Jeephammer I have a ? for you

nsargeant · 04-28-2009, 10:25 PM

I tried to send this as a private message to you but it says that your inbox is full.
jeephammer,

I currently own a 74cj5 that has a fiberglass tub. I have a correct acme hardtop for it but I can't get the doors to fit right. I see that you work on jeeps and are located somewhat close to me. I was wondering if you would give it a shot and try to get this top and doors to fit correctly on my jeep.
thanks,
Nathan Sargeant

**Mike Romain** · 04-29-2009, 06:07 AM

Do you only want his help or do you want fix suggestions?

nsargeant · 04-29-2009, 07:03 AM

I just want his help mainly. I would love to take my jeep somewhere and have this hardtop and doors put on. I don't feel comfortable drilling holes in the fiberglass tub for them to end up being wrong. I would just rather have someone that knows more and has more experience tackle this one.
Nathan

**Mike Romain** · 04-29-2009, 07:13 AM

I hear you, I was also worried about that. I did find I could change the shape of my door openings by selectively shimming the body mounts if that helps any.

**JeepHammer** · 04-29-2009, 07:53 AM

Yup, Inbox is full every day since the powers that be decided to cut the 'Full' down to 4 or 5...
-----------------------------------

I don't 'DO' bodywork... Not even my own.
I just don't have the patients for it.

Sorry.

List this as a 'How To Fit Top/Doors' article and post up pictures and maybe someone that knows how to use sandpaper will post up to help...

CJ-5's are a strange breed.
There are about 4 major changes in the CJ-5's, so depending on what year of top you have, it may just not fit!

Now, for me, I've been looking for a hard top that will fit a '73 or '74 CJ, and I've had no luck for over 4 years now.

Anyway, shims and new gaskets for the windshield to cowl mating surface is a must to get 'Doors' to fit correctly...
That's about all I can tell you since I still haven't got a top to fit mine correctly.

deadeye · 04-29-2009, 08:10 AM

Getting a hard top to fit a glass body can be a PITA at best if not just impossable. It all depends on how the body was made. I was never happy with the way my hardtop and doors mated to my body so I just run a softtop or no top.

**Mike Romain** · 04-29-2009, 08:23 AM

I got lucky on mine, the builder did a great job, my hard doors and top fit perfect as well as the soft set fits.

I do have to adjust the rake on my windshield when I switch doors and tops, they have a different angle on them.

As I mentioned, I also found getting the level of the mounts critical, the door opening shape can be adjusted if the striker is too close or too far away or if the door hits the back of the opening.

I also found the doors need a washer on the hinge pin for the bottom edge fit if the nylon insert is missing and it is long gone or never existed on most.

I did many dry fits before drilling, that is for sure... I drilled down into my tub rim and then used a hole saw and dremil tool to come at it from the inside to make the hole for the nut to fit under the lip. My tub is double walled.

nsargeant · 04-29-2009, 07:11 PM

the thing that intrigues me so much is that the soft top doors fit extremely nice, but the hardtop doors don't seem like they are going to fit as nice.

nathan

**Mike Romain** · 04-30-2009, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsargeant

the thing that intrigues me so much is that the soft top doors fit extremely nice, but the hardtop doors don't seem like they are going to fit as nice.

nathan

Try a dry fit and get back to us, maybe we can point you to the 'if needed' adjustments or tweaks.

**Balvar24** · 04-30-2009, 07:06 AM

Soft doors are easier to "tweak" than hard doors. Maybe they are a little out of shape?

awful8484 · 05-06-2009, 12:05 AM

I am having the exact same problem with doors, soft top fit great. I bought strikers for the hard top and hard doors and the doors look like they fit great with perfect spacing around the door but the door will only close if you try to push it real hard and it is flexing the window frame, something I do not want at all. I was trying to find if someone knows what the real problem is here. So I need different hinges for soft/hard doors or is it a matter of a few washers to stand the hinges out from the body a little to let it close? Ill keep tinkering with it but I dont want to ruin the doors, they are the closest to mint I have ever seen.

**Mike Romain** · 05-06-2009, 06:12 AM

I have to re-set the rake on my windshield when I swap from hard to soft tops and doors, the angles are a lot different. The hard doors 'will' hit the windshield frame otherwise.

The rake adjustment is easy, just loosen the two top bolts in the hold down and push. The hold down has slotted holes for this adjustment.