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HMMWV 4-man Soft Top Slant Back

Bulldogger

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Now I will complete the welds and tapping of the second copy and later this week I can begin cutting and sewing cordura, good Lord willin and the crick don’t rise...

Bulldogger
 

Bulldogger

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Made true progress these last two evenings after a lot of illness and motivation challenges.

This is the soft slant back cover for Jeffy777 who is my first beta tester. Still needs the top hold down strip for the Velcro attachment and skirting at the base of the vinyl window, as well as the interior Velcro straps and the webbing for the sides, back and window. But it’s coming along. All this sewing was done this evening including the zippers. I like having a true industrial sewing machine!!

Bulldogger

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jeffy777

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I am stoked!!!!!! I have never been a model... cause I am am ugly. But now look at me a ... get a HMMWV your life changes. :)
 

Bulldogger

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Well, I think it’s done.

Have to type up the assembly instructions and other advice, then get some heavy plastic sheeting for wrapping.

Here she is, draped over my ride. I’m not sure about the side straps, though I placed them using measurements from my rig. Time will tell.

Jeff, please PM me your address.

Bulldogger
 

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Bulldogger

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I used the last of the sunlight and warm weather today to test fit the Mk1 frame and tweaked soft top design to my ride .

The new variant fit very well, better that the prototype, which was my goal of course. Hopefully tonight I can type up the assembly instructions and FAQs list.

Then I need to get to FedEx!

Bulldogger
 

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Bulldogger

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All bagged up this evening and ready to go to FedEx. Should be tomorrow, as it's bedtime tonight.

I'm looking forward to this almost as much as Jeffy777!

Bulldogger

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Bulldogger

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Jeffy777 had better post picks of the install and the finished top. @Bulldogger Were you able to refine your templates and your sewing?
Well, that answers my wondering if anyone was still reading this thread... Glad that folks are still following along. I can vouch for Jeff, he doesn't live far away from me and the weather this weekend was not conducive to a lot of MV work, especially if planning to open up the interior by moving or removing canvas panels.

Nattie, to answer your question: I have made some tweaks to my patterns, but they are not complete. I plan to buy some heavy card stock or poster board to make more permanent patterns instead of continuing to use the ones I made out of packing paper. My original patterns also still have only notations, versus actual material present, to represent 3" and 1" allowances for seams and overlaps. My plan for my permanent patterns is to make them the correct outside dimensions, meaning with the 1" and 3" allowances, and then cut small gaps along the "true" interior dimensions to outline the interior measurements and help me align for sewing.
Sewing the top together with the motor-driven machine is much easier than the hand crank, but somewhat surprisingly I still had two days of bursitis after sewing each slant back together (Infidel Got Me's cover is 95% sewn and the frame is 95% as well, I ran out of a couple of fittings and they arrive today). Sewing this much canvas and throwing and folding it around is still a chore. The most clear advantage is the seams are much straighter, and tighter, with a motor driven machine as compared to the seams on my prototype. This hopefully means better fitment and better water repelling.
I am still learning tricks to put the covers together both faster and better. My machine doesn't like feeding the clear vinyl (no surprise) and I can't afford a walking foot machine for a long time. Still, there are ways to roll and bunch the material to allow me better success at sewing it together with seams that aren't puckered too bad. I will probably never get it prefect, and I'm not sure my welding will ever be "presentation grade" but as long as it all holds together and performs well enough, I guess we'll all be happy (I hope).

I am planning to finish Infidel Got Me's cover tomorrow evening, and ship it Wednesday. Hopefully his Florida weather will allow him to show us all how it looks on his ride and offer feedback sooner!

Bulldogger
 

Bulldogger

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First production model Mk1

Here is my first semi-production Mk1 soft back. Several improvements have been made following a few learning experiences and feedback from Jeffy777 and InfidelGotMe.
I’m posting it for sale in the 4Sale section shortly.

I will begin a thread here for continued feedback and what-if discussion.

I’m interested in finding out how many more folks are interested now that the initial kinks have been worked out.

Bulldogger
 

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ikoinu

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Very nice, impressed! Are you planning on any versions with a fabric zippered rear window rather than plastic? Figure the plastic will wear quick, especially in the cold and fabric would keep eyes off. I'm running a review camera and no mirror so don't need the visibility.
 
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