[offroad_maniac]

Wow.. the jeep looks awesome with that Hard top on. Also liked the tail lights & its guards. Overall the jeep has got nice look & feels safe to park anywhere.
Top sliding rear will be more comfortable also.

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Tini, I am positively stunned. This is dream come true. Does it rattle on bad roads? Who did this, and how much did it cost?

Absolutely no rattles from the body. Only rattles from doors etc which are part of the MM540s character. Not sure if i can do much about it.

This was done by kurian of Road & Track in Kottayam.

This particular job was expensive as it was a learning curve for all of us involved including Kurian and some of the tinkers. The labor included many of the other custom thing that I had done so I don't have a break out for my top alone. Besides making the rear door like on my jeep adds to the cost and is really not needed. Ideally you should retain the original rear lower door and have only a glass with a frame around it for the top half like the wranger. Now that we know what exactly needs to be done, I feel it can be completed for about 50K. In my case it took a lot of time to build the rear portion as it is a qualis type fully opening rear door with the lights on the body. Also mine was done in Aluminum so the labour is generally more due to the riveting etc..

Originally Posted by trammway

wow, the rear door got three elements. One to swing out the sparewheel, second one is to pull upside the rear top and the final one is to swing out the bottom half door(I remember the FJ40 influence in there)

Originally Posted by rmonie

This is really neat & very smart!! Is it possible to see some WIP images?

Thanks mate. Unfortunately I was not in Kottayam when most of the work was done.

Originally Posted by GrayBerry

4x4addict:
Nice job. Looks very good. I like the fit and finish as well.
Few questions:
1. You said fibre glass - can you be more specific on the material used??
2. What is the weight of hardtop??
3. Also any vibration at high speeds??
I will need one for sure, in the redesign am sure the roll cage en all will be taken care of.
By the way, tooling for such a large part will cost a boom.

1. Most of the top is aluminum except for rear door and certain channels to rivet the aluminum too.

2.The weight is much lower than an all steel sheet but still I feel the weight on the engine compared to when I had the soft top.

3. Absolutely no vibrations.

4. There is a hidden roll cage in between the outer aluminum and inner cardboard liner. We had an option to have a visible roll cage within the cabin or a concealed one, I preferred the concealed one. It is almost like a big mesh rather than a single large tube.

For the Thar top, We are not making any tooling. We plan to do one in sheet metal and then a fiber mould will be made from the first piece. Beyond that all additional pieces will be in FRP.

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

Hi Tini,

Looks good. The large Scorpio window should give you a lot of visibility for backing up. Always nice to see where you are going when you are backing down a road on a ledge 1500 meters high up here in the big hills.

Any concern about the rear window breaking due to the extra vibration and jolts the jeep will send to it?

Visibility is good all round due to the large windows on all sides. I don't feel that the vibration will be any more than a regular FRP hard top MM540 so I am not too concerned about glass breakage. I have used OEM tempered auto glass that's why I had to go with what is available in the market as opposed to a true custom top.

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

Tini

Finally the long wait is over and you have your jeep with you. Well for the top i feel the wait is worth it. Neat execution.

Utility wise i think it is great! I would like it further this way-

1. Your top painted in matt black
2. Redo your snorkel upto the top of windscreen
3. Different looking rims and bigger tyres (present ones dont gel well with the overall look now). You can even go for present circular holes wheel disc of Scorpio painted black. It wil look good
4. Wider axles to do justice to your added wheel arches

1.We debated about the matt black top but after a quick review in photoshop, we decided to go for silver top.

2.I wanted a slightly different look for my snorkel, hence didn't take it all the way up. I need to fix the slant of the Snorkel head to the front.

3. I have imported steel wheels but unfortunately they are 15 inch so I have to get finish up these tires first. The regular circular pattern Scorpio wheels are fine too, but I have to figure out what to do with mine :-(.

4. Wide axles are next. Have a set waiting with Ali.

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

Tini

but before all that DRIVE YOUR JEEP FOR SOME TIME! :-))

Seriously mate. Every time I get my jeep out of the workshop, I dive it for a few weeks and send it back for the next project. Next week, it is going back to Ali for the following:

1) Front and Back Bolero wide axles
2) Power Steering
3) Front and Back Auburn Gear LSD
4) Bilstiens.

That is pretty much it as far as my mods go... :-)

Originally Posted by sreerajunnithan

The BEST looking hardtop Tini. I know how much pain you took for getting this completed. But worth all those pains. Workmanship is simply awesome!!! I think Kurian can have a handful of orders for this Hardtop, provided he finish it on time. I agree with Vinod on that snorkel modification. Do you have the diagrams and measurements of the hardtop?

Thanks
--Sree--

Thanks mate. I don't have any measurements, but can take them. Kurian and his team have some good experience with my project so I feel the next ones will go a lot more smoother/faster than mine.

Originally Posted by Terminator-X

Which tailight have you fitted? They look pretty nice & gels with the rear end.

They are European Spec Jeep Wrangler tail lights. Euro spec just like India requires Amber turn signals. US spec is all red like typical American cars.

[jeepster]

Originally Posted by COUGAR

there is a company in MIDC Bhosari here in pune that still makes ROPLAS style FRP bodies on order. They also do it for the Gypsy: very different from the standard Gypsy hard top but quite nice.

The company is actually in the business of making FRP boats. Will get the postal address in a day or two.

i think this is the one

at 4x4 ,
it is really best hard top so far.
thanks for sharing it on t-bhp.

this is really good idea sir'ji.

this picture gives the first strong reason for getting hard top.

[jyobeb]

Looks good Tini! Looks like the wait was worth it. By the way the Safari Snorkel looks quite differnt from what you have!

[GrayBerry]

4x4addict:
I am a very big fan of your mm540. I was very impressed with the look and color of your jeep,. in fact I must confess that I said it was my jeep to few of my friends here in US (corrected myself and told them it will be a similar one ). The icing on the cake was you having a new Bolero engine. I have picture of your jeep on my desktop.
Well, I understand the practical part of the hardtop, in fact I will need one when I get my Thar,. but some how the new look is not as appealing, snorkel looks odd. I am attaching the picture of the jeep that I feel in love with.
Question:
1. Your new hardtop, is it removable?? Am asking as your back door is highly modified.

[4x4addict]

@GB:

I like the OEM look, but I use the jeep as my daily drive and having a soft top was very impractical as I had to keep a luggage chain the jeep all the time to lock my suitcases to seat frames. Besides the soft top is a dust magnet and very had to keep clean. I am not fully done with the jeep yet. I wanted a short and wide look like the wrangler. This will be complete only after I install the Bolero axles. This work will start next week. Will update my thread after that. I plan to re-do the snorkel a little bit too. I may not take it all the way to the top, but I'll straighten it out.

[crazyjeeperk]

I have a customised steel hard top on my 540 but i want to make it to a soft top with any old original body form scrap. can any one help me sourcing a tub from any scrap dealer for a resonable price?? I hope Tamil Nadu residents can help me

[GrayBerry]

4x4addict:
Can you compare and comment on your Jeep's NVH with the hardtop on. I am sure you would have seen a vast improvement when compared with the soft-top, hence can we compare that to a ?????
Is your hardtop permanent or removable??

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by jeepster

i think this is the one

There's another company in bangalore doing the same stuff:

Xtra Reinforced Plastics Pvt.Ltd X-TRA Reinforced Plastics: Products

[yogeshnaik]

For the NVH levels, they can be reduced by proper dampng. Custom made hard tops require more tests.

[GrayBerry]

Originally Posted by yogeshnaik

For the NVH levels, they can be reduced by proper dampng. Custom made hard tops require more tests.

I read that 4x4addict used cardboard liners on the inside, this will improve NVH levels. Also the fit and rubber beading will considerably improve NVH levels.

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by GrayBerry

4x4addict:
Can you compare and comment on your Jeep's NVH with the hardtop on. I am sure you would have seen a vast improvement when compared with the soft-top, hence can we compare that to a ?????
Is your hardtop permanent or removable??

Originally Posted by GrayBerry

I read that 4x4addict used cardboard liners on the inside, this will improve NVH levels. Also the fit and rubber beading will considerably improve NVH levels.

There are vibrations to the top, but the NVH is still high. The doors, and fire wall of the MM540 are not insulated like in newer cars, plus the DI engine isn't exactly a silent performer.

The had top has not lowered NVH by much, except that now I can use my cell phone (with blue tooth) while driving and people on the other end can hear me. Earlier with my soft top, I had to pull over and shut off the engine to talk on my phone. But the NVH is still too high and there is not much we can do about it. I have insulated the firewall and top of the bonnet with thermocol. The hard top also has thermocol between the outer aluminum shell and the inner hardboard lining. The to has absoluutely no rattles or creaks, but the rest of the jeep including the engine is still noisey. Doors have some rattle, engine screams, suspension makes noise etc...

Adding a hard top to an MM540 helps only helpful from a convenience stand point, it doesn't help with NVH much unless you redo the door seals, firewall, etc..

@GB. My top is not removable. Better to design a removable one so you can take it off for OTRs or when the weather is good.

[A-jay]

Guys,

Where in bangalore can I get the gypsy hard top manufactured (Fiber One). Please provide me the address.

Cheers
Aj

[Rajachu]

Originally Posted by A-jay

Guys,

Where in bangalore can I get the gypsy hard top manufactured (Fiber One). Please provide me the address.

Cheers
Aj

Ajay,contact Mr Lobo of Xtra rein plastic which Tejay mentioned for the Hard top issues on 098450 12306 and 080-25446385.Seems a senior personn and i will be meeting him tomarrow.He is making hard tops for jeeps alreday.

Raj

[Rajachu]

Ajay,
i met MR Lobo and his factory which is close to my home, about an hour back.He assured me that he can make hard tops for both jeeps and gypsies.he is a very senior in this industry.Any jeeper can approch him and he himself a 4x4 fan and using Izuzu 2.8 4x4.He will do even the repair job also for us.

Raj