i've seen several write ups on diy mesh bikini tops and figured i would give one a try. i went to home depot and got the screen and 48 inch is the perfect width. i got a grommet kit and 2 packs of 8 toggle ball bungie cords. i measured where the ties at the windshield should go and marked the mesh and put grommets there. i then put one in each corner and one evenly spaced about a foot apart down each side. the width is 48 inch and i cut it to 65 inches long which puts it right up to the front of the back roll bar. i had the whole thing made in the time it took for the oven to preheat and for me to bake a frozen pizza. it took about 10 minutes to put it on the jeep. the soft top can go up and latch with me only un-doing the two bungies at the latch hooks at the windshield.

these pictures were taken in the middle of the day when it was 95 degrees out with not a cloud in the sky. i have only driven with it a couple times so far but it is awesome so far.

 

any extra annoying flapping?

 

Looks fantastic!! And I, apparently, have been living under a rock. I had no idea toggle ball bungees existed. Given that I have a perverse fear of bungee cords, I am a happy camper. Off to order a bunch on e-bay!!

How did you find the edges of the screening? I'm thinking of doing this just to have something to do - the sun doesn't really bother me that much. But I think I'll finish it off with some edging...

 

I've only had it up to about 50mph and not much flapping. It does move a bit but nothing that I care enough about to try and fix it. I'll find out tomorrow when I'm on the interstate at 75mph if that will remain the case. If it does flap at those speeds I think I already have a fix figured out. In each corner I put the gromett spaced from the edge just like all the rest of the grometts along the sides. The problem with that is the grommet doesn't end upmfr enough away from the anchor point to create the tension that exists with all the other bungees. So, if it flaps at high speeds I'll end up moving the grommets in at the corners a d cutting off the excess. I may end up doing this anyway just to get it tighter all around.

 

I originally planned on doing some kind of edge banding until I actually saw this stuff at the store. The more open type of mesh you'd find on an average screen door had a rough edge that would need a finished edge of some sort. This stuff is very tightly woven though. The edge just cut with scissors looks like cut canvas. It looks finished as it is. Plus the only place you can see it is the 2 feet between the sun visors at the windshield header and it is right up against it so you really can't see it then

 

this is from the driver seat can't see an edge anywhere really. this is under the roof at a gas station so its shady

 

Brilliant! Glad I mentioned it. Way less work.

 

Great job. I made mine out of a mesh tarp from Menards. The whole project cost me around $30 too.

 

What kind of pizza was it and why aren't there any pictures of the pizza?

 

It was a take-n-bake cheese pizza from kroger with a pound of bbq pork shoulder on top.

This isn't a pic of the actual pizza, but this is the idea: