Homemade Conquest Hardtop Build Thread

[bluebruin]

roof painted



super fine mesh added to my hood to keep out blowing snow accumulation, such as when argo is sitting out front of my cabin over night. ( i built hood previously, I am working on refining design and will post that separately later)



bullet tail lights added. wired to led light bar so when that's on, so are these. just solid red, not "brake lights". Added reflectors too.

[bluebruin]

put the black paint on over the epoxy.




I weighed some of sides and glass before installing. I estimate the entire wood enclosure weighs about 120lbs. Not sure about the original aluminum top.

[bluebruin]

I think I am going to mount the gas can in here instead. Fits well under the seat. Keeps the weight down low for COG and also one less mount to bolt onto the hardtop.



double sided tape to install the tilt-o-meter I found in my junk



here is my dash flash light LED. just has magnet on back, so just stuck it to the defrost shield.

[bluebruin]

Before installing my ice sheild roof, I decided to buy some cheap polycarbonate "L" trim all around the perimeter of the roof. This way, I would have a nice smooth edge on top to stick the roofing to to form a tight seal. Also, this way, any water running over the edges from rain, or melting snow, will be forced over the outside of the hardtop, preventing water from dripping in between the plywood and the aluminum hardtop.







Here is the roof. I just laid the foam boards back in from the previous owner. (I sealed up the drain holes in the bottom of the roof trays with silicone first so water can't drain down in the rack tubes as others have suggested has caused them issues with the water freezing and bursting the tubes)







So, last week I started laying the ice shield as my roof membrane/top. well, I had JUST enough and I accidentally let an end of one of the three sheets of the stuff flop over and touch itself - sticky side to sticky side. Let's just say it was instantly bonded. I tried for over an hour to pull it apart, but could not. So, I did not have enough to finish. Its $144 a roll.... so I did not want to buy a new roll just for 4ft of it!

Instead, I bought protecto-wrap. only 9" wide, but only $25 a roll. Its meant for a similar purpose when installing windows in a house to protect and seal the rough framing around the window frame you drop in. anyway, not ideal, but it will work. If I have issues in the future, I'll just cover it all with something else.

I just spray painted it all black but don't have a pic yet.

[bluebruin]

found a bunch of junk in my garage tonight... going to add the following:

- dash LED light
- tail lights to come on with LED light bar
- 12v plug to mount in dash
- 12v electric heater to supplement heat in back of cab for kids/wife
- tilt meter
- grab handles to help get in?
- gas strut to lift/hold rear hatch door
- fine mesh screen to add to vent holes on hood to keep out blowing snow

also, turns out the 1/16" HDPE plastic sheets I had for the top (got them from junk pile somewhere) are 1/2" too short in one dimension on one of the sheets..... I have been looking around, there isn't much big enough to cover the roof in one piece. I think I am going to use grace water and ice shield like you do under shingles.

Grace Ice & Water Shield 36 in. x 75 ft. (225 sq. ft.) Roll Roofing Underlayment in Black-5003002 - The Home Depot

that stuff is amazing. it is SO sticky when you apply it in warm conditions. really greats a leakproof seal. plus, its black mostly. And, I found an old roof rack I had welded up on a previous offroad trailer project, that also fits the roof perfectly. I just need to add foot plates, and I can screw it on. If I put the water shield on first, then the rack, it should seal up the holes where the screws go through mostly to be leak free. plus its relatively light, and I have a roll, so its free. I can always peel it off later if it does not work out. guess we'll see.

[bluebruin]

making progress!

I heated my garage with my fireplace and electric heater up to 90 deg! I was literally sweating as I worked.... I applied a coat of epoxy (goop coat-it) to all the outsides. Then I kept warm and let it cure. I think its going to take a while to FULLY cure, so I've had heaters running 24-7 to keep it about 60 or more in there since its 0-30 outside.....

Then I finished cutting all my polycarbonate windows and installed them all. Put the door latches back in place. Then screwed the hardtop back together, and finally screwed it into the aluminum hardtop frame.

here is what its looking like.






next step is putting the roof on. After about another week of letting the epoxy cure, I will put a coat of black paint over the outside to protect the epoxy from UV. Then I can put the tracks back on and I hope I'm ready for cabin action again!

[bluebruin]

The previous owner had glued all sorts of cheapo mirrors all over the inside the argo on the hardtop and windshield. these were the dollar store variety and none worked too well. As I removed them, I was thinking... "hey, I have a mirror I could use left over from when I sold my 67 mini cooper". So, here it is. My wife bought it for me a while ago. Its a "no blind spot" mirror. works pretty well. Had to make some modifications to mount it. But I can see out all side windows and back windows from the driver seat now.

The No Blind Spot Rear View Mirror - Hammacher Schlemmer

[bluebruin]

Nice work Blue! I love my hardtop. I actually installed a am/fm/weather band stereo on the roof (interior) of my aluminum hardtop yesterday and with a yellow top optima battery. I notched the case of the batter like you did.

awesome! what do you need to know the weather for? the argo can go through ANYTHING the weather can bring with tracks and a hardtop... hahahaha just kidding. That's a fun toy.

[thorn]

Nice work Blue! I love my hardtop. I actually installed a am/fm/weather band stereo on the roof (interior) of my aluminum hardtop yesterday and with a yellow top optima battery. I notched the case of the batter like you did.

[tbone9]

The cab looks great! Thanks for posting. Hopefully it will be quieter inside being made of wood versus aluminum? I like the sled too. Great ideas you've got there.

[bluebruin]

here is the polycarbonate I had.... 0.060" thick. I am not really worried about the PC breaking, the stuff is really strong. But, I am worried about it vibrating so bad when the argo is running you won't be able to hear yourself think in there... guess we'll see.




I cnc'd a pocket (rabbet joint) for the windows to sit in. Just makes cutting them the right size and installing them easier.



I got some 3/8" screws today. but since I marked the screw locations with the cnc ahead of time, there was not enough wood below the PC for the screws to bite well. So, I went ahead and doubled them up by putting one in between each screw locations. Hope this helps the window from blowing out in high winds.

[bluebruin]

I just put on the epoxy. See if this photo comes through. if that works I'll go back and replace all the other photos.

[Mike]

The only one I got was the griswald photo

[bluebruin]

anybody seeing the photos now?

I can upload via the forum from now on if they are not going through. thanks!

[bluebruin]

its something to do with internet explorer. I just reinserted the images and they work now, on chrome and IE. not sure about firefox did not check that.

I am uploading to postimage.org and will give that a try too.

anyway. finished the "snow snail" sled tonight.

Mounted the $12.99 harbor freight ball hitch coupler. Decided on 2" so it would be compatible with all my other vehicles etc. just easier if everything is the same size ball.
[IMG]
take a screenshot[/IMG]

[IMG]
image post[/IMG]

[IMG]
images hosting[/IMG]

I feel like the griswold's in 1983.....hahahha love it.