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#1 |
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 1,544
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
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#2 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Burlington, wi.
Posts: 254
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
These are for if you want a soft top but don’t want to drill into the header of the front windshield. The maker built a header the same measurement of the very front of a hard top. This way you could bolt it on to the windshield header and drill into that for the soft top. It makes it so you preserve your windshield frame. I wanted one years ago for my blazer but life happens and I had to put my build on hold. Now I’m starting up again where I left off. I was curious if there is anything like this still being sold. I suggest going Back through the thread and look at some pictures. It’ll prolly explain it better then I can
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#3 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: East Tennessee
Posts: 2,232
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
First off this post is not intended to be an advertisement of any product that is currently for sale in any form or fashion.
Further, I have been looking into the possibility of producing these but, as of yet, haven't been able to do so in a way that would be affordable. I am still pursuing the idea. My business is in CNC machining. Mostly contract work for industrial customers but, being a 67-72 enthusiast has compelled me to make some custom pieces specific to them. I will share what I did to mount my bikini top to my Blazer without drilling holes into the header. Starting out by doing a bunch of measuring and CAD drawing, I was able to closely recreate the geometry of the top of the windshield header on my '70 K/5 Blazer. I then created a machine program and some fixtures to fasten on a piece of 1/8" aluminum sheet. I had to do it in two sections because of the limit of my largest CNC mill. I milled the shape and put the holes and slots in at the calculated positions. Then using a larger, thicker piece of aluminum, I machined a fixture to clamp the piece on and bend the proper angles to match the header geometry. I used a malleable grade of aluminum and used a soft hammer to shape it to the fixture. The center tabs are slotted and bent downward to align with the factory hard top mounting holes. and I simply bolted through the outer visor/hard top mount. The bikini top I have uses a "J" channel along the front to fasten to the mount piece so there are no snaps to attach, but it would only be a matter of drilling and riveting them on if the application called for them. This is only the prototype and again I'm still trying to work out a way to produce these that would be both profitable to me and affordable to the buyer. I won't go into the specifics of the manufacturing costs but it would be a substantial investment on my part, especially for such a niche product. Any way here are a couple of pictures of the concept. These are before the center tabs were slotted and bent into position and one is after the bikini top is loosely attached onto the header. The additional hole are simply used to clamp the piece onto the fixture for machining.
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1967 C10 Step side 1968 C10 Step side 1970 Chevrolet K/5 Blazer 1972 Chevrolet K/5 Blazer ............. ![]() |
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#4 |
Post Whore
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Location: Rose Hill, KS, USA
Posts: 12,689
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
Still dig this!
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1970 Blazer with a 400 sbc and 4" lift 1980 Pontiac Trans Am, 455 Oldsmobile 2012 Kawasaki Concours 14 |
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#5 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Acton Ma
Posts: 767
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
some nice work
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#6 |
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Concord NC
Posts: 516
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
Hello there A1971Blazer- Did anything ever develop since we last talked about Softopper being interested in your design for the windshield header?
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#7 | |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: East Tennessee
Posts: 2,232
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
Quote:
I'll probably reach out to them whenever I get it worked out to where I can produce them at a reasonable price. I'm trying now to get the blanks laser cut at a decent price and I'll still have to build a set of bending dies.
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1967 C10 Step side 1968 C10 Step side 1970 Chevrolet K/5 Blazer 1972 Chevrolet K/5 Blazer ............. ![]() |
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#8 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SoCal
Posts: 208
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
Put me down for one as well.. PM sent..
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******************************************** In-work on my 5.3L/4L65E/NP208 case conversion into a 1972 GMC JImmy 4x4... Not as simple as it looks folks.. ![]() |
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#9 |
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 341
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
No.. that's why he created his own and is going though great efforts to do this in the first place. If you are so anxious to do it and don't want to wait until he is ready, then your only other option would be to cut up a top and make your own. There are members on here parting out tops regularly in the classified section. I would look there if you wanted to do that.
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#10 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Metrowest, MA
Posts: 254
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
Great idea and execution. Have you considered looking into 3D printing them instead? There are a bunch of places that will do custom 3D printing, and I have heard it isn't terribly expensive.
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#11 |
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1,018
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
I'd say that piece would be about $400-500 in material, easy, in 3D print medium, it's nearly 6 feet long, beside I've never seen a 3D printer that can print much larger than a 3 foot cube. Also 3D print material is not what you'd consider rugged. It's basically a prototyping material not a finished product material. It's essentially a sort of rigid foam made to take a fraction of the space in the cartridge as it does when printed. I plan on doing 3D prints to make a casting master for my intake manifold, which it works well for, but I can't honestly think of a single place I would use a 3D print as a finished piece in an automotive application, at least any piece I've ever seen.
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#12 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Metrowest, MA
Posts: 254
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
Quote:
Honestly I have no experience with 3D printing, but I read recently that there are over a 1000 different materials they can use in printing with different strengths. Given that they have printing guns (with varying degrees of success), there must be some strong enough. Interestingly enough, Leno uses one regularly: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/extras...y-old-parts-1/ That said, I think you are definitely right about the size, that would probably be a deal killer. |
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#13 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1,018
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Re: Softop installation no Holes
Quote:
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