Top removal and storage

After completing the tie rod replacement with a few hours of daylight to spare, I decided to go ahead and take the top off. I am going to order a summer top from SOR (basically a flat piece of canvas stretched from the windshield to the roll bar) next month. I'm sure the weather won't cooperate- it will probably rain starting tomorrow, but oh well.

I took it off in pieces, so I was able to do it without help. Here's a pic of the truck with the top and doors off, but the sides still on:



You can see that this is not a quick process. There are probably 50 bolts involved:



I put most of the top parts in the basement. The fiberglass top itself is too big. Using some tie-downs:



...I was able to take the roof from here:



...to here.



With a little help from Anna-Lisa, of course. I have to use space efficiently because of the size of my garage.

The truck looks pretty cool with the top off, but it lacks the perfect glass and decent paint of the hard top to draw your attention away from the rusted body parts. This thing needs a lot of work. Anna-Lisa and I went for a quick trip around the block, and I was impressed with the handling. Less weight to steer around. I think I can make this work for a few weeks until I can order the summer top. Might have to carry a tarp around though.