WW2 Jeep canvas top

[Mike K]

A treasure from the past !

Back in 1976 a few club members discovered the delights of Hudsons stores in Burke st Melbourne . Run and owned by two eccentric brothers the store was a throw back to the depression era .

If you were patient enough to get to know the brothers all sorts of goodies were to be found . Stuff like genuine WW2 Jeep tops, well used, some moth eaten , some with tears . I managed to snare two of the tops and somebody else got four. Comes time to get a top made for my Jeep I take the original to a canvas shop, they made one to the pattern. "where is the original top I asked" answer "we tossed it out"

Anyway I have this original top on loan from the other guy . Interesting, the tops were all made to the same pattern, but the details like the edge binding material were not the same.

[Ian Fawbert]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for sharing the story and the photos.

I would love to see more photos of any of the original tops you can access. There are many features in a top to ID it as ford or willys and date its approximate production time frame.

This top, from the photos appears to be a MB top- the 'gimp' or leatherette binding tape is the clue to the original manufactures specifications- ford used a cloth type binding tape.

Can you please share more photos, particularly of stitching details, fasteners, any markings etc?

What happened to 'the other guys' 3 other tops? Can you access them for photos too?

Thanks again,
Ian.

[Mike K]

hi Ian

Yes the binding tape on this example has a strange coating over the cotton weave , the coating is breaking off with age . The faded white lettering reads: CAUTION LEFT HAND DRIVE

It's a sad story , I loaned one of my tops to somebody ( a club member ) and the top came back to me unpicked and in pieces The guy was a hot rod builder who owned a Jeep and a Dodge weapons carrier - he left the club many years ago.

We were using these old tops on our Jeeps for a while , looked funny with the moth eaten holes . One of my tops had a short tear in it but I still used it ( the top the canvas people threw out ) . With various house moves I lost most of the other bits , I gave the rear panel to another club member.

I often see people spend a small fortune on a nut and bolt restoration of a Jeep, only to see them fit a top with a plastic window in the rear panel. I see this mistake often . It's like the canvas guy cannot resist the temptation to sew in a plastic window

Don't know if the other guy still has all of the tops he bought , it was over 40 years ago and only the two of us were shown the back rooms of Hudsons stores . There were quite a few of the tops stored on dusty old shelves , they must have been sitting there for many years.

[Ian Fawbert]

Hi Mike,

Thanks again for sharing the extra info on the tops (i did wonder what was written on it) and the history of them. That was a shame indeed about your top being puled apart.

I do agree with you on the tops with the plastic rear panel- Ive driven in a fair bit of rain with the jeep- keeping water out of the rear window is the least of my concerns when trying to stop water getting in!

If you ever hear of the top/s he has heading to the bin, please let me know as it would be greatly cherished up here.


Cheers,
Ian.

[Jim Gilmore]

Ian is correct on the "gimp" edging. Ford used a herringbone twill edging and Willys used the "gimp" or leatherette edging.

I have many pieces of WW II canvas and the "gimp" was also used on the Willys MA.

Here is a photo of a pair of original MA side curtains and they have the same edging.

And...just for fun...here is an original Ford GP top and side curtains. Note is is basically just a canvas tarp with leather attaching straps.

Also to note....I have 6 or 7 of the GP tops, MA top, Bantam BRC top and a lot of side curtains for these as well as MB/GPW and none of them have any MFG's marking on them as some reproduction canvas makers are wont to put on theirs.....

Jim Gilmore
Jim Thorpe, PA. USA

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