Soft top hardware: will a BestTop top accommodate another brand hardware?

I'm restoring my 1966 CJ5, which has hardware and snaps in place for my original Kayline soft top. I no longer have the Kayline soft top (mysterious disappearance sometime over the past 20 yrs) and am now struggling to find a used Kayline to buy (ebay; craigslist; wrecking yards, etc). I'm therefore wondering if the readily available (e.g., ebay) Best Top soft top for early CJ5 will fit my Kayline hardware. My two bows look similar to Best Top bows (as viewed on-line), and I can likely re-arrange the snap positions to accommodate another snap-on pattern, etc. I'd hope that the windshield rod-pieces would be similar.

Do any of you have experience with this kind of cross-over of hardware. I'm reluctant to re-do all my hardware on my CJ5. Any comments or guidance for me on this soft top matter? -- thank you, ronnie

 

Sorry, the BesTop won't fit in place of the Kayline. If you buy the BesTop, there's no reason to reuse the Kayline bows - the new top will come with all that stuff. The snap location will be the most annoying change. The Tiger Top uses snaps like the Kayline, but I believe that the Super Top uses some kind of rails.

 

I tried it. Did not work for me as the hardware is different between the two. Your mileage may vary.

 

The Supertop does indeed use a rail system...much superior to a snap type top IMO.

 

Is the Supertop still available for the early 5s? It wasn't listed as an option when I was trying to track down repair parts a few months ago.

 

I bought a fresh one a little over a year ago....

http://www.bestop.com/component/products/?view=product&id=2

Part number 51595....

 

Ah, that's what it was. It wasn't available in charcoal anymore. Thanks for the link.

 

Yeah, I bought the spice colour. I actually *wanted* the charcoal...

 

My neighbor has that rail systm on his soft top. He isn't too happy about it as it sometimes will come apart on the highway. His daughters Jeep has the same setup as does her boyfriend I suppose there is a reason the hardtops go on for the winter. A full day of fun to transfer every top and bolt them on. Sometimes four tops a day to change out.
Mikes Jeep has the spice colored soft top and my brother has a spice colored Kayline on his CJ6.