Soft top insulation woes.....

So the vinyl/leatherette material that covers the insulation foam is peeling away in many spots. I'm wondering if anyone has successfully re-attached the vinyl with a spray foam or the like??

NVFireFighter said:

So the vinyl/leatherette material that covers the insulation foam is peeling away in many spots. I'm wondering if anyone has successfully re-attached the vinyl with a spray foam or the like??

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I've never seen it done before. Usually by the time things are peeling off the cover their trash.

When I picked up my M35A3 years ago, the top looked to be in excellent shape from the outside. The inside was a different story. The foam insulation had decayed to a crumbly powder that continually sprinkled down on me when driving and the liner was hanging down in spots. I tried to replace the insulation and the lining that held the foam and wound up with a total mess. I replaced the top with a new top from GMA, which has held up very well. Unfortunately, GMA is now gone. If it was me, I'd buy another cover.

glcaines said:

When I picked up my M35A3 years ago, the top looked to be in excellent shape from the outside. The inside was a different story. The foam insulation had decayed to a crumbly powder that continually sprinkled down on me when driving and the liner was hanging down in spots. I tried to replace the insulation and the lining that held the foam and wound up with a total mess. I replaced the top with a new top from GMA, which has held up very well. Unfortunately, GMA is now gone. If it was me, I'd buy another cover.

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Exact same thing on my recovery trip. The foam residue got in my eyes and made it impossible to see. I stopped at a rest area and cut out everything except the outer layer.

AceHigh said:

Exact same thing on my recovery trip. The foam residue got in my eyes and made it impossible to see. I stopped at a rest area and cut out everything except the outer layer.

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You are right. That dust got in my eyes as well. I think it was heat that got to the foam in my original cover, rather than age. You would think that they would use some other foam material that held up better. The outer cover looked almost new.

I bought a new tan cover from Sportsmen guide some years back. It did the same thing after some years the foam just came apart. The cover is good just the foam. Maybe why they had them cheap.?.?

Thanks for the replies gents.....

The outside is fine so I guess I'm going to try to carve out the foam.

That was exactly what was happening on my way back home! The front drivers corner was flapping and luckily a screwdriver wedged up there kept it out of my vision for the rest of the trip!

I think the window bows need replacing.....all the twisty things{?} are rusty and kind of wonky to turn. And it makes a high pitched squealing, just enough to bug me,lol.

MAYBE it is time to go new.....hahaha

All the insulation in my hard top was junk and was just storing dirt and rust. In my gun-ring install thread I restored the hard top and put in sound deadener and a couple layers of closed cell foam insulation. It is so nice now (though, the insulation I picked is unfortunately very fragile and will mark/rip easily if you scratch or pick at it). I know some folks go the route of sound insulating paint (like Lizard Skin).

Anyway, I get pretty wordy in my thread so I'd just recommend scrolling through the pages and looking at the pictures and then reading what you find interesting

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?146878-Valence-s-M66-Gun-Ring/page5

Here's some before and after pictures. (I started off trying to DYI, but then ended up having them professionally sandblasted and painted. No regrets!)