jscherb

Doubtful that an RV shop would have what you need, an automotive glass place is more likely. You've got two choices for glass - a shop can cut laminated safety glass to size, although that's generally not tinted, being mostly for windshields, so you'd probably want to do tint film on the inside if you went that way. The other option would be to find a shop that can do tempered glass, then you'd have a range of tints to pick from. When I did the windows in my JK Safari Cab I used a shop that could do tempered glass, it wasn't very expensive.

The glass is secured/sealed with standard automotive two-piece self-sealing weatherstrip: CRL Two-Piece Self Sealing Weatherstrip. For a roof application it's also best to run a bead of sealant in the both the glass-side and the roof-side grooves of the weatherstrip to ensure sealing.

That's all it takes to DIY this - a place that can cut automotive glass for you, some standard automotive glass weatherstrip, and some sealant. Also a lock strip tool makes the job of installing the weatherstrip much easier, I wouldn't want to do it without one: https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-47000-W.../dp/B000COA1CQ. Installing the lock strip can be tricky but I'm sure there must be youtube videos out there demonstrating the technique.

2qik2see

THX jscherb..I just printed this off! I just might have to try this. Seriously tho, I look forward to your posts. Very informative..gets the ol'gears a turn'n!

jscherb

Hard to beleive it's been 2 1/2 months since I finished the front flat fenders; they've been installed ever since and I'm very pleased with how they echo the styling of the original Willys fenders.





I'm now starting the process of making the molds for matching rear flat fenders. The first step is to mold exact-fit mounting flanges for the new fenders; to make the flanges I'm using the Jeep as a mold - I'll lay up fiberglass right on the Jeep body and pop it off when it's cured. In this photo I've got everything masked and prepped with wax and mold release, all ready to shoot gelcoat and lay up fiberglass against the Jeep body.



I shot the gelcoat first thing this morning. Gotta have confidence that the mold release will work .



More to come.

Four Low

Great Projects and Progress !
Question on Skylight Glass ; Will tempered glass break the way side windows do, in a burst of glass "pebbles "? I'm thinking anything hitting the skylights, branches, hail, unique hazards known only to Jeep Expeditions, would really compromise the interior.
Laminated windshield glass wouldn't do this, the plastic laminate holds it together.
Are there any tough plastics that could be used for this application ?
Lexan, aircraft types ?

jscherb

All automotive skylights/sunroofs that I'm aware of are made from tempered glass (like the Jeep Commander pictured below), as are all vehicle windows except windshields. Tempered glass is a lot tougher than you might think, it takes a strong impact from a sharp object to shatter it - think of those tools that are sold to help people break out of their cars in an emergency - they're like a hammer but with a sharp point. I think it would take a freak accident to break a tempered glass skylight, perhaps a rock falling from a cliff above. A branch is highly unlikely to do it.

I wouldn't use plastic of any type. All plastics, even those advertised as "scratch resistant" are subject to scratches - you're much more likely to scratch a plastic skylight with a low-hanging branch than you'd ever be to break a tempered glass one with the same obstacle.

The other issue with all of the plastics that could be used for this application is that they're subject to hazing due to UV light. Being on the roof, they're more exposed to UV than other plastic parts of a car - think of the plastic headlight covers that many cars over the last decade or so have - how many have you seen that are hazy? Even here in upstate NY where we don't have to worry too much about UV there are lots of cars driving around with hazy headlight covers.

Tempered glass isn't that expensive. All of the windows in the JK Safari Cab are tempered glass that I had a local automotive glass place cut and temper for me. The seven tinted/tempered side windows cost me less than $600, and that includes the vent windows, which cost about $125 each because drilling the 3 holes in each was expensive. I'm sure prices will vary, but you should be able to tinted glass cut and tempered for the skylights for $150 or at the most $200, which is more expensive than plastics, but considering tempered glass is an OEM-quality automotive solution I think the price is very reasonable for a custom application like this.

jscherb

The fiberglass layup is complete; I'll let them cure overnight and tomorrow morning I'll pop them off the Jeep, trim the rough edges off, and the result will be a pair of perfectly fitting mounting flanges to base the new fenders on.

jscherb

After waiting overnight for the fiberglass to cure, it's time to remove the flanges from the Jeep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEm4_uviQOM After removing the tape and mold release from the Jeep body, no harm done...




This photo shows the flanges after trimming and washing off the mold release:



The flanges are trimmed a little large for now, they'll get a finer trimming later.

Test fitting the flange to the Jeep:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDYvP7emNYk The next step is to make up cardboard mockup fenders that will serve as templates for making the mold master parts.

jscherb

I made up a preliminary cardboard mockup of the rear flat fender this afternoon. There are no radiuses anywhere on this mockup, it's just for overall shape. There are a few details I'm still thinking about, but in overall size and shape this mockup is fairly close to what the final fenders will look like.

I welcome any comments you might have (but if you don't like them, don't just say "I wouldn't put them on my Jeep", please be try to be constructuve and tell me what you don't like about them ).











I stretched a line parallel to the body to verify that I've got the width correct; also the both the front and rear fenders cover the same amount of the tires.



I have a few minor tweaks to make to the mockup (plus any changes I decide to make based on your comments); once I've made the changes I think I'll paint the cardboard black to get a better idea of how the mockup looks. More photos tomorrow.

jscherb

A detail that's not in the photos above - these fenders will be strong enough to stand on, so an option might be a diamondplate tread to help with access to a roof rack and to protect the fiberglass from scratches...







One other detail you may not have noticed in these photos (besides how dirty the JK is), I've removed the bling "Jeep" emblem from the grille. The original Willys didn't have any emblem on the grille so I decided this one shouldn't either. Also try to imagine the fenders in body color - when I finish the rears I think I'll paint all 4 to match the body. On most early Willys flatfender Jeeps have fenders are the same color as the body, so I'll probably do that too.

jscherb

I painted the cardboard black to better see how the final fenders might look. I didn't paint the fiberglass mounting flange because I'll need to bond the rest of the mold master parts to it, so I darkened that with my paint program. At best though, painted carbdboard is still only an approximation of what the final fiberglass fenders will look like (if you squint a little they look more like the final version ).