Whitco 1/2 Soft Top Help...

[Polarfire]

I'm trying to install my Whitco 1/2 Soft top and drill all the necessary holes before I paint my Scrambler. My top is for use with the softdoors but I do not have any instructions. The trouble I'm having is figuring out where the winshield frame pieces go. I don't want to mess this up and have to redrill holes. If any one has the instructions or good, clear pics of the frame pieces mounted, please let me know. I just am not sure where the plastic vertical pieces should mount relative to the two piece windshield header. Here are a few pics I took while holding the pieces up. Thanks for any info on this!

This is the vertical plastic piece. It seems logical that the curve of the plastic should match the curve of the windshield frame like in this pic:

Here is the windshield header. The outter end curves back toward the rear of the Jeep with the channel for the leading edge of the top toward the front of the Jeep. If it is mounted like shown in the pic it will interfear with the vertical plastic piece in the first pic. Does it mount up higher on the thin part of the windshild frame? What type of hardware is used to mount it?

 

[bobbysjeep]

I think the windshield header mounts on top of the w/s frame where the front lip of your hard top made contact with the w/s frame and the curves at the ends match the radius where the w/s frame goes vertical.

 

[bobbysjeep]

Just found this for a cj7.

 

[Polarfire]

So if I'm understanding correctly, the top channel piece screws down into the top of the windshield frame with the curves on either end turning down and the "c-channel" part facing toward the rear of the Jeep, correct? I think that is what you are saying and what those instructions show. It makes more sense than the way I have it oriented in the pic.

 

[4miles]

Wouldn't the c channel face to the front and that would be what the top would attach into? I searched this morning for the Whitco instructions and did find a Bestop with similar hardware that I can try to find again. Their installation on the vertical piece that looked just a little different than the one you had pictured was flush with the bottom edge of windshield frame. You could also try contacting Grantshire to see if he ever received the instructions too.

 

[bobbysjeep]

What he said. The C-channel faces forward.

 

[USCG_Diver]

I have all the original instructions for both the 1/2 and full softtops if anyone needs them. If I can figure a way to get them under the size requirement for the site I'll post, if not just send me your email address and I'll send them.

Polarfire, yours have been sent. The last page for model 5148 is your set up. The original instructions for model 5238 are for the hard door set up. Aside from the slight variance in hardware, the set up of the top is the same. I have mounted both types of tops on my Jeep. Also, another reference is the Bestop website. Pull the directions down for the CJ-8 Tigertop, they have good directions as well for the channel. The "C" goes forward toward the hood to hold the top in place.

Hope this helps!

 

[leeherron]

Would love to have them .. I'll even post them on my server and link them here for others. PM'ing you my email.

Thanks
lh

I have all the original instructions for both the 1/2 and full softtops if anyone needs them. If I can figure a way to get them under the size requirement for the site I'll post, if not just send me your email address and I'll send them.

Polarfire, yours have been sent. The last page for model 5148 is your set up. The original instructions for model 5238 are for the hard door set up. Aside from the slight variance in hardware, the set up of the top is the same. I have mounted both types of tops on my Jeep. Also, another reference is the Bestop website. Pull the directions down for the CJ-8 Tigertop, they have good directions as well for the channel. The "C" goes forward toward the hood to hold the top in place.

Hope this helps!

 

[Polarfire]

Ok, I got the original 1/2 soft top instructions from USCG_Diver but I'm still having some difficulty. I've figured out the windshield header but I'm having an issue with the width of the top.

In this pic you can see the header installed on the windshield frame:

Here you can see the driver's side of the top is positioned so the snap is located just below the header.

With the top positioned like stated above, the passenger snap is too far up and interfears with the header as seen here:

If I pull one side down so the snap clears the header then the other side is too short. What am I doing wrong here??

 

[JeepScrambler]

It appears you have a newer windshield channel (looks like bestop one). The original Whitco CJ windshield channels were one piece and didn't have the curved portions on either end, they were completely flat making them just a little shorter than the newer windshield channels. You could locate a correct Whitco channel or just cut yours down slightly on the outside edges to remove some of the curved metal. This should give you the space to get the snaps in the correct locations.

 

[Polarfire]

Thanks for the reply. I was begining to think I had the wrong header. I think I have the correct one and just got the parts mixed up with another top I have. Hopefully that will solve it.

 

[spankrjs]

Some of the Whitco tops come with a two piece, flat windshield header piece. That is what mine came with

 

[Polarfire]

So I finally got my top figured out! Thanks for all the replies, they really helped me out! It turns out I did have the wrong header, I had the correct one with some other soft top parts I had laying around. Once I got that figured out, the rest went a lot smoother. USGS_Diver sent me a PDF of the original Whitco instructions which helped. Both the top and the frames differ. Here are the two frames for future refrence:

Whitco 1/2 Soft Top frame for Hard Doors:

Whitco 1/2 Soft Top frame for Soft Doors:

The biggest differences are how the frames attach to the windshield (different types of plastic connectors) and how they seal at the rear of the door opening (large flat "blade" for hard doors, round rod for soft doors). The rest is more or less the same.

 

[Polarfire]

A few more pics for refrence:

 

[jammer1]

1/2 soft top

Thanks to all and polarfire for the pics and how to. I have two partial 1/2 tops and a third being shipped to me, but have not been able to get a pic of the mounting hardware to the cj tub. I should be able to fab. brackets to do the mount. I can even see the distances to put the brackets.

 

[Polarfire]

Whitco 1/2 Soft Top Installation Instructions in PDF form.

 

[Joe West]

Polarfire... do you have any pictures of the soft top with hard doors installed? I'm wondering what it looks like and I have yet to see a picture of that combination. Can you confirm that the actual soft top itself is different depending on the type of door used (hard vs. soft)? I assume you can't use the same top with both hard and soft doors, even if you have the front bow mounts and the blades.

 

[Polarfire]

I do not have a picture of the 1/2 soft top with hard doors that shows the difference in the tops well. Spanksrj has that set up and could probably provide better pics. The tops are different as well as the frame work. Tops for soft doors have a sleeve that the vertical rod at the rear of the door opening runs through. Tops for hard doors use the flat blades and have snaps that attach to the blades. I have a complete 1/2 top frame for each type but I only have tops for the soft door style. I'm still trying to find a slate blue top for hard doors.

 

[Jambo]

Great thread for info!

 

[spankrjs]

Polarfire... do you have any pictures of the soft top with hard doors installed? I'm wondering what it looks like and I have yet to see a picture of that combination. Can you confirm that the actual soft top itself is different depending on the type of door used (hard vs. soft)? I assume you can't use the same top with both hard and soft doors, even if you have the front bow mounts and the blades.

There are different Whitco part #'s for the tops - top for soft doors is one number, the top for hard doors is a different number. It looks like the fabric around the door surrounds is completely different between the two tops