American Expedition Vehicles Brute Hardtop - Manual (Page 3)

Page 3 of 8
A. FITTING THE TOP TO THE VEHICLE
OVERVIEW
The Brute Hardtop comes as an assembled unit with the exterior portion of the top finished in a grey
sanding gel coat, while the interior of the top is left in a white natural resin finish. Installing the
hardtop is generally a relatively easy task that consists of only a few steps.
The hardtop must:
• be fit to the vehicle.
• be painted.
• have the glass installed.
• have all the hardware put on.
• have the interior lights and CHMSL installed.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Once your cab closeout is fully welded out and finished, install the hard doors, door striker
plates and header seal. Begin by temporarily installing the header latches (do not cross
thread the bolts nor over tighten them) to the hardtop and test fit the top. At this point, check
to be sure the top is sitting down on the J-rails all around the side and back of the top.
Temporarily clamp the sides of the top into position. Clamp the header down, not to worry if
it makes some cracking noises on this first clamp down, it’s just everything settling in and will
do no damage. Check the fit around the doors, windshield frame and the rear of the vehicle.
The doors and windshield frame can be adjusted, but do everything in a slow meticulous
fashion. Often times the top might look high initially, but tends to settle in once it’s bolted into
position and the seals take a set. Once you are satisfied with the fit of the top, mark the bolt
hole locations and drill the J-rail in the hardtop out to 1/2”.
2. Prior to painting the top you may wish to “dry” fit any accessories you plan to mount to the
center console like radios, additional lighting, switches, etc.