that barn door

 

I prefer the black non-painted factory fenders with a textured black top to match.

While this is a personal choice I feel that it would also highlight your top the best. I definitely would not do body color because you want the differences between your top and the factory tops to show so you need a clear color contrast between the actual Jeep and the top.

I also think the African Tan that you pictured would be a really nice contrasting color for the entire top if you do not want to switch to the black fenders.

Having said this I do realize that if this top comes to market lots of people will probably want the top painted to match the body color.

I continue to be amazed by this and your other projects and I really hope that this top and a two door version of it eventually becomes available for sale to the public. I really want one for my two door and I love the innovation. The modular nature of the top is amazing and it would be awesome to be able to change between the side windows and the side storage compartments that you designed.

 

Thanks everyone for the color input. Seems like the leading choices are white over red, and hardtop black (possibly with black flares). I've still got a while before I get to the paint stage, so we'll probably revisit this question again when the time comes.

Thank you very much. I don't know if it will ever be a commercial product, but I definitely agree with you about the modularity - having driven my LJ almost 80,000 miles over the past 5 years with the modular LJ Safari Cab, I wouldn't want to ever go back to a conventional top. In two weeks I'm driving the LJ Safari to Colorado for some off-road time, I'm really looking forward to the comfort of a closed-up Jeep on the highway and then pulling the doors off and rolling up the sides for some open-air time off-road.

Thank you. We can hope that if a company signs up to bring the top to market they also decide to offer the barn door as a separate option for factory hardtops.

 

I've been doing some final trimming and adjustments to the Safari Cab parts based on the initial test fitting last week. Everything fit very well on the first try, but there were a few minor adjustments and additional trimming to make to a few of the parts. The changes are minor and I've pretty much finished them up, so I'll be putting the parts back on the Jeep sometime this week.

In case anyone's interested in how some of the parts go together... the photo below shows the driver's side panel and upper jamb. The side panel bolts to the Jeep using the factory hardtop bolts, and the upper jamb bolts in place using the factory holes for the soft top surrounds. There's also a bolt to hold the two parts together. I've pasted in drawings of the upper jamb bolts and the jamb/side panel bolt.



This concept drawing shows the sides in place with the upper jambs; the jambs are circled in red:



The roof panel bolts to the upper jambs and the top of the side and end panels. The modular design is also intended to support different roof types - for example, a soft roof similar to a pickup truck tonneau cover:



For the roll-up soft side panels, the rear hard side comes off, and a fiberglass rear jamb/c-pillar goes in its place. In this next photo the hard side has been removed and the rear soft side jamb has been bolted to the upper jamb:



This concept drawing shows the rear jamb in place and the soft sides rolled up:



The roof panel bolts to the top of the upper jamb and the top of the side and rear panels. The drip rail gets bonded to the underside of the roof panel (haven't done that step yet) and goes the full length of the sides and across the back, and the inside of it forms the bolt flange to attach the roof to the sides.

 

I have seen a red jeep that is pretty much the same dark red as your jeep around my home town. It has one of the gloss white hard tops. Im not one to knock anyone else's jeep but it definitely does not look good. I would go with Black for sure. Tan would probably only flow with a white or black jeep.

 

Saw this on Pinterest