When considering a replacement soft top for your CJ-3B there are twooptions. You can have a custom canvas top made to exact specifications(see Reproduction Canvas Tops) or you can purchase a ready-made vinyl soft top.
A custom top is a must if you have the budget, and are
doing aserious restoration. John
Hubbard's 1954 CJ-3B underwent a frame-off restoration, and the
custom canvas topwas the logical finishing touch for his Jeep. John
says that the canvasages very well and looks better with age. He says
that the canvas getstighter with age rather than looser as vinyl does.
John told me thatBeachwood has a 1954 CJ-3B and a set of original bows
for fitting thetops and they test fit all of their tops before they are
shipped out. He was very impressed with the attention to detail and
craftsmanship.
Of course, quality and craftsmanship do not come
without a price. I have a limited budget for my Jeep, and a frame-off
restoration is impossible for me to do, so I plan a slow restoration to
fit my time and financial constraints. The ready made soft top was
affordable (barely) and still looks good and fits well. Since I do not
have a garage I wanted the top on before winter.
There seems to be
little difference between the Bestop Tigertop and the Kayline top
(later manufactured by Specialty Top Company) which was made from the
same grade of vinyl. The Bestop Tigertop is only available in Black
for the 3B. The main advantage of the Kayline top was that it was
available in a variety of colors.
Joel Kamunen comments that "The Kayline doesn't have the cutout for the original top holder in the rear corners."
All five people who responded to my inquiry on the CJ-3B Bulletin Board about which top to purchase, owned a Bestop, and all werepleased with it. The recommendations and a slightly cheaper priceconvinced me to buy the Bestop. Call around to find the best price andalso check on the shipping charge. Although I found the Bestop at thesame price from two Jeep parts suppliers, the shipping costs were verydifferent and made the decision about whom to buy from.
Note:
Download the Kayline
(Specialty) installation instructions (300K PDF) and the Bestop installation
instructions (800K PDF).
Installation of the soft top is not difficult, just tedious. Two people is a must! Do not try this alone. My wife's cousin put a soft top on his CJ-5 by himself and was very disappointed with the outcome.
Here aretwo tips for a tight fit to ensure the best looking installation: 1.Make sure the distance from the inside edge of the windshield to therear inside edge of the vehicle body is correct (66 1/2 inches); 2.Install the top on a warm day ( above 70 degrees F or 21 degrees C), perhaps even in the sun rather than the shade.
Make sure you have a channel on the topfront of the windshield for the top, because this part does not comewith the kit. In general, the instructions for installation are easy tofollow and give some good tips like using chalk on the snaps to getproper placement of the body studs. I found the placement of the doorchannels and upper door hinges was not well explained in theinstructions and the measurements provided were not quite right whichmade the first attempt with the passenger door incorrect. I found thatit was a lot easier to put the channels and hinges on after the fabrictop had been installed with door placement done by eye from inside whileyour helper holds the door from the outside.
I also discovered that thesheet metal screws provided with the top for attaching the body studsare weak and the heads shear off with the slightest torque, especiallywhere the metal is thicker (where the studs for the doors are to beplaced). I suggest going to a hardware store and purchasing strongerscrews before starting the installation. -- Dan
Randy Merritt has similar cautions for anyone preparing to install a Tigertop, in this posting to the CJ-3B Bulletin Board: "When you receive your top it will contain everything you need for installation except the aluminum channel that you attach to the windshield frame if yours is missing or has rusted away. This item is purchased separately from Bestop and they do provide information on ordering it.
"I installed my Tigertop not quite one year ago and
found it to be quite self-explanatory and easy to install with the
proper tools. The most important thing to do is to place your Jeep
inside a heated garage to do the install. This helps the fabric to
soften up and allows the fabric to stretch properly during
installation. For those of you have a tonneau cover on a pickup and you
try and snap in during cold weather you know what I am talking about.
"Aside from that, the most important thing to do is ensure the measurement from the top of the windshield frame to the top of the rear of the body tub is correct. It may take you a while to adjust the windshield latches on your dash panel as one always seems to move when the opposite side is adjusted. After you have properly measured the windshield frame correctly on both sides, measure again and then measure once more. I can not emphasize this enough. If the measurements are not correct the top will sag or have wrinkles in it after installation.
"If memory serves me correct, the installation instructions tell you to mark the location of the snaps on the body tub with chalk. I tried this, and because the paint was fairly fresh and the Jeep had wax on it the chalk did not work well at all. I found that a good quality dry-erase fine line marker works great for this purpose as it shows up well, and when you have the holes drilled for the snaps you can wipe the marker off with a tissue or soft cloth.
"The only
other thing to be careful of is installing the brackets for the top
bows. If these are not placed correctly, the top will not sit correctly
on the bows and once again a problem. The measurements for these
brackets are made by measuring from the dash panel to the proper
location on the top side of the body tub. I started using a tape
measure and after 20 minutes of frustration realized that the 36" steel
ruler hanging in my garage was the weapon of choice for this operation.
Aside from what I have mentioned above, do not try and install this by
yourself as this is definitely a two-man job to ensure proper fit. I
found that if you purchase pizza and provide refreshments of their
choice you will not have any problem finding someone to help with your
install. Pay attention to the small details and your top will look
great. There are more photos of my '62 Jeep in the Owners Photos section. Best of luck." --
Randy
With good care your vinyl soft top should look good for
years. There are products available to protect soft top materials from
the damaging effects of ultraviolet light. There is a product called
Scrath-Out to keep soft top windows looking good, using a soft cotton
or microfiber cloth. Pledge furniture polish can also help rejuvenate
scratched and foggy windows.
Charlie in Alabama posted this photo of
his dirty and yellowed windows, on the CJ-3B Bulletin Board.
This photo shows Charlie's results from washing and
using Pledge.
Joe Caprio posted his window cleaning technique on the CJ-3B Bulletin Board:
Herm Tilford commented: "I have used either a plastic cleaner designed for the clear windows, from a boat or marine supply, or a fine car polish which is very close to the same thing. The main thing to remember about the windows is that they are a man made material with natural oils in it. If the natural oils dry out your windows with soon follow. Use the polish religiously and generously and your windows will last a long time. Don't roll up the back window if it's dirty or the side windows if they are dirty as it will scratch the plastic."
Jon Paulsen told me his Bestop is still in good shape after about 6-8 years. He had a great suggestion to preserve the back window. Rolling up the back panel will fog the window (introduces many fine scratches). Jon got a grommet kit and installed two grommets in the bottom of the material under the back window, one in each corner. He uses a snappy cord to attach the rear panel to his roll bar when he wants to open it. If, like me, you don't have a roll bar, you probably could attach the panel to the front bow of the top. See also Lawerence Wade's system for Securing the Rear Curtain.
Thanks to Dan Fedorko and the other contributors. --
Derek Redmond
See also a history of Soft Tops for Willys Jeeps.
Return to Tech Tips on CJ3B.info.
Visit
CJ3B.info on Facebook.
CJ3B Home | Contents | Search | Links | 3A and 3B Community