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The bow that I used was a spare CJ-7 Whitco "front hoop" from a factory bow assembly but pretty much any bow should work. Got mine from Engbull on this forum.
Look him up and shoot him a message. He said he had more and to pass that on to others.
One little edit before we get started...I have since painted this additional bow Rustoleum Professional "semi-gloss black" after hitting the surface rust spots with a 3M Scotch-Brite pad and then cleaning up with some acetone. Matches pretty well with the Bestop factory bow color.
So, how I did it:
Mark 1" from the end of the thicker side of the center junction:
Cut off 1" from the thicker side of the center junction:
Add self-tapping sheet metal screw:
New bow nests nicely inside original Bestop back bow:
Bow measures ~55 1/4" across in this section from outside to outside:
Test fit in the Jeep:
Junctions match evenly:
Test fit for marking hole location for pivot point:
Hole locations 17" from the bottom of the factory Bestop bow:
Spring loaded center punches help when drilling through round tubing to keep your drill bit from walking:
Drilling 1/4" holes:
De-burring:
Clamp the two together into nested position and drill through holes into new bow:
Hardware used - Stainless 1/4"-20 2 7/16" long philips button head bolt, 4 flat washers, lock washer, 1/4"-20 nylock nut:
Fastener stack-up (NOTE: this is with a 15/16" thick o.d. tube - the modified one I'm adding - so a 2 7/16" long bolt may not be right for your application if your tube is thicker or thinner):
Test fit with top on:
Mark 1/2" BELOW centerline of hole:
Cut:
Clean up edge with a file:
Cut holes on both sides of foam about 7 1/4" from end:
I used an Xacto knife to cut the holes:
Test fit after cut:
Test fit after cut (view 2):
~50" long, 1" wide adjustable straps work well:
Where to use the straps:
View from the side, installed:
Inside view #1 (only one strap shown - I ended up using two):
Inside view #2 (shown with a really long and wider strap that got scrapped once I rounded up the narrower, shorter ones suggested already):
Final view after install with all of the windows in:
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