sotal Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I love the idea of having an open top land rover, so was considering a canvas top but don't really want to spend that much, plus I've already got a nicely painted roof etc. What I do fancy is being able to take the roof off in under half an hour. It's an 88" Series 3 hardtop, although I am tempted to swap for a truck cab. Can anyone recommend any fittings which would do the job? The things I have in my head are like bolts but the nut is a lever and releases straight away when you pull it. The only problem I can see is the seat belt anchoring points Any thoughts?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Er........if the fixings are in good nick it takes 10 minutes to take the standard hard top off without any modifications. Suggest replacing any mankey/rusty fixings with new ones and away you go - its only a few bolts and get a mate to help you lift it off as its a piggy on your own (although i have done it on my own). As for seat belt mounts look at the way its donw with a standard soft top. The military style roll bar is one way around it. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotal Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 10 minutes??? It'll take me 10 minutes to find the ratchet and sockets! Are you saying you can take a hardtop and side panels off in 10 minutes if they have good bolts? I've taken a couple of roofs off and they have been old bolts and to be fair they were on 109's but they took a good while. The quickest one had rusty old bolts which all snapped! Anyway I have a roll bar waiting to go in which was part of the temptation for going with a truck cab, but if you have a truck cab doesn't the back of the truck cab get in the way and stop you using the roll bar for seat belts!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Yup! Leave the sides attached to the hardtop and just unbolt it. If the fasteners are all nice and new its a very quick job. Suggest investing a new set of fixings and some halfrauds ratcheting ring spanners and it dont take many minutes!!! I reckon even having to take my external front cage off i could have the roof of mine in half an hour and the cage on mine is a PITA! Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltwt1981 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 As Jon says four bolts in the back and a row across the windscreen and its done, may look odd depending on your rear door though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I take the rear door off and shove a tailgate on. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotal Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 As Jon says four bolts in the back and a row across the windscreen and its done, may look odd depending on your rear door though. I was going to try and replace the rear door with one of those 2 part ones, then the top can come off with the roof and leave the bottom half. It could do with a new back door at the moment. What about door tops, the drivers side comes undone easily, I replaced the door top about a year ago and copper greased the bolts so it should come off easy again - what do you think looks best, tops off or on?! I've not even counted or looked at the bolts - so I'll do that next - I just expected it to be a pain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Train Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I did a cabriolet version of my old S3 Safari in the late 80's by cutting the front part of the roof off where the reinforcement channel is just where it goes from sloped to flat. I replaced the bolts above the windscreen with studs that only located the roof and then used those rubber bonnet catches to pull it tight together. I did the same at the mid roof join using the reinforcing channel in the roof as a gutter. The door tops were held in place using antiluces welded on instead of the bolts, I guess you could do this for the rear mountings for the hard top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Dunno about door tops - I've got 90 doors on mine so just wind the windows down! Its down to what you think looks best. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotal Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 Has anyone got any pics of how the seat belts mount in a truck cab, do they mount to part of the cab itself or somewhere else. Just trying to weigh up the following options: full hard top, with internal roll bar, seat belts moved to mount to the roll bar, split rear door. Lifting off roof wouldn't affect anything truck cab roof with roll bar behind. Easy to lift off smaller roof, warmer as smaller space to heat - but what do I do with seat belts!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Blades Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 switch your 3 point belt to a 4 point harness from exmoor trim (or anybody else). the sholder straps can be mounted to the bulkhead (with a spreader plate) and you can use them with or without a roof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotal Posted April 11, 2008 Author Share Posted April 11, 2008 switch your 3 point belt to a 4 point harness from exmoor trim (or anybody else).the sholder straps can be mounted to the bulkhead (with a spreader plate) and you can use them with or without a roof Any pictures of that fitted - does it cause any problems with insurance / MOT. My plan now is to mount three strap points to the ceiling in the garage, one corrosponding to each of the three doors, then use ratchet straps to lift the roof off and store it out of the way. The roof can then be lifted on and off with ease (hopefully) My only problem is that my current insurance company (Lancaster) want to insure it as either a soft top or a hardtop not quite sure what to put down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike4444244 Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 The shoulder belt mounts must be at least roughly horizontally level with passenger/seat shoulder height, this is to prevent your belts squashing you down in a crash, if you look in the sva manual theres a minimum angle specified, I think mounting to the bulkhead will be too low. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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