Kalin Top help needed

Hello everyone..

As we work through some of the small things left on my sons Bronco, the last is the Kalin Fast Trac. I downloaded the directions and this top has some years on it and the fit is not so hot as the velcro on the metal posts has come loose, etc.

Looking at the hand drawn directions, it fails to really provide true info. What I am after is the first vertical rod right behind the driver and passenger door. Looking at the directions, it should be mounted forward on the top of the door jamb, then the body steps up and you have your plate attached on top of the body. This makes sense because I have a serious gap between the door frame for the window and the first vertical rod...this rod is mounted on the top of body approx 1/2" back from where the directions I downloaded show...which makes sense. (Sorry no pics I am at the fire station). The vertical rod is actually mounted on the plate and this is about 3" back from the door jamb.

Now....the door jamb has a hole in the top where this rod should go, so all is good so far but....looking up to where the rod intersects and bolts together with the bar that goes to the windshield...moving the vertical bar into that door jamb hole per directions appears to cause the vertical rod to rake backwards..granted it has a slotted plated where it all bolts together but it appeared to not have enough adjustment to get the rod straight up and down.

The top is in pristine shape, only the velcro on the metal parts needs replacement. Does anyone have pictures of their pieces, placements, intersections?

bronco_daddy said:

Now....the door jamb has a hole in the top where this rod should go, so all is good so far but....looking up to where the rod intersects and bolts together with the bar that goes to the windshield...moving the vertical bar into that door jamb hole per directions appears to cause the vertical rod to rake backwards..granted it has a slotted plated where it all bolts together but it appeared to not have enough adjustment to get the rod straight up and down.

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This paragraph explains why I have never been happy with the Kayline top I bought several years ago. I drilled the holes in the door jambs exactly where the directions said to and the top never sealed around the windows. Even adjusting it out ad far as the velcro would allow left a 1/8" gap between the window and top. If I wrapped the top snugly around the bar, there would be a 1/2" or more gap between the top and window. As you observed, the vertical and horizontal bars do not allow enough adjustment to line up correctly with the window frame.

The only way you are going to get it to work is to drill the holes in a different location and/or modify the bars to allow for more adjustment.

I'm interested in this. I have an old Kayline I want to install on mine and would like to see where the holes need to be for a tight fit.

thank you for the reply and you basically told me what I had thought. I was just looking and looking and nothing was adding up to something that was sano. With the vertical rod in the door jamb hole, the rake is haneous..I make just section the piece that goes to the windshield, sleeve it and see how the fit works from that point..simple enough. Kinda hokey work by the manufacturer IMO...I will take it over to my fab guys and let them do their thing. The canvas is good quality, the fit sucks horribly around the doors to the point it is no better than with the top off..hence looking for a hardtop.

One thought I had was moving vertical rod to where the directions state, take the canvas over to the upholstery guys and have them fold the material back onto itself and sew into the fold some flat thick plastic to make a stiffener of sorts and then up in the door corner restitch and reinforce the area to make this flap protrude outwards more so when the door closes is it pushing the flap inwards...then I will do the same for the top of the door..basically making firmer flaps to create freezer door flaps like in a cooler room..yet another project.
Anyone with success on this system?

I used to run a Kayline with steel doors. The hole for the vertical rod is in the stepped-down part of the door jam. It is the same hole I use for my STS top. I improved the seal against window frame by putting foam rubber on the flat part of the of the Kayline door frame and wrapping it with electrical tape. It made a fairly tight and water resistant seal. If you want, I can post the location of the hole tomorrow when I can see to measure it. Jim

Hi Jim...Thank You for the reply..my truck does have the hole already drilled in it and why it was not being used..mystery.

Did you measure the distance from the winshield frame to the back corner? I remember the instructions for mine included a value for an ideal distance. I had to put some shims in mine to push it forward. The frames will lean back sometimes especially with a rag top streched from them. I think I may have the old instructions in a file, I'll check. Jim

Found 'em. It sez:
"If your windshield frame is improperly adjusted, the top will not fit or function properly. Measure from the inside edge of the windshield frame to the inside edge of the tailgate as shown in figure1. For a proper fit, this measurement should be 83 3/4" to 84". If it measures slightly more than the 84" the tension from the top may pull it into position. If it is less than 83 3/4, you will need to loosen the hand bolts on both sides of the windshield frame and place some shims under the windshield frame and retighten the bolts." Figure 1 shows the measurement from the very top edge of the frame to the same on the tailgate.

Viperwolf1 said:

I'm interested in this. I have an old Kayline I want to install on mine and would like to see where the holes need to be for a tight fit.

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