So I've been seeing a lot of Jeep hard top insulation products, and I thought it was a good idea and could be implemented on the Bronco. The Jeep tops I've seen tested, can keep the top 50* cooler, resulting in a 15-20* lower cabin temp. And during cool temps, cabin temps were 5-10* warmer. Problem is, I dunno where to start or what to use.


-I'm thinking some sort of foam, wrapped in some sort of cloth and less than 1.5" thick. I don't want it too heavy and potentially cause damage to the fiberglass top. So any suggestions on the actual insulator? Any suggestions on how to wrap it?


-I'm also not entirely sure how it should be mounted...I don't wanna drill the fiberglass for snaps, I don't want a permanent adhesive (not yet anyway), and I'm not sure how long or how strong double sided tape or velcro would be. Any other ideas?


Any thoughts, opinions or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Ive thought about this to.... Is the headliner on the roof removable? I thought about just slapping some dynamat-like stuff on the roof, and putting the headliner back on.

Over on FSB, I saw guys who used 92-96 roof head liner material for insulation on newer caps. I like the dynamat thought, then the only issue would be covering it you make it look 'finished'.

How about spray in foam insulation

m78 said:

How about spray in foam insulation

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Beat me to it.

Ben, cover that sucker in the spray!

For the time being, I'd like to stay away from the spray, and have something that looks a little more finished, like it's supposed to be there.

UTfball68 said:

For the time being, I'd like to stay away from the spray, and have something that looks a little more finished, like it's supposed to be there.

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If you apply it right and perhaps throw some paint on it, I'm sure you could come out with a quality product.

^^^True...makes it a little difficult for a mock up though...better get it right the first time...hahaha.

If you guys are gonna "insulate" the top, you might do well to consider that the fiberglass across the center of the top is only 1/8" thick. Yes, only 1/8". The headliner with the foam-backed fabric and the fiberboard is thicker and supports more weight than the center of the top. I only mention this because removing the headliner and putting something heavier or thicker in its place is going to start to pull down on the mid-section. Not saying it can't or shouldn't be done, just something to bear in mind.

But I will add that if you are going to go to all that trouble, you might seriously look at the insulation (or LACK thereof) in the doors and side panels. Stick your fingers down against the bristles where the door handle comes through the inner panel on a cold day. I added 1" adhesive-backed foam to the doors behind the inner panels and gained a heck of a lot more temperature stability than messing with the top. But then, I run topless well into October and even early November some years.

Wait, I don't have a headliner on my top, is there supposed to be one?

FordF-SuperDuty said:

Wait, I don't have a headliner on my top, is there supposed to be one?

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IIRC its a 92+ thing

Great point about the thickness of the fiberglass...I was thinking that would be a potential issue. So I need to find a way to prevent mold from forming, wile still insultating, yet be light weight. Got some thinking to do I guess.

Not cheap but how about taking it in to a place that does truck beds & have them spray it? 1/4" of rubber should make quite a difference?
John

m78 said:

How about spray in foam insulation

Click to expand...

John in AZ said:

Not cheap but how about taking it in to a place that does truck beds & have them spray it? 1/4" of rubber should make quite a difference?
John

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My uneducated self has to ask about those things being to heavy to be supported by the roof?

Once sprayed to the fiberglass & dried it bacomes part of the fiberglass thus it is it's support

UTfball68 said:

The Jeep tops I've seen tested, can keep the top 50* cooler, resulting in a
15-20* lower cabin temp. And during cool temps, cabin temps were 5-10*
warmer. Problem is, I dunno where to start or what to use.

Click to expand...

More of an improvement here where it's dry but still an improvement would
be to paint to top some shade of bright white.

Here where it's dry a black surface can get 15 degrees -below- ambient at
night. Seen it -many times- where the morning air was in the low 40's and
there was frost on all the dark wood railroad ties.

Let alone what the sun can do here.

Just the '92 up head liner would make a big difference in sound level and
temperature. Just got done re-installing the headliner in my '91 Bronco and
it made a big difference in sound. Dynamatted the ceilings in both the cab
and the top and filled the "attic" in the cab with polyurethane foam rubber.

Wow, now that was friggin expensive! Like... $550! :/
Was afraid of the hard "crispy" urethane foam being noisy tho. :/

Haven't got around to installing the top's '92 headliner, not sure what to
use to hold it in place. What'd Ford do?
(didn't take it out, I bought it loose)

Alvin in AZ

Had some people I know use this Ben, I'm thinking about the same stuff for the 79.
http://www.amazon.com/Cascade-TG-1-Thermaguard-Shield-Compound/dp/B00067IUSQ

DNFXDLI said:

Had some people I know use this Ben, I'm thinking about the same stuff for the 79.
http://www.amazon.com/Cascade-TG-1-Thermaguard-Shield-Compound/dp/B00067IUSQ

Click to expand...

That looks like a miracle cure for a lot of things. Building code here now requires R-38 in attics. So 60 mil will do !


edit: I'm saving that address

m78 said:

That looks like a miracle cure for a lot of things. Building code here now requires R-38 in attics. So 60 mil will do !


edit: I'm saving that address

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PartsExpress is the actual dealer:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=268-232

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=268-234

I like the fact that it can be sprayed