Land Rover ideas for Jeeps

[jscherb]

Been there, done that part 3...

These two photos were published in one of the Land Rover magazines a while back were taken along the narrow gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in West Bengal, India, which runs along the road for a lot of its length. In 1955 two Land Rovers drove overland from London to Singapore, and one of them made a side trip up to Darjeeling where this photo was taken. In 2019 one of the original Land Rovers from the first expedition retraced the trip in reverse, and made the Darjeeling detour as well.

There's an excellent book about the expedition: https://www.amazon.com/First-Overland-London-Singapore-Land-Rover/dp/1909930369/ and both Land Rover magazines covered the 2019 reverse trip extensively. There's also a book of photos from the expedition, most of which weren't included in the first book:

I've got a copy of the first book and I'm keeping my eye open for the photo book, the web site for it isn't responding.

Some years ago I had a magazine assignment to do an article on the Darjeeling Railway - I rode the train one direction and followed it on the road the other way, although not in a Land Rover - I was in a Mahindra (an Indian jeep). Along the way I took time to visit the railway's mechanical shops at Tindharia and other railway-specific sites I wanted to photograph for the magazine.

In modern times the road up the Himalayan foothills to Darjeeling is much more crowded, in some places there's literally inches separating the train from vehicular traffic.

Making the trip in the Mahindra was also a great experience; maybe next I should do a thread on Mahindra Jeeps - they're produced many different models I'd love to see Jeep do and I've been taking photos of them in India and other places for years.

The magazine article as published...

I've done 3 magazine articles on the Darjeeling Railway - two for a U.S. magazine and one for a U.K magazine.

 

[jscherb]

So much to like about this one...

I'm not sure I see any Land Rover ideas on that Jeep... can you point them out to me?

 

[Jurfie]

What, that's not a Land Rover...???...

 

[jscherb]

These storage pockets that go on the inside of a Land Rover hardtop are interesting.

They seem to install inside a Land Rover hardtop with no drilling. The inside of a Series or Defender load area doesn't usually have a roll bar like a Jeep, so there's good access to the pockets.

There are a bunch of Molle and pocket panel type things for Jeeps that attach to the roll bars in the back, but I've never seen anything like this that attaches to the hardtop itself. Some way would have to be worked out to attach something like this to the smooth inside of a Jeep hardtop, so I'm sure that's why nobody's done anything like this for the Jeep market.

Another inside option for Land Rovers are these "side trims", panels that go inside the hardtop. Presumably these are used in windowless hartops to provide a little nicer interior, but it does say that storage nets can be attached to them. Again no convenient way to attach something like this to a factory Jeep hardtop, but I can imagine some uses for something like this in a Jeep.

 

[quickfarms]

So much to like about this one...

That’s a sweet ride that’s not stock

It’s better than that British thing because it’s American made

I would like to know the specs on this CJ2A. It has a modern steering box so I wonder what else has been updated.

 

[douglastic]

That’s a sweet ride that’s not stock
It’s better than that British thing because it’s American made
I would like to know the specs on this CJ2A. It has a modern steering box so I wonder what else has been updated.

I'm sure nobody here thinks it isn't awesome. I'm a sucker for a good flatfender!
Looks like it might be a CJ2A body on a CJ5 frame?

It's just that this thread is about LR ideas that can be used on Jeeps.
And there aren't any on that one.

Keep em coming! This has been a great read.

 

[jscherb]

I'm sure nobody here thinks it isn't awesome. I'm a sucker for a good flatfender!
Looks like it might be a CJ2A body on a CJ5 frame?

It's just that this thread is about LR ideas that can be used on Jeeps.
And there aren't any on that one.

Keep em coming! This has been a great read.

I've got a lot more Land Rover ideas from the magazines that can be adapted to Jeeps to post, but if people would prefer this become a thread about old flat fender Jeeps and not about Land Rover ideas, I'll be happy to stop scanning ideas from the magazines .

 

[Jurfie]

These storage pockets that go on the inside of a Land Rover hardtop are interesting.

There are a bunch of Molle and pocket panel type things for Jeeps that attach to the roll bars in the back, but I've never seen anything like this that attaches to the hardtop itself. Some way would have to be worked out to attach something like this to the smooth inside of a Jeep hardtop, so I'm sure that's why nobody's done anything like this for the Jeep market.

I'm sure there could be some way if combined with your t-slot tracks on the outside; maybe a thru-bolt or another t-slot on the inside? Since you'd be covering the hardtop side windows either way, it seems like a worthwhile addition if you want either/or.

 

[Jurfie]

I'll be happy to stop scanning ideas from the magazines .

 

[kwill]

So much to like about this one...

Why not start a different thread?

 

[jscherb]

I'm sure there could be some way if combined with your t-slot tracks on the outside; maybe a thru-bolt or another t-slot on the inside? Since you'd be covering the hardtop side windows either way, it seems like a worthwhile addition if you want either/or.

I drove to my favorite military surplus place today so I had some "design time" during the drive and I spent some time thinking about the challenge of attaching things to the inside of the hardtop without affecting the outside.

The first thought I had, of course, is exactly what you suggest - if you install t-tracks on the outside, you'd be drilling through the hardtop and the bolts could be used on the inside for something like this. And good point, you'd be covering the window with whatever you put on the t-tracks anyway.

There is another way though... in the photo below I've highlighted all the parts of the JKU hardtop that are double-walled. It would be possible to attach a mounting rail at those locations without drilling the outside shell of the hardtop, you'd only have to drill the inside double wall.

Then I was thinking rather than do a typical crappy black vinyl or polyester Molle panel, how about doing something more stylish in heavy canvas and leather, either a Molle panel or pocket panel, something like this sized for that space...

I might sew something like this to go inside my Safari Cab hardtop, but it would be a lot easier than doing it for a factory Jeep hardtop because the Safari Cab is like the Land Rover hardtop - the sides and roof are separate parts fo there are bolts at the joints that could be used to mount something like this to.

 

[quickfarms]

The attachment is kind of dependent on the depth of the void. There are some rivets that are made for soft material and the expand like an x or star but they are kind of long to get the expansion.

Another option is to bond some marine grade plywood to the inside using epoxy

A third option that is to modify the roll bar so I does not block the window and add attachment points to the roll bar

I have seriously though about building a modular shelf for my LJ that would ride on the top of the tub and could be used with or without the rear seat

 

[jscherb]

The attachment is kind of dependent on the depth of the void. There are some rivets that are made for soft material and the expand like an x or star but they are kind of long to get the expansion.

There is room in the void for several different choices of fastener. The photo below was taken in the process of converting a factory JK hardtop to modular. I posted step-by-step instructions for the conversion here: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/converting-a-factory-jk-jku-hardtop-to-modular.160775/). BTW once converted, the modular hardtop assembles/dissembles pretty much the same way a Land Rover Series/Defender top does.

Another option is to bond some marine grade plywood to the inside using epoxy

Definitely could do that. Wouldn't really be removable it that was important.

 

[jscherb]

This "Door Storage System" is shown on a rear barn door, which isn't of use to anyone except perhaps me since my LJ and JKU both have barn doors, but something like this could be mounted elsewhere in a Jeep, perhaps on the inside of a hardtop like the last post.

Another tailgate pocket panel:

There are a bunch of Molle panels for tailgates in the Jeep market, but I don't think I've seen a tailgate Molle panel in any of the Land Rover magazines. I wonder why pocket panels seem popular with Land Rover folks and Molle panels aren't that popular with them?

Early in the TJ days Bestop did a pocket panel for the TJ tailgate. I've got one here and it was a nice product but apparently not too popular because it wasn't on the market for long:

If someone liked the pocket panel idea for a tailgate and wanted a budget solution, Ikea sells a product called the MÖJLIGHET ($5.99), it's intended to go on the side of a bed, but it's a good size to mount to a tailgate too and it's only six bucks (https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/moejlighet-bed-pocket-blue-00421393/):

 

[jscherb]

Continuing with the theme of canvas storage options - canvas door panels.

The sculpted inside door panels of the JL, JK and even TJ don't lend themselves well to things like this, but on the more spartan door panels of a Series Land Rover they adapt well:

The best I could think of for a JK were these canvas panels that span the entire bottom of the door panel, replacing the tiny net pockets at the front that stretch out of shape with any serious use. I sewed several versions as an experiment, they turned out to be pretty useful.

I've sewn two other styles for testing, this one has a smaller Molle grid and includes a water bottle pocket:

And this one has two leather pockets in addition to the map pocket.