Making a ifting roof on a 110

[smithco1]

As long as they are aluminum rivets, you should be able to drill them out from the top side without any damage. If it were me, I'd figure that would be a bit easier than grinding.

Great build! I'm watching with great enthusiasm. Taking notes while I'm at it too.

Best wishes for your partner's swift recovery too.

 

[wuntenn]

Thanks for the good wishes Tim. Aye, I'll either drill or grind. I've been using a Bosch oscillating tool I got recently and its been brilliant for jobs like that. My reluctance to drill them is in case I slip and make a mess! I've done that before!

 

[buff]

I used open ended rivets on my body and mostly closed end ones on the roof until i ran out. On the open ended ones i applied the captain tully creeping crack cure to the middles a couple of times, then mastic over the top. Not had any leaks from either so far. Might be a good idea to fit a drip channel/gutter on the front of the roof, i havent so far but in a heavy rain it can run down the screen.

 

[94Discovery]

Thanks for that. Never seen them before - I live and learn! It does make sense. Hmm. May change them. Last thing I want is damp! Wont be a huge job as the backs of them are all accessible at the moment so can be whacked off with the grinder and leave no marks on the top.

Me too i did not know when i talked about my problem of infiltration my coleagues at work they laughed and said you should use closed end rivets or blind rivets ,hey they are airframe fitters i work in wiring lesson learned tooo

 

[Expedition.Report]

Very cool!

I'll be watching from the side lines to see how this progress'!!

 

[wuntenn]

Ah well new rivets are on their way. The ones I used DO leak - I checked today as I drilled and countersunk the stainless steel clips. Not too much of a hardship to swap the rivets - it'll be an hour well spent. It was tipping it down today - proper winter rain so a good chance to check for leaks.

The clips have three holes but only one is in the correct location so I needed to drill another one beside it. Luckily the steel is not too hard so it was fairly easy. Countersinker made a nice enough job. Not perfect but enough to recess the screw head so it wont take slices off my fingers when I close the clip.

Note for anyone following me and having a go at this: fix the clips first and use them to hold the lifting lid in the correct location for welding up,
THEN fit the 19mm box section and pop-rivet it in place. That way you are guaranteed that the top and bottom match. I'm nearly there with mine but it would have been a lot easier to do had I thought to do that first time round.

 

[Arjan]

Looking good.

We're thinking of putting the closing mechanism on the inside. Less chance of an idiot undoing them when parked, etc.

Just a thought.

Amazing post this is !

 

[wuntenn]

Putting them on the inside creates a problem as they then interfere with the fabric sides that have to be pulled inwards so as not to foul the seal. Putting the clips on the outside serves two functions - helps to locate the edge of the top lid in the correct place against the back of the clips, and will also enable temporary hard sides to be clipped in at some point, using the clip halves with a second clip pair on the temporary side sections.

I WILL have a locking mechanism inside probably connected to a pair of metal struts that will swing up to support the roof when lifted, thus taking the pressure off the gas struts and giving a solid metal 'corner' around which the fabric will bend to give good tight non-flappy tension. These metal corners will also incorporate a 'handle' running across the width of the vehicle just inside near the back door, which will be used to grab hold of to push up the roof, and later pull it back down again.

However when the roof is in the up position any weight on this 'handle' will be transferred down to the vehicle frame into the gutter area which is immensely strong so this means it can be used to pull oneself up into the sleeping area without putting undue pressure on the gas struts nor the lifting roof structure.


EDIT: I'm trying for accuracy with this build but given that I'm doing most of it on the drive, sometimes in the rain (and snow last week) its obviously limiting, however I've tried to build in 'escape routes' for aspects that may be problematic such as seals and alignment. That's what I'm just in from wrestling with - the welding has caused a slight bowing (outwards) of one of the sides of the lifting lid, so to remedy it I've put a large sash clamp on the edge with a piece of 2x1 each side and bent it around a bit. It's helped, but may require more tweaking.

 

[ab1985]

Glad to see your partner is progressing well. You're doing a great job on the roof.

 

[wuntenn]

Thanks AB - she was released from hospital this afternoon! I was 'tweaking' the roof this morning, picked Melanie up from hospital in the afternoon!

Next roof job is insulation. Next Melanie job set up her chest-implant-defib-unit's base station so it can monitor her heart rhythm.

Low-tech and hi-tech!

 

[wuntenn]

Where I'm at.

Have still got two tiny leaks on one side so have drilled out a few rivets and will try to heat and separate the panel from the frame and shove in more sealant. I'm hoping that the heat will soften it enough to get a gap for the mastic gun. I've temporarily removed the lid, scraped off the ice and snow, and put it in the garage which is integral to the house so will be warm and dry and will help to get it ready for mastic insertion.

I also intend sticking closed cell foam on the inside face of the lid's sides with a 1/4 inch overlap (ie the inside dimension of the side is 4 inches so the foam will be 4 1/4") and the 1/4" will form the seal against the lower fixed portion of the joint. The closed cell foam will prevent condensation and generally improve insulation (see below).





As you can see the weather has turned somewhat inclement. We had 70mph gusts yesterday and horizontal snow. Bit worse further west though, with gusts to 130mph.



Have not sealed the lower section of the new roof yet so I don't really need the tarpaulin on the roof, but its just to stop it filling with snow should we have a dump, and have it freezing inside. I can more easily pull the tarp off with some snow in it than try to scrape out an icy mess that's stuck to the original roof.


When I started this I was getting sunburned with the glare off the alloy, today my hands were sticking to the metal.

The joys of the driveway workshop!

 

[piratexpress1369a]

i hate working on my ride in the driveway in the winter too

 

[paulnb57]

Sometimes we have no choice, but it brings a sense of great satisfaction when something gets sorted

paul

 

[smithco1]

Years ago, I had relined a hardtop interior with 1/2" closed cell foam and craft fabric wool. The noise and heat insulation were pretty good but unfortunately the glue did not last more than a few years. Not sure if the foam expanded/contracted at different rates than the hard top or if the glue I used wasn't up to the job.

Either way, my advice is to make sure you have it well and truly stuck on there because it's a bit of a let down to have your headliner fall on you when you hit a bump in the road.

I posted some (poor) pictures from that project below with notes on the pictures about what I was doing.
https://plus.google.com/photos/114501290468026265159/albums/5138017963364852513

 

[wuntenn]

Aye - I've been down that road before. Many of the glues go brittle and fail. EvoStik seems to work, but using it in an enclosed space is not advisable if you want to be able to function normally for the rest of the day.