Hey y'all,
I finally downloaded the pics from my mesh top build. I am happy with it. It does well on the highway. there is a little flapping, but not soo bad and not loud.
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Possible ways to fix the flapping:
Cut it a little smaller to provide for more stretching.
Sew on stiffener straps of folded mesh between each left grommet and right grommet.
Use 6" bungee balls instead of 7"
Materials:
Half of a 8'x10' 60%uv mesh tarp, brass grommets, 7" bungee balls from Harbor freight
Heavy duty needles, velcro from Walmart
Nylon adhesive patch, nylon thread from Hobby Lobby
2 15" or 18" black rubber bungees from AutoZone
I am in it for $38 plus 2 black rubber bungees I added later (no pic yet cuz top off now) for rear tension.
I also have enough material to exacly duplicate the one I made except the $2.99 spool of thread, the two bungees which may be eliminated with forethought, and the bungee balls.
Anyone interested in the left over materials, let me know. I'll be putting it back on when it cools back down, and I get my top hoist solution.
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I started by looking at all the builds on some other jeep forums. They were helpful and provided a good starting point.
1. I Cut the tarp into 2@ 5' by 8' pieces. Then I measured and sketched it out.
2. I cut out the shape. Originally I cut out the piece on the bottom of the build pic, if I can attach it later, to turn into a pocket above the visors. I used the pocket one to practice the sewing. Well the machine was messing up, so that piece got basically ruined.....Maybe next time. Not having this mess up, I may have ended up with half a spool of thread left too.
3. I marked all of the lines for the final dimensions, then an outer border at 3" larger. That way, when I cut at the outer line and folded over twice, there would be a 1.5" border trim to sew.
4. I trimmed what I could for the corners before sewing, but they were still thick. I did chamfer the front corners at 45deg and even though it is not secured, I think they performed well on the freeway with no plans to moify.
5. Standard issue Singer was used. I didn't want to chance breaking the wife's needles, so I went ahead and bought heavy duty needles (Future projects..... Cargo net or Cargo mesh?) I used 100% nylon thread, since the tarp was nylon. Others on the net used polyester thread. I sewed two seams. One close to the outer edge and one close to the inner edge of the trim.
6. Once the sewing was complete, I looked for solid anchor points. All worked well, with the exception of the back. I had the three anchor points for the freedom top on the windshield, but no plans were made for the rear. Since my rear points were too low on the roll bar, I had to add a bungee on each side to pull the top tight down the roll bar. I think it still looks clean, but I plan to tweak this part.
7. For each anchor point, I put a piece of adhesive nylon patch on both sides of the trim. I dont think this is a must, but I basically put it there to add protection to the mesh and thread when smashing the grommets. I used a pencil type soldering iron to punch and waller out a hole, just big enough to slide the first piece of the grommet in place. If you hurry,you can form and compact down the melted nylon around the grommet beofre it sets. This will help when adding the grommet collar and smashing the center of the grommet over the collor. I used the cheap tool that came with the grommets instead of buying the expensive pliers. They weren't perfect, but good enough for a first timer.
Note: Make sure you measure the front anchor points on the windshield. The middle one is offset. You may be able to see this on the pic of my top laid on the table.
8. I then sewed two passes on the velcro with the two pieces back to back, so I could cut it in half long ways. This made two strips that stick to themselves. This is what I used to secure the top to the front anchor points. I cut three pieces about 6-8" and kind of roll it through the grommet/anchor, so that it gets enough contact with itself, and the top is as close to the windshield as possible. It is below the atual top of the windhield so it doesn't get hammered on the freeway. Yeah, no "windshield header bar" required.
9. Then I use the bungee balls down each side to secure it to the roll bars.
10. The back hangs down pretty far, as I was attempting to make it a visor/brow for the back seat and the rear view mirror. Higher may improve front to back tension and reduce flapping even further, but I am happy with the current length, as the rubber bungee cords are black and blend in. I hooked them to the last grommet, then wrap it around the bar one turn to take up slack, and hook it to a hole (possibly a soft top fram anchor point) close to the roll bar base in the back.
Edit: OK, here is the link to the photobucket album with my pics of the materials etc.
http://s1052.photobucket.com/albums/...%20Mesh%20Top/
Peace!
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