Homemade Conquest Hardtop Build Thread

[bluebruin]

hmmm. not sure whats up with pictures. I see them all at work. I have them in google photos. What do you guys recommend for hosting photos for forums?

what about?

http://postimage.org/

read that it "PostImage.org is a very simplified site that gives you free image hosting for life. This site is primarily used for hosting images for forums and comes with a simple image upload mod forum users can install and use. You can upload multiple images at a time and choose to resize them for avatar use, message boards, web, email or computer monitors"

[Freedom6X6]

I cannot see any of your pics after the first one for the gas can holder assembly. I can picture what you built as a sled. That should be a nice little rig. I wouldn't have thought to use snowboards. They should work really well. Let us know how it all works.

Same

[akcrawler]

I cannot see any of your pics after the first one for the gas can holder assembly. I can picture what you built as a sled. That should be a nice little rig. I wouldn't have thought to use snowboards. They should work really well. Let us know how it all works.

[bluebruin]

I started a side project while I was waiting for my epoxy in the mail.

With the hardtop, I plan to load gear while the argo is warming up inside and the engine is getting warmed up, and my family is in the jeep waiting (sleeping) after a drive up on friday's after work...

I was planning to put the gear on the roof. This prevents letting a bunch of cold air into the cab each time you load a bag, and also makes room for the 4 of us in there, especially while the boys are still in car seats.

But, putting it on the roof is a pain, makes the argo top heavy, and also puts more weight on the tracks reducing floatation in powder.

I had bought a roof top cargo carrier (cheap old plastic one at a garage sale). They are light. Then I found one in a dumpster near work. Its BIG and light. Nice and boxy with lots of cargo capacity. Maybe 4ft by 3ft or so. I decided to make it into a gear sled. I'm calling it the "Snow Snail".

Its two halves, that were held together by a bunch of aluminum clips and straps and such. I removed all that.
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here is the bottom half
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It suffered some damage in its life and there were some holes near where it had brackets to mount it to your car's roof.
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I patched them up with some roofing ice shield. Heat it with a heat gun and the stuff turns into the stickiest stuff on earth. its thick and strong, and waterproof.
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Had some extra snowboards I picked up at some point
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mounted them to the underside of the bottom half of the box.
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used large fender washers to help them from tearing out of the plastic.
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with the top half of the box on
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Next I welded up some scrap tubing and such into a tow bar system of sorts. Pivots up and down on bolts to accommodate for different height tow vehicles.
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Next I'll add a 2" ball coupler, and then I can put a 2" ball hitch in my argo's rear receiver. We'll see how it works. Should be nice since its easy to load at ground level. Also, all the weight will just be in the sled instead of adding to the weight on the argo tracks directly...

[bluebruin]

here is where i decided to mount the 24" LED light bar
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[bluebruin]

started painting the jerry can holder I made that will attach on the rear of the hardtop. Its for a small 2 gallon jerry can
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here is the can that goes with it. picked this up in Argentina when I was road tripping down there in 2005. it was the only thing I could fit in my VW bug
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screwed together holder. needs final coat of paint
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will have a lock. you slide out this part of the wood after removing padlock to get can out
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[bluebruin]

decided to cut a new side rather than sand the paint off. here it is. Reattached the BIN primed door trim since I didn't want to have to recut that also. Don't think that small amount will harm things.



started installing some heavy duty door hings I had laying around. I can take the doors off if I just pop the pins out of the hinges which would be nice in the summer if I don't want to remove the whole hard top.


inside view

Detail of the CNC joints where the side walls meet the back panel.


installed rear hatch


view of how I am covering the rear end of the argo where it sticks out past the aluminum top.




from the inside




finally, painted all the insides with oil based black paint. I will painting the outside with the epoxy based "coat-it" I ordered but have not received yet.

[bluebruin]

Decided to put on a 24" LED light bar. Got one on amazon for $36 with shipping. prices have really come down on these. I recall they were over $100 not more than a year ago for the same thing.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MTK21VU?refRID=0JC9NF7FGZ77J98GA8NV&ref_=pd_bia_nav_t_2

seems like nice aluminum construction. rubber pads for under the mounts.


I'll be mounting it on the underside of the aluminum hardtop that sticks out over the windshield. That will keep it out of the way and up high for nice illumination of the trail.

I will be covering the hood with a 4x6 tarp I bought to keep snow out of the engine bay when the argo is parked at our cabin... the wind up there gets snow into every nook and cranny.

[bluebruin]

I decided to just recut the side I painted. Not worth trying to sand off the BIN. I ordered this to coat the outside of the wood
Amazon.com - Amazing GOOP® Coat-It Epoxy 2lb kit - Tile Mortar Adhesives

[bluebruin]

according to this: Zinsser B-I-N Primer/Sealer

Great for use on all interior surfaces & spot priming on exterior surfaces. It is formulated to seal, prime and block out stains on previously painted or new work. Any oil or latex paint can be applied over it.

did soem more more reading elsewhere... found this....

BIN-- I actually called Zinnser last year about this very topic. I am really glad I did too. Zinnser says--no way is BIN to be used as a large scale, full primer. In other words, it's for spot priming only. If you don't follow Maks comment about glue, the hagster can point you to the right link regarding how to use exterior brown carpenter's glue to kill knot bleed through.

Again--BIN is for spot priming only. It will crack from the expansion and contraction of just about any wood- a guarantee for top coat failure.

crap. well. guess I'll be sanding that top off on that one exterior panel I did. that stinks. thanks for pointing this out now though.

[bluebruin]

If you are thinking epoxy, apply it to bare wood before anything else. You want the resin to impregnate the wood fibers. And your paint will protect the epoxy from UV deterioration.

hmm yes, that's right. forgot about that. guess I won't be doing epoxy. that's ok. any suggestions out there for the best exterior paint? There is not tons of rain at our cabin (I will cover it in the summer when not in use). Its mostly going to be sitting outside in strong sun/UV and blowing snow over the winter if all goes according to plan.

[JohnF]

If you are thinking epoxy, apply it to bare wood before anything else. You want the resin to impregnate the wood fibers. And your paint will protect the epoxy from UV deterioration.

[bluebruin]

inside of door trim. you can see the paddle latches plan to install. i had these left over from another project and I'm trying to make them work. Will have to install some type of inside door handle so you can get out!



view from the inside so far


rear hatch panel in place with trim around rear door hatch.


primed the first wall panel with zinsser BIN primer I had left over from a house project. it should seal the wood and then I'll paint black oil based paint over it. might put a coat of epoxy or resin over everything after that.


panels put in place to test fit to cover rear end of argo and make the hardtop complete so it can keep out most cold air and snow etc. seems to fit ok.



another view of rear panels test fit

[bluebruin]

Ok on this image I was wondering if maybe a more contoured fit around back of tub might work better?

You could make a like shape that bolts and glues Sikiflex is one of my fav adhesives to the top portion of cab and shape the rear hatch accordingly and it could seal over the outter portion of rear tub....hope I am articulating what I mean?

It woukd be easy to skive some additional panels to the sides and obtain shape as required I suspect.

Just thinking outloud...

Nice work regardless

yeah, that would be nice, but its hard to make "contours" with plywood... so I am doing kind of a box around the back part. I moved my rear seat out of the way to make room for the top to come inside the tub like you see. no big deal, still plenty of room back there. I will take some pictures when I get to that part. I know its a bit hard to visualize with the pics so far.

[bluebruin]

This looks awesome love it.

Maybe one day I will have the 8x8 of my dreams....hello convoluteded design...

Keep up
E great work.

What you going to us3 for windows?

windows are some 0.060" polycarbonate. Hope it will be strong enough. that stuff is really strong, and very light in that thickness. guess we'll see. I can always put in thicker later if needed. I might add some plywood "storm shutters" (removable) for when the argo is sitting around at the cabin in high wind or in storage or transport.