4x4_Specter

Thanks everyone. Well it seems i should get started on a write up. Good thing i took pics.

And that gorillia pod was a gift, after i asked for a tripod. I had to do something with it.

spinlock

I can see the screws are a love or hate affair, but they do give the insulation a finished upholstery look or pin cushion depending on your view.

Don't the blacked out sides give the interior a cavern feeling?

Good workmanship!

bcboy1969

Nice Work!! really this is a must do..I love these DIY mods..I've tried a ton of things in the past..what you do to keep warm in -40..lol. Must say thats the nicest I've seen..Like I said a must do..Thanks man!!

Easyryder01

Awesome work I am kinda on the edge of the screws but I guess if they weren't standing out so much maybe a little more subtle. Either way I would have never have been as creative as you did ! Great job love to see the write up on this.

SoccerMan1080

great idea... might have to do this one.

wantowheel

Try a black sharpie pen on one of them. It is permanent and it would tone it down alot. It may take a few coats but it would work.

adamisadam

I did this:
http://photobucket.com/JeepJKSoundcoatPanels

It's made from Soundcoat sound absorbtion panels. I wanted to make sound quality better inside, especially when using my hands free cell phone. I'm about to fit it for the rest of the hard top. I've heard that stereo folks might be interested too. It's easy on the eyes too. I wonder if they can make it out of insulation for heat as well. I find it's VERY warm inside the jeep stock so I didn't think about it.

4x4_Specter

Insulating Your Hard Top -- Write Up

This project cost me around $100 but I had a lot of the material, if you were to buy everything I would think it would be around $150 - $175 CAD, minus common things like scissors, knives, rulers, sand paper things like that,

It took about 3-1/2 days.

The work was done in 3 stages, two front panels, rear passengers’ overhead panels, and rear side window panels.

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Stuff you may Need To Buy: (Based on my 4dr Unlimited)

x 2 48” x 25’ Roll of reflective insulation



3.5m x 5’ canvas (I got the one that had a rubber backing from the local fabric store and it was $15/meter but got it on sale for $4/m)



x 2 946ml Heavy Duty (Blue) Lepage Contact Cement (Get 3 cause I uses 2 canse down to the last drop, and you don’t want to run out, just keep your receipt)



x1 PL Premium Contractors Adhesive 310ml Tube

Approximately 150 (I used 132)
- 10-24 x 5/8” Tee nuts
- 10-24 x 3/8” large head diameter screws
- 3/16 x 1” washers



Roller or brushes for contact cement, I found that a 2” cheapie brush worked best.

x3 4’ x 8’ x 1/8” Fiberboard (you could probably squeeze it all onto 2 sheets but it would be really tight)

Aluminum tape

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The How To:
Make templates of each section. I started of by taping news paper together on a flat surface than pressing it into the corners and tracing around it with a marker. Cut the news paper template out and see how it fits. Once it fits nicely transfer it onto Bristol board.

Take strips of insulation and tape them together so they’re 2 thick; these will be used as a spacer while making your templates (you need your template elevated the thickness of the insulation, cause the edges of the roof have a slight taper to them, once the fiberboard becomes held up by the insulation the space around the edge increases). Place the spacers in the roof keeping them 2” away from the edge and making sure that your Bristol board lies flat (If its sagging add another spacer under the sag). Check to see that your bristol board fits with about 1/8” gap around the edges, trim if necessary, (this will allow for material thickness and adjustment later on)

Transfer the bristle board template onto the fiberboard (mark which side is the up side), cut it out and sand the edges. Place and see how it fits. Once again keep the fiberboard elevated while fitting it in, and allow a 1\8 gap around the edges.
Note:
The 2 front panels are the same profile ones just narrower than the other, if you make the large Bristol board template first, you can just trim it to make the smaller one, after you trace and cut the fiberboard with it.

Now that you have a hard template of the shape of the roof cavity, use it and trace the profile onto the insulation making 2 copies per template.

(!! Important Note !!)
The panels have an edge that is elevated the thickness of the plastic itself and is about 1” to 1 1/4” wide. The first piece of insulation must be trimmed to fit beside not on top. (see Dia. 1# & #2). The drivers side panel (Dia. #1) is more tricky you MUST cut the insulation, just as labeled in my diagram or when your finish you wont be able to turn one of the locks to release the top, and your edges will have the tendency to curl up.



Set you insulations aside for now.

Now you must plan where you’re going to put your screws & Tee nuts. Look at Dia. #1 and #2 notice that all the Tee nuts are glued onto the elevated ridges except for the right column in Dia #1, it I very important that Tee nuts in the right column be placed on lower ridge. Measure and draw lines where these ridges are onto the fiberboard template. Plan the layout of the pattern you’d like, I’ll stress again the importance of making sure you stay on the elevated ridges except for the right column in Dia. #1.

Now that you have the pattern drill out your holes to the diameter of the screw (3\16”). Sand away any burs from drilling. Place the template into the roof cavity and with a pensile put a mark on the roof through all the holes you drilled. Looking to see that the marking are in the proper location and are at least 3/8” away from any edge.

If your marking are in the proper location take a bunch of Tee nuts and bend the tab flat.

Screw the Tee nuts to the back of the fiberboard template.

Notice the four Tee nuts that have a 1/4” piece of wood under them? They are purposely there to allow the tee nuts to sit lower then the others, this is to make sure that they sit flush. Those four Tee nuts are the one that sit in the lower ridge. Once again its important that you put that 1/4” piece in. (you will need four longer screw to hold these tee nut to the fiberboard) Once all your tee nuts are screwed in, place the template in place and see how it fits, tap each screw to see if they are all touching the roof, A little space is okay defiantly nothing over a 1/4” if that’s the case something is not lining up. Recheck you work.

Once everything seems fine we’re ready to glue the tee nuts to the roof. PL Premium Adhesive requires you mechanically hold the pieces together for 24 hours. (Plan for 36 hours; 24 hours until you can remove any clamping device and another 12 hours before attach anything to the tee nuts. The adhesive doesn’t fully dry in 24 hours but your able to remove your clamping devices and let it air dry for another 12 hours) Gather up a bunch of large garbage bags or sheets of plastic, and a couple buckets of beach sand. Also a couple full pails or anything with good weight to put additional pressure on the gluing parts.

Now clean your top with soap and water on a rag, and rinse it with a clean wet rag, make sure it’s somewhat dry, and clean again with rubbing alcohol (Seem like a lot but that’s how I did it, and it works so far) clean the bottom of the tee nuts with rubbing acetone or alcohol and dry up any access with a compressed air or a clean rag.

Place a decent size blob of PL Premium on the bottom of each tee nut and work it in with your finger so it spreads out to all sides of the tee nut.



Take a clean wet (not dripping) rag and moisten the roof where it is to be glued. Take the fiberboard and place it carefully in position. While pushing down with your hands at a medium pressure 10-20 lbs work the fiberboard around, get the glue worked into the tiny crevasses that’s on the surface of the plastic. Realign the board giving your self the 1/8” clearance around the edge. Cover the entire piece of fiberboard with the plastic bag, overhang it as much as you can and carefully fill it with sand, and working it into the corners.



Take a couple boards to help distribute the weight and place any kind of additional weight on top. (Look at the thumbnails for how the rest of the top was done)





After 24 hours remove the clamping devices, unscrew the fiberboard from the tee nuts which are now attached to the top. Try not to bunch the nuts together; stand them on their heads so the uncured adhesive that is stuck at the bottom of the screw can dry, if you throw them all in a cup they will get stuck together and the heads get glue stuck to them.

Fabric prep and Install.

Sand the fiberboard on the good side and about 2” around any edge that the material will be folded over on the back side. Vacuum the dust and wipe clean with a damp rag (DON’T soak the fiberboard it will swell), and set aside to let dry. Try to keep the dust down or it will transfer onto the material and you’ll have to clean it later. Lay out your pieces over you material in the most efficient way giving you self at least 4-5” of excess material. Lay the material good side down and place the fiberboard good side down on top of the fabric. Tape one side of the fabric onto the back side of the fiberboard. (Make sure it’s taped well because you will be pulling on it and you don’t want it to let go)



Trace around the fiberboard so you have an outline where to put the glue. Unfold the fiberboard from the material and lay in on something soft but still ridge (I used a scrap sheet of 3/4” Styrofoam insulation)



Read the instructions on the Contact Cement can. You have to work quick with this stuff I dries really really quick and if you mess up and try to fix it, it has the tendency to roll up on its self which will give you little bumps on you finished product.

Take a 2” brush and apply a generous coat on the fiberboard only (Just for now), (I found that if I started at one side, and stretching the glue in lines no larger than my brush, from the center outward, along the narrowest width, worked to best, but find a system that works for you). (Remember you have to be fast. I tried it with a roller and it worked well until the contact cement started to dry then it became a nightmare.) Once it dries like the instructions say, give the fiberboard a second coat along with the mating side of the material. Let it dry like the instructions say.

Once appropriately dry, get an assistant to fold the material over the fiberboard and hold it just slightly elevated above it (don’t let the two touch you might no be able to peel it off). With a large putty knife (I ground the corners round on mine so it wouldn’t rip or fray) press the material starting from the center and dragging it outward until you reach the end. Set it face down on a flat surface if you’re not going to be using it right away.

Place the material and fiber onto a flat soft surface, and coat the edge of the back of the fiber board 2” from the edge with contact cement, let dry and recoat. Also coat a 2” strip of material with contact cement and let dry accordingly. Cut off access material leaving 1 1/2" - 2” to fold over. (You might want help with the next step). Fold the material onto the back side of the fiberboard panel press it down taking care around the corners. (I found the corners tricky but I’ve done very little upholstery in my life so I learned on the fly) Work your way around the perimeter before cutting off any of the overlapping material. Make sure all the screw holes are showing and have no material around them that will interfere with the washer that will be glued on. (Let the panels sit for several hours before screwing the panels; if the glue is not dry it will twist the material as you try to tighten them onto the tee nuts)

Take a 3”-4” nail and hammer a small hole through the material, by going through the screw holes on the back side of the panel. Flip it over and see if the holes you just punched are visible. Take a nail and heat it up with a torch and melt the opening, for each screw hole. Take the washer and glue them to the back side of the panel for each hole. (I taped mine because I was getting sick of waiting for glue to dry)



Take your insulation and place the first piece on the tee nuts and center it accordingly. (be careful not to push down on it). Take the corresponding fiberboard panel and carefully place it over the insulation making sure you don’t more the insulation. Press down on the panel so you can make impressions into the insulation with the tee nuts. Now take the insulation and a 1/4" punch, locate all the impressions on the back side of the insulation and punch them out, so the tee nuts can slide through the insulation. Replace the insulation and see how it fits, make sure all the tee nuts are poking through the punched holes. With the first piece of insulation still in place, take the second piece of insulation and center it within the roof cavity. Put the panel carefully back on and press down on the panel so you can make impressions into the second piece of insulation with the tee nuts like above. Remove and punch holes out of the second piece of insulation. Line up the holes and tape the 2 pieces of insulation together with aluminum foil. (Do not wrap the aluminum foil around the edges of the two insulations, it will transfer cold more easily). Tip. To line up the holes easier take a couple 1/4" bolts and push them through the punched holes to temporarily align the pieces of insulation.

Once they’re taped together reinstall them place the panel over top and screw it on. Look around the edges and see if you can see the insulation around the edges. Trim off the insulation if necessary.

Notice the pictures below. This is the panel that has the tee nuts sitting in the lower ridge. See how it pulls the fiberboard and reshapes it nicely? That’s why it’s so important to cut the insulation just as indicated in Dia #1, and place that 1/4" piece of wood between the tee nut and fiber board when gluing the tee nuts on. If you don’t cut the insulation it wouldn’t not be able to compress as much as need and the latch will either rub or get jammed.




Hope this all made sense; any questions just ask and ill try to answer them as soon as possible.

scbesse

Awsome write up!! Could come in handy up here in the great white north.

4x4_Specter

I hope it will. The only problem is i cant make any comparason. This coming winter will be my JK's first.