Any Auto Upholstery fabricators here?

Another great idea! I never thought of those half turn fasteners. I remember seeing them on my work boat years back

 

The hardest part is scoping out how to do it. If the cover is on the inside of the frame, then it's fasteners have to support the cover, plus whatever hits it including wind force but that sure looks pretty cool. You could have nylon rods sewn into it to help form the shape. Just make sure any stress/contact/"rub points" are double reinforced/double stitched & you'll be good. Some of the larger tent & awning Co.'s have design software for this kinda stuff. One thing I could never understand about covert. top material, It tightens up in the sun (removes it's own wrinkles). Good Luck!

 

These?
https://www.southco.com/en-us/product/hierarchy.html?hid=7345

 

Yup! That's the idea. Just make sure their "quality" stainless steel. Nothing worse than rust stains all over creation. Any plans for skylights?

 

Yes I will want to at least have on on the rear. I’m meeting with an auto upholsterer today to discuss ideas. If that doesn’t pan out well I’ll try a marine canvas shop

 

Incase anyone was curious, I’ve visited a few Upholstery places, both automotive and marine and they charge anywhere from 1500-3000 bucks for this kind of custom fabrication. Definitely not worth it in my opinion for what I want to get out of it. So I did a little more research and found some Velcro style material made by 3m specifically made to withstand heavy winds, and it bonds to itself. Probably going To go this route
Here is the link

$40 3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fasteners Heavy Duty Industrial Use Black TB3550 1" x 10 ft Mated Strip Indoor/Outdoor Use Great for Metal, Glass, Acrylic, PC, ABS

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007OXK1AK/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I would have guessed $600- to $800- on the east coast for the custom job....
Sounds like they didn't want to be bothered with something so complex...
It's entirely different when they make the frame like SNUGTOP

 

I guess if they can't make 50+ of them, it's not worth their time. Even though, that's pretty steep even for a one off. I remember one guy we turned away once (wasn't the job, it was him we couldn't take) all pleased as punch. Seems he took his project to a community college & got them to design & make this Big Rig thing for him. He didn't have to pay labour & asked me if I wanted to "practice" as he felt he should never have to pay for work ever again.

 

Hey all! Giving an update to this project. I decided to do a test run with a polyethylene tarp for what I wanted to do. I used 3m Dual lock fasteners as mentioned previously to secure the top of the tarp to the bed rack. I then taped the tarp into where I wanted for positioning. I liked the test run so I went ahead and purchased a 9x9 vinyl tarp and called 3m to make sure the dual lock adhesive would adhere well to the vinyl and they said it would work. Also purchased some rubber gaskets with adhesive backing to go along the bed rail caps to ensure weather tight integrity once in place. Still open to suggestions!