Aye its the same system with the ones I got, but I had a good idea what the weight would be so just went for the preset ones. So any idea what weight your roof ended up? Mine is coming in at about 90lbs give or take a few lbs. The roof bars I'm intending to fit will push it up over that a bit.
Making a ifting roof on a 110
- Thread starter wuntenn
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No idea, i could carry the bare frame and rest it on top of the body. lifting up the clad roof manually when i was working out strut positions , was a bit of a struggle. I might re make it at some point completely from alloy. But its still lighter than an ambulance, so im not to worried.
Well the replacement bottom brackets arrived on Friday and I got them on this morning. Much improved and all-round a lot stronger design.
Next up was the roof hatch. A pair of small holes drilled through from below on each side gave me the location of each side, which was connected by a pencil line drawn all round. Then the commitment of cutting with the jigsaw. It was fiddly, but I eventually had the hole I needed. A wee bit of fettling with the jigsaw again and it popped in snug as can be.
It's a nice low profile design, self-supporting at any angle, and opens through 180 deg, so right over backwards to flat, has a semi-locked position for ventilation and the handles have integrated locks. Its pretty bombproof - 12mm perspex and rigid alloy frame with oversize seals that are well concealed under the frame.
Next up was the roof hatch. A pair of small holes drilled through from below on each side gave me the location of each side, which was connected by a pencil line drawn all round. Then the commitment of cutting with the jigsaw. It was fiddly, but I eventually had the hole I needed. A wee bit of fettling with the jigsaw again and it popped in snug as can be.
It's a nice low profile design, self-supporting at any angle, and opens through 180 deg, so right over backwards to flat, has a semi-locked position for ventilation and the handles have integrated locks. Its pretty bombproof - 12mm perspex and rigid alloy frame with oversize seals that are well concealed under the frame.
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Yes it is. I looked at the 'proper' campervan stuff and yes they're sexy and have integrated blinds and all sorts of stuff, but they cost an absolute fortune - one this size would cost as much as I spent on all the alloy for my whole roof!
This was a yacht-specific product which I figured would be useful on a LandRover - might be able to keep at least some of the water out! And it cost half the price of a Seitz hatch.
This was a yacht-specific product which I figured would be useful on a LandRover - might be able to keep at least some of the water out! And it cost half the price of a Seitz hatch.
Ah well I did the deed today - and whacked a chunk out of the roof, so no turning back now.
I decided to use a piece of red pine on either side and across the back end - apart from being relatively strong and light, it is significantly more moisture resistant than the majority of plywood (without getting into a bank loan for some marine grade ply). Plus its nice to work with. So fitted that first to give me a line to work to all round and then off with the jigsaw. The T piece that we used to support the lifting lid on the bonnet when it was getting fitted was the perfect size to fit in the back and hold the cut piece of roof up so it didn't collapse inwards under its own weight. Worked a treat.
I retained the strengthening rib just above the drivers seats where the roof slopes down to the windscreen, and about 18 inches behind that. Basically I've cut across at about 40 inches from the front, and this front section will be well braced and structural and form the front half of the bed platform, with the second half of it stored on top and slid backwards when needed.
There's not a huge amount of space between the lifting lid and the bed platform - only a few inches - enough for a 1" thick thermarest mat and an open sleeping bag. If I wanted more space I'd have had to A) lose some internal headroom below the platform which I decided I did not want to do as I'm 6' and don't want a crick in my neck or my knees under my chin when sitting in the back, and its good to have the same usable space below even when the bed is set up so we can move about underneath, or B) use deeper profiles for the lifting section and go higher externally, which again I wasn't keen on doing - more weight, more wind resistance, more awkward to build and fit. As it is it's 'tight' - but this is a reasonable compromise.
The added bonus of this is that it also leaves sufficient headroom in the front to allow me to fabricate a sleeping platform for my wee boy William (aged 5). With the seats tipped forwards there will be enough space from the seat back to the back of the seating area (just at the bulkhead) to provide a 30" wide by 50" long platform I can suspend from the channel above the doors on 4 pieces of stainless wire. With curtains all round over the windscreen, doors and across the bulkhead he'll be snug and have his own reading light (the existing vanity light) for comfort. The board can be stored under the seat cushions or on the floor when not in use, or maybe folded down the back of the seating area. The advantage of this is that it leaves the whole back area free for we two adults and he's well out of the way later in the evening and won't have to be disturbed.
The pine gives a nice lip all round to catch and store the fabric from the sides when the lid is closed, and handy for putting a mug of tea or some pot plants on. Although William is determined to have a model railway on it (which may actually happen - he has some lovely wooden track I can use.......we'll see!).
To finish it off.....well I have no idea. I dashed off to collect William from school just after cutting the roof so had little time to consider options - but I think there will be some substantial bracing across the front cut to strengthen that bit, which is also where the loading from the gas struts comes down, so that will be useful to have - I may use some metal for this. And then some timber along both sides and the rear to strengthen the cut edges, which might be a sold batten with a rebate to fit over the edge. At the sides there will be some verticals coming up from the wheelarch boxes (mines a hard top so has full-length arches internally) which will be located at the crucial points where the internal fittings start/end (sink, fridge, cooker etc), and these might form a floor to pine-lip cupboard so give storage and provide support too. The bracing for the end of the bed nearest the back door will be attached to the bed platform and slot into a rebate on either side so will be strong enough to support two adults and particularly the loading when climbing onto it.
The black stuff you can see between roof alloy and the carpet is an inch of closed cell foam - have that all round the vehicle and its pretty good for keeping noise and condensation at bay, heat in and cold out.
The hollow at the front of the bed where the roof dips is sufficient to install some speakers, or various electronic bits that need space but be kept out of the way. I'm going to cut a pair of vents in the front right above the windscreen so that warm air can circulate up and under the bed area in the dip, and then cut some holes in the sleeping platform so the top is well aired, and this will help stop condensation.
I decided to use a piece of red pine on either side and across the back end - apart from being relatively strong and light, it is significantly more moisture resistant than the majority of plywood (without getting into a bank loan for some marine grade ply). Plus its nice to work with. So fitted that first to give me a line to work to all round and then off with the jigsaw. The T piece that we used to support the lifting lid on the bonnet when it was getting fitted was the perfect size to fit in the back and hold the cut piece of roof up so it didn't collapse inwards under its own weight. Worked a treat.
I retained the strengthening rib just above the drivers seats where the roof slopes down to the windscreen, and about 18 inches behind that. Basically I've cut across at about 40 inches from the front, and this front section will be well braced and structural and form the front half of the bed platform, with the second half of it stored on top and slid backwards when needed.
There's not a huge amount of space between the lifting lid and the bed platform - only a few inches - enough for a 1" thick thermarest mat and an open sleeping bag. If I wanted more space I'd have had to A) lose some internal headroom below the platform which I decided I did not want to do as I'm 6' and don't want a crick in my neck or my knees under my chin when sitting in the back, and its good to have the same usable space below even when the bed is set up so we can move about underneath, or B) use deeper profiles for the lifting section and go higher externally, which again I wasn't keen on doing - more weight, more wind resistance, more awkward to build and fit. As it is it's 'tight' - but this is a reasonable compromise.
The added bonus of this is that it also leaves sufficient headroom in the front to allow me to fabricate a sleeping platform for my wee boy William (aged 5). With the seats tipped forwards there will be enough space from the seat back to the back of the seating area (just at the bulkhead) to provide a 30" wide by 50" long platform I can suspend from the channel above the doors on 4 pieces of stainless wire. With curtains all round over the windscreen, doors and across the bulkhead he'll be snug and have his own reading light (the existing vanity light) for comfort. The board can be stored under the seat cushions or on the floor when not in use, or maybe folded down the back of the seating area. The advantage of this is that it leaves the whole back area free for we two adults and he's well out of the way later in the evening and won't have to be disturbed.
The pine gives a nice lip all round to catch and store the fabric from the sides when the lid is closed, and handy for putting a mug of tea or some pot plants on. Although William is determined to have a model railway on it (which may actually happen - he has some lovely wooden track I can use.......we'll see!).
To finish it off.....well I have no idea. I dashed off to collect William from school just after cutting the roof so had little time to consider options - but I think there will be some substantial bracing across the front cut to strengthen that bit, which is also where the loading from the gas struts comes down, so that will be useful to have - I may use some metal for this. And then some timber along both sides and the rear to strengthen the cut edges, which might be a sold batten with a rebate to fit over the edge. At the sides there will be some verticals coming up from the wheelarch boxes (mines a hard top so has full-length arches internally) which will be located at the crucial points where the internal fittings start/end (sink, fridge, cooker etc), and these might form a floor to pine-lip cupboard so give storage and provide support too. The bracing for the end of the bed nearest the back door will be attached to the bed platform and slot into a rebate on either side so will be strong enough to support two adults and particularly the loading when climbing onto it.
The black stuff you can see between roof alloy and the carpet is an inch of closed cell foam - have that all round the vehicle and its pretty good for keeping noise and condensation at bay, heat in and cold out.
The hollow at the front of the bed where the roof dips is sufficient to install some speakers, or various electronic bits that need space but be kept out of the way. I'm going to cut a pair of vents in the front right above the windscreen so that warm air can circulate up and under the bed area in the dip, and then cut some holes in the sleeping platform so the top is well aired, and this will help stop condensation.
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It looked (and felt) somewhat wobbly after I cut the hole - in fact simply removing the alpine lights on both sides makes the roof wobbly but today I temporarily added timber bracing and some metal in various places and it's gone all rigid again. I say 'temporarily' because it's one of these faffy jobs that needs a whole pile of stuff fitted, removed, fitted, removed, and so on until the whole thing is ready to screw/bolt/glue together in the correct order.
And various things pop up to make you pause - such as the location of the nuts that hold the lower clip bodies in place - if I go with my original fitting location for the sleeping platform the nuts will be hidden under the pine board on each side. Now that might be great from a visual pov, but if a clip breaks and I need to replace it getting the pine off to access the nut will be a major pain, so it might be 'better' to drop the pine by 1/2" and leave the nuts visible and accessible. Which means removing and redoing some bits I did earlier - but that 1 hour spent now might save several hours grief later.
And various things pop up to make you pause - such as the location of the nuts that hold the lower clip bodies in place - if I go with my original fitting location for the sleeping platform the nuts will be hidden under the pine board on each side. Now that might be great from a visual pov, but if a clip breaks and I need to replace it getting the pine off to access the nut will be a major pain, so it might be 'better' to drop the pine by 1/2" and leave the nuts visible and accessible. Which means removing and redoing some bits I did earlier - but that 1 hour spent now might save several hours grief later.