Early and late softtop frame compatibility.

Hopefully someone knows the definitive answer to this, the front supporting frame for my son's Jimny, the bit above the front seats, has rotted out.

From what I can gather these are like hen's teeth, so will a latter frame fit or can be made to fit the older car ?

Hi There,
I'm not 100% sure but it looks like the later VVT soft tops are different to all previous soft tops. That is 2005 and later.

I brought a hood set from Monsoon and told them it was for a 2005 model and the front section does not fit. Monsoon seem to be aware that there is a difference, but as there so few VVT soft tops, they don't bother mentioning it unless you question them..

From what I can tell (I've had a 2002 and 2005 soft top), it looks like my later version has the corner popper studs in a different place and the hood has a extra plastic insert along the front edge of the hood above the windscreen that sticks out a further 15mm to make a good seal with the rubber strip.

The front section Monsoon hood I have does not meet the rubber seal above the windscreen and the corner popper studs don't line up either. So currently I am still using the original Suzuji supplied front section hood, which has a couple of small splits, but currently is water tight.

So, my conclusion from the above is that 2004 and earlier are different to the later versions. Have you tried - www.camsuzuki.com/ They have a lot of secondhand parts for Jimny.

In the words of the lady from Monsoon - " A nasty Japanese man changed the design on these later versions". They seem very unwilling to admit that the fault is theirs and replace my hood. Worse still is they won't even sell me just the front section!



Hope you find one.

Cheers
Paul
Hertford

Thanks for the reply, it's more the frame then the top I am worried about, for the winter I'll silicone and bodge it up and then look to fabricate something in the spring or make a hard top.