OK so I got the dumb idea to make my own fiberglass hardtop, I did save a little money but it was way more labor intensive than I had planned. On the plus side my cab top has a R value of 2.9.
first I made a mold out of scrap plywood and scrap wood to the shape of the curve of the cab minus the polystyrene foam insulation. I bought the foam board from Lowes. It came 15"x 4' in a pack of 4. I bought 2 packs and had a lot left over. Next I scored the foam and bent it along the mold and used more scrap wood to hold it in place with drywall screws. I then laid fiberglass over the foam and squeegeed alpha epoxy into the fiberglass. Once the fiberglass was cured, I removed my part. I made 4 of these. one for each side left and right and two to go across the back. To join pieces I used 5 minute epoxy then glassed over the joint. The flat pieces were simple. I joined boards together with cellophane tape on one side then glassed the other. I rough cut a piece of 1x10 pine board the drilled bolt holes and cut relief on the bottom side for bolt heads and the metal skin lap so the board would sit even. I then anchored the board and used a trim bit in my rougher to trim the board to the shape of the back of the cab. the next pic shows the wood board and some of the parts epoxied together and some scrap wood used to brace the cab before removing from my deuce. The next pic shows the compound curves from the top to the side being made. I used bondo over the flat parts of the curved sections to make the outside more rounded then glassed over the whole thing once again. the last two pics show the cab on the truck. If I find a sliding window I like that is cheep, I'll cut a hole in the back and install it this summer.
first I made a mold out of scrap plywood and scrap wood to the shape of the curve of the cab minus the polystyrene foam insulation. I bought the foam board from Lowes. It came 15"x 4' in a pack of 4. I bought 2 packs and had a lot left over. Next I scored the foam and bent it along the mold and used more scrap wood to hold it in place with drywall screws. I then laid fiberglass over the foam and squeegeed alpha epoxy into the fiberglass. Once the fiberglass was cured, I removed my part. I made 4 of these. one for each side left and right and two to go across the back. To join pieces I used 5 minute epoxy then glassed over the joint. The flat pieces were simple. I joined boards together with cellophane tape on one side then glassed the other. I rough cut a piece of 1x10 pine board the drilled bolt holes and cut relief on the bottom side for bolt heads and the metal skin lap so the board would sit even. I then anchored the board and used a trim bit in my rougher to trim the board to the shape of the back of the cab. the next pic shows the wood board and some of the parts epoxied together and some scrap wood used to brace the cab before removing from my deuce. The next pic shows the compound curves from the top to the side being made. I used bondo over the flat parts of the curved sections to make the outside more rounded then glassed over the whole thing once again. the last two pics show the cab on the truck. If I find a sliding window I like that is cheep, I'll cut a hole in the back and install it this summer.
