Making a ifting roof on a 110

[Septu]

How many clips do you have on it? I'd think that 2 on the rear, and perhaps 1 along each side would be plenty?

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about the clips coming off in transit. I'm using 2 of those on my m101 and while I occasionally lock it (if in a city), they've never come off, despite some really bumpy trails.

Edit, nm, I just saw the part where you'll use these for mounting points for the hard sides. Although still ways to do that without having to have clips all along the side.

 

[wuntenn]

Hi Septu thanks for comments. Well I figured each of the hard sides would be in two pieces given their length, and each section would have two clips * = 4 each side. I considered this carefully as I didn't want it too cluttered and figured that the advantages of 4 each side outweighed the disadvantages. (* of course this is 4 clips on each removable side section - 2 top and 2 bottom, each one of them fastening onto the two opposing halves of the one fixed clip - if that makes sense!).

Basically they ensure the lifting part of roof, which has quite a deep edge L profile (4", inverted) is pulled down very tight to the subframe making a good seal against water and dust, and also they pull the frame into proper alignment along the edge of subframe and tight up against the back of the clip thus keeping the whole thing in alignment.

 

[buff]

Ive noticed some of the german flip roof's have small L shape brackets on the back corners, i guess to aid the roof relocating when coming back down again. Sure ive seen a solid sided roof with hinges in the middle also.

 

[wuntenn]

Buff - I've got plans for the roof-rack side supports to act as locating guides as the roof drops. More in another post.

 

[wuntenn]

Well here's todays progress - those of you who've followed the thread will know I got the lifting lid bit a tad off-square - mainly due to having to weld it up off the roof, so effectively without the 'template' provided by the Land Rover itself. So to remedy that I've 'released' the tack welds on the box section bracing on one side, and the top of the corner seam welds, and then used the van as a guide, put on the side clips and pulled it down tight and into the correct shape, then braced the corners and pop-rived on the end of the box section where I split the weld. Once its rewelded I can grind off the top of the rivet to get a flat surface for putting the roof sheet down onto.




Corner welds split all round.




End of box riveted on to hold it correctly for the welder.





Bracing across each corner to keep it to correct angles when lifted off for re-welding.




Had to make sure that when I adjusted the frame shape that I didn't mess up the hole for the roof hatch.





Hatch fits perfectly (1mm clearance all round perfect for mastic). Self-supporting hinge mechanism is really good.




And it goes over to 180 degrees too (not shown here).





Low profile too - it will be 1" less than the height of the roof bars I'm intending to fit.






Welder is off on a job until Wednesday so it'll be a few days until I can possibly get back in to have the few tacks redone. Meanwhile I've got some acid-etch primer to do the roof panel which is still covered with its protective plastic film so that saves me a lot of faffing about cleaning. Plan is to prime and coat (white) the roof sheet panel so it only leaves the horizontal faces of the lifting portion to do once its all together. Paint plan is blue (same as rest of van) up to the lifting portion, and then the top white. So it will look like a 'traditional' Land Rover paint job of x colour and white roof. The white should make the roof look lower too. Although it looks quite tall as it is, the whole of the new roof (top and bottom combined) is actually only 5" higher than the top of the existing roof.

 

[wuntenn]

Hi Buff - this is my initial idea for the roof rack, combined with guide for the dropping roof section.



Basically a triangular plate that extends up to the level of the roof bars. Roof bars are ally pipe spanning the roof and inserted at each end through the a flat bar (or L bar) running longitudinally on the roof edge. The ally pipe will protrude far enough through the flats on either side so that it can 'rest' in the shaped top of the triangular plate.



And the triangle plates will be bolted through the new alloy side, into a large bracket I'll weld up from steel which will be firmly fastened to the curve of the old roof underneath, and will hold the whole plot rigid. These will also be fastened to the interior fittings and bed enabling the whole thing to have considerable integrity. This method means that the weight of stuff on the roof bars - my sea kayaks, or open canoe - will not be supported solely by the new roof, but will have the load transferred down into the gutter and through the bolts and bracket to the vehicle interior.



And of course these triangle plates protrude up quite far so they'll be perfect guides for the lifting roof as it is lowered. I'll put in a Delrin or similar strip, cut to a wedge shape, on the back of the triangle plate to allow a nice smooth slide in. Nylon from cheap chopping boards is perfect for this.

 

[piratexpress1369a]

Hi Buff - this is my initial idea for the roof rack, combined with guide for the dropping roof section.

View attachment 195740

Basically a triangular plate that extends up to the level of the roof bars. Roof bars are ally pipe spanning the roof and inserted at each end through the a flat bar (or L bar) running longitudinally on the roof edge. The ally pipe will protrude far enough through the flats on either side so that it can 'rest' in the shaped top of the triangular plate.

View attachment 195741

And the triangle plates will be bolted through the new alloy side, into a large bracket I'll weld up from steel which will be firmly fastened to the curve of the old roof underneath, and will hold the whole plot rigid. These will also be fastened to the interior fittings and bed enabling the whole thing to have considerable integrity. This method means that the weight of stuff on the roof bars - my sea kayaks, or open canoe - will not be supported solely by the new roof, but will have the load transferred down into the gutter and through the bolts and bracket to the vehicle interior.

View attachment 195742

And of course these triangle plates protrude up quite far so they'll be perfect guides for the lifting roof as it is lowered. I'll put in a Delrin or similar strip, cut to a wedge shape, on the back of the triangle plate to allow a nice smooth slide in. Nylon from cheap chopping boards is perfect for this.

your pics did not work

 

[wuntenn]

How's that now?

 

[wuntenn]

Ho! Ho! Ho! We have some of the longest hours of sunlight in the UK here. Summer sunrise light spills into the back of my house just after 3am and in the evening on the other side of the house it streams in at 10pm as it starts to set.

 

[gethewson]

Hi Wuntenn
Where did you get your roof hatch from.
Regards James.

 

[buff]

I was thinking that, nice hatch. Looked at a fiamma one in the summer, but wasn't convinced it would keep water out once roof was up.

 

[wuntenn]

Hi chaps - Force 4 Storm Hatch here. Not particularly cheap - £160 odd + VAT. However I looked the Seitz ones and they're not cheap either and I wasn;t too impressed by them, and the really cheap ones are...well....cheap.

I wanted something that would withstand weather and be strong and figured anything that can withstand a lump of the Atlantic being dumped on it will prevent water coming in! (caveat - it IS a Land Rover so water ingress is a genetic trait!).

Its solid alloy, 12mm thick perspex and giant seals. Opens to flat as well and self supporting hinges. I figured that its all very well saving money with the DIY fabrication but worth spending some of what I've saved on quality components.

 

[overlander]

Looking great. It looks like you are mounting that hatch opening to the front. Opening to the rear would be much better, so that it doesn't break in half if it pops open at speed, or you forget to close it.

 

[wuntenn]

Thanks Mark. Aye you're sharp-eyed! You're the first to mention it - I wondered how long it would take! But it's forwards facing opening I need.

Think about the way the roof is hinged - at the front, so it opens upwards at the rear. If the hatch is hinged at the front also, when I open it with the roof up rain will come right inside. Hinged at rear means I can lift the roof, then open the hatch and the hatch lid will still be covering the aperture. to keep rain out.

The hatch opens to 180 deg anyway so basically it will fold right over to lie flat on the roof so the hinges should not be at risk in the unlikely event that I forget to close it. I've considering a safety wire for it that can be quickly released if I need it, with a dayglo tag on it that will hang down when not connected as a reminder that the hatch is possibly not secured. The hatch location is to the rear so this will dangle in your face at the back door pretty noticeably.

 

[piratexpress1369a]

that worked thanks