So, I hate the softtop on my 5.0. It's ratty, not aligned properly, and I have to fight it back latched shut everytime I open it. I've been holding off having it replaced because the frame isn't in all that great of condition, either, and I'm not sure what all is involved in rebuilding one of those.
So my thought has been to totally pull the soft-top out and replace it with a removable hardtop. I've gone through a few different ideas in my head, building it out of metal or fiberglass, neither of which were particularly attractive to me. But a friend recently pointed out a Carson top, which has me all sorts of excited as this looks very doable, even with my total lack of welding and fiberglass experience.
My question is, for replacing a convertible top and frame with a removable hard top, how do people usually attach the top in the rear? The front is obvious, as you just repurpose the existing convertible latch mechanism.
Also wondering if people have suggestions on what to use to pad/seal the mating surface between the top and the body. I was just thinking that closed-cell foam they cell for sealing doors as I'm not sure if I can get the convertible seal rubber in a roll.
