Hardtop swap with softop

[Skycop]

Well we are in the process of swapping our old M35A2's hard top with our new M35A3's soft top. Got the soft top and hard top off easy enough and the soft top went onlt the A2 without any problems. I had a couple of questions, though.

#1 The angle bracket that was on the A3 with the soft top, do I need to re-use that piece with the hard top install? The A2 didn't have that bracket on it, but see question #2 for my delimma.

#2 We have the hard top just sitting up to see if it will fit and/or what "tweaking" is needed before we bolt her down. I have noticed the passenger's side door will not close as the hard top does not allow for enough clearance. I am thinking some weatherstripping might be in order, but if we leave the angle bracket in the back (along the back of the cab) the door is a little sticky but will close. Any suggestions and/or what type of weatherstripping to get?

#3 In conjunction with Question #2, the back side of the window touches the hard top and will prohibit the door from closing. I think this will be solved with the issue mentioned above.

#4 The A2 had two rather long bolts running through all of the upper window frame (one on driver and one on passenger's side). In looking at the A3's window frame it appears there are only bolt holes on the TOP of the frame. I am thinking someone didn't have the proper bolts and/or washers to install the hard top onto the A2 and made their own setup, but does anyone know if the holes in the top of the frame should be threaded?

#5 (Last one), do the holes where the snaps go for the soft top mount on the window frame line up with the holes on the hard top? Just trying to figure out where I need to start baging and pressing if some places are not meant to line up!

I think I will try the weatherstripping route on both rear sections of the hard top to see if that helps at all but all suggestions are appreciated. We moved the hard top in one piece, but after a long day we called it quits and will get back on it next weekend. I am thinking that I will need to seperate the two pieces to get a good fit though.

EDIT: Found a roll of rubber gasket material fo garage doors. It just happens to be the same width as the cab. I am using foam (closed cell) material as well for the split between the top and bottom of the cabs. sTotal cost was about 12 bucks!

I think I am going to have to adjust my passenger's side door because after looking at , it doesn't apear plumb which is casing my problems. Any suggestion on how to do this? My though was to remove the door and beat on of the brackets to move the top or bottom of the door.

 

[WillWagner]

Check the hinges, they have a tendency to bend causing the door to be out of alignment.

 

[Skycop]

Thanks! We removed the door, got out a sledge, and now it is in great shape I am still having some issues with the hard top alignment though. Please see post below:

Thanks for the wonderful comment which consisted of that supportive, helpful, and informative answer ctmustang. It really helped a lot.

To everyone else who may be reading this post, I am having some issues getting the front part of the hard top to settle down correctly on the window frame to where it is square. I think I know why the old -A2 had the bolts drilled all of the way through the frame, but I would like to avoid doing that if at all possible. This is why I am soliciting photos if at all possible as I don't think the drop down pins would hold the front of the cab down to the point I need it to be to fit right.

I also noticed on the hard top there were two holes on the outside of the top at the front. They look consistent with the location of the snap installation of the soft top, but again, that wouldn't make any sense. There is no way in **** I would be able to get the hole in the hard top lined up with the hole in the window frame (where the snap went). Any help would be appreciated. I am just checking to see if anyone else had any of these issues. Finally, there is a rubber gasket under the front lip of the hard top (where the hard top rests on top of the window frame). Part of me is thinking this is not OEM and is where my problem(s) are coming from. Photo is attached of the two holes I have mentioned.