A Soft Top For My Jimmy

[special-K]

I've been driving the Jimmy around more and more. Had a job to look at near Harpers Ferry,WVA (Lander,MD) so I went down to the C&O Canal/Potomac River scouting around and took some pictures.

[68panelman]

Thats a great lookin' truck Tim. Take that baby to carlisle all truck, and see what fuel mileage you get, ps bring me some rustfree sheetmetal

[toeb]

do you have a pic of how it looks on the inside? and can u go to full drop top with it? i like how it looks i have no 4x4 but would look cool in the summer at shows.

[motornut]

i'm lovin it
wondering what hardware is left when it's removed/open top

[special-K]

I can drop it all the way. It unsnaps from the front,then folds to the rear,and there's a boot. It still needs to be ties down so the air doesn't lift it. But,the whole thing could be unbolted from the side rails in minutes,leaving just the front mount you see along the cab. That can be unbolted real easy,too and only a self-stick bulb seal is left on the body. I guess that still allows the hard top to mount. All mounting uses OEM mounting points.
I have just these two interior shots:


I have a really sweet dash pad in close to the same color as the top. Plans are to swap the tilt column from my '91 Suburban,along with the sport wheel. Then,I have an Alpine am/fm/cassette in-dash w/100w amp I took from an '84 truck I used to have. Right now it has the crappy original am/fm with single center speaker. I don't even bother turning it on. I also have a pair of tan cloth buckets from a '90s Blazer I want to put in to save these originals from wear. The cloth shows it's age but will be comfortable. The original seats are in great shape.
I love the tan on tan on tan look. Kinda like safari style or just no nonsense outback or third world...I dunno. Just utility looking and the right color for dirt!

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by special-K

I've been driving the Jimmy around more and more. Had a job to look at near Harpers Ferry,WVA (Lander,MD) so I went down to the C&O Canal/Potomac River scouting around and took some pictures.

Awesome pics, I'm jealous!

[special-K]

Don't be. The right things just came together on this one. I feel very fortunate. I've had a rough time financially for about 5 years now. I haven't been able to do much of anything with my vehicles but sell some and a lot of parts just to pay bills,not put back into vehicles. My Suburban has been a sad sight in the driveway and I didn't want to give up on it. I wanted to find a decent running one to set on it's frame. I also had a nice '90 Blazer I thought about doing all this to but ended up having to sell it. I even ordered a soft top from STC for it. I must have been one of the last orders before they went under. They kept my money and I got nothing. Over $500 when I'd been struggling. So,I sold the Blazer. I stumbled onto this one,which I had taken notice of over the years. It just kinda stood out to me,partly because I saw it was a diesel. I made a deal to make payments and got it that way. Then it sat for about a year until I could get batteries,glow plugs,insurance,and tags. I had a pretty good swap meet so I ordered the top and on Memorial Day weekend tore into swapping the axles and springs. I have a few other things to swap from the Suburban yet,as well as the other good parts,then it's off to the scrap pile. So,all said and done,I don't have a whole lot into this thing for what it is. And,it's like a miracle that it even came together,considering my financial situation. The best thing is it gets 22 mpg!!

[special-K]

When I was at the river taking pictures I thought either my batteries were too low or the camera was messed up because I didn't hear a click. Then I realized it was still set on video. So,I ended up making a few short and really lousy videos. Ok...ok,if you insist. Here is one. Click the pic:

Nice boots,eh?

[thirdstreettito]

Tim, you're special alright! She purs like a scalded kitten.

[Chlsnk]

very cool very military looking

[68Timber]

I hear you - my play money all but dried up and I've had to keep my projects small but there's so much you can do for little coin that I've kept them and fix at them here and there. I'd like to get my CUCV up in the breeze and that soft top but I'm going to keep the 10-bolt axles, they'll be fine for 33's and no abuse. Yours is inspiration.

[special-K]

All I wanted to do with this Jimmy was get 11.50/32s and no lift (maybe 2" in the future). I saw that size is gettin' kinda slim on the pickin's AND saw how much prices had jumped since I last bought any tires. I figured 12.50/33s would require the 2" lift and I couldn't lay out that kind of money. I had been hanging onto the hope of rejuvenating my Suburban for 5 years and decided to give up and make one from two.

[68Timber]

That diesel clatter is better than a radio isn't it? I drive my M1009 on weekends and love it.

[special-K]

Yeah,there's something about having just another K5...until you hear that clatter . Other than the CUCVs I have seen very few of these diesels. And,it's not every day you see the CUCVs either. I do know a very well off man (a builder I worked with) who bought an '82 when they came out. I asked him about ten years later if he had any problems with it. He said,"If I had problems with it do you think I'd still have it?" He really loved that thing. I think they are special. Ford and Dodge never made any diesels except HD 3/4ts and 1ts. I think it's cool how GM put 6.2s in any light truck they made

[Boog]

I run across diesel GM trucks in the boneyards with pretty nice bodies and wonder just what happened to them. Was it owner abuse or engine failure like cracked blocks, etc that put them out to pasture.
I've had my eye on an 86 GMC longbed diesel for a couple a years and I find out lately the guys big footed kid "windowed" the block in it. Long and red. I coulda made a nice one out of it.

[l79m20]

you know, you really should just sell me that thing.

[special-K]

Yeah,I probably should.

[Stoney]

Any updates...

[special-K]

Not really. I drove it on some little trips and around the area a bit through fall. I replaced the master cyl. When I bought it the peddle was real low and the brake light was on. I did nothing about it since I was swapping axles. Well,do all that and bleed them out...still the same,so I did the master cyl. I'm kind of babying it because I may end up selling it. Really really don't want to,but if that's what it takes to keep my house payed for...

Me a three other guys (2 members & a brother) rode it up to an off road race another member runs in his '69 Blazer late Sept. That was a fun day taking a long trip up into the mountains,watching the race (from all over the mountain),and hanging at the campsite:

[str8axle55]

Cool pics, where was the race. I really like the clean look of your K5.

[special-K]

That race is in Dornsife,PA. It's called the Line Mt 7-Miler and has run for 41 years.It's cool. It's called an obstacle race. Basically,it's just trails through the woods and all sorts of terrain. They have classes and send you off at intervals...I think 150 or so vehicles,and you run for best time. www.lm4w.org Click "members",you'll see Randy's Blazer.

Thanks for the compliment. I liked the simple plain look it had and went from there.