75subie Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 anybody ever see or build or attempt to build a hard tonneau cover for a gen 2 brat? i like the first gen ones, not so much the louvers, but a cab level gen 2 cover would look pretty cool. i am thinking something with a wood/metal/mesh frame, wrapped in fiberglass, with struts to lift it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 anybody ever see or build or attempt to build a hard tonneau cover for a gen 2 brat? i like the first gen ones, not so much the louvers, but a cab level gen 2 cover would look pretty cool. i am thinking something with a wood/metal/mesh frame, wrapped in fiberglass, with struts to lift it. Jon, I was planning on doing something like this to my '78 Brat so I started to look at what would be the best to lift a good amount of weight as far as struts. The ones I found, are a little pricy, but they're for an '82-'92 Camaro/Firebird for the rear glass. They have a huge back window on them and have pretty good struts to keep that weight up. I have a set of brand new struts that are for a car WITHOUT a rear defrost grid so it doesn't have the little clips welded onto the body of the strut for the wiring. I was going to make a frame out of 3/4" steel square tubing, make a couple custom hinges for the front of it to mount to the back of the cab, and basically make me a fiberglassed shell that was encorporated into the frame. It'll take a lot of time and effort, some money but not too bad, and to find someone to paint it for you to match the car. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75subie Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 thanks for the ideas! i was thinking of using crx hatch struts, as i already have a pair, but i`m not sure they'd be strong enough, camaro struts should be. if they weren`t something from a minivan would work as well. the brat will be getting painted soon so this might be good timing. i was also thinking of using the top section on the topper as a center section for the tonneau cover. it would probly save alot of work, plus it'd be perfectly even. then i could just lay fiberglass on both sides of it to cover the metal frame and smooth the seam over with bondo. i don`t know if you can tell by this pic, but the topper is the type that slopes up in the rear, so it would give the cover some style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 As long as the sides of the top don't slope in upwards toward the center, which would leave gaps on the side when lowered, that sounds like a great idea. I was intending to use Camaro window struts for my "1966 Barracuda hatchback" idea... never came to pass but those would definitely be what you'd want. You could also get struts from a canopy/tonneau shop but they'd probably charge you a lot more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 quick question, I''m obviously not as brat-saavy as I could be.. where would this tonneau cover attach in the front of the bed?? I mean, in a straight profile, the front edge of the bed is defined by the rear window line.. it kinda shifts planes, unlike a more standard pickup truck bed.. so where would it attach? I ask because it seems to me one could simply cut most of the height out of the camper top and use the bottom as well as the top.. but when I get to the point of imagining what to do behind the doors/at the rear window, I have no idea what "should" be done. Is there a place to mount a flat tonneau inside the bed, at the same height as the side of the back? Did those questions make enough sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75subie Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 not sure how i`d attatch it to the cab yet, but that shouldn`t be too hard. i`ll get some closer pics of the cap. if it was a little warmer out i`d be cutting it with the sawzall already:Flame: fiberglass doesn`t work to good when cold tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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