Poor mans rear half door

[skauldy]

Guy's

Seen britparts half door for the defender and then seen the price, it got me thinking, if i cut a rear door in half, at the capping line of the tub and then used some box to strengthen top and fold some sheet metal over the top to match the capping would it work ?

[Lewis]

Yes. Have a search for posts from hybrid_from_hell on this subject. He built a very tidy half door

[skauldy]

sweet, will do a search

[Landy-Novice]

http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=23597

[skauldy]

Ah thanks landy-novice, was coming on here to declare my failure

[mickeyw]

Yes it can be done. I once cut a rear door down to make a drop tailgate.

I didn't bother boxing the top, but folded some galv sheet unto a U shape channel to mimic the capping. This worked out very well and made a strong tailgate.

The only awkward part was that it left part of the door latch opening visible. I think I used countersunk pop rivets to fix a piece of ally to cover it, and job done.

[deep]

I have done this twice (well, got a mate to do it for me the second time...). We left enough aluminium to fold around the steel so that, when finished, the top lined up with the rest of the bodywork and it still looked neat. A galvanised capping would be very posh! With the middle hinge, they remained side-opening.

Both times this was done to accommodate a soft top conversion and worked just fine, though it's debatable if it was ever worth the effort as second hand tailgates come up from time to time at quite modest prices.

Ironically, my 110 started life as a soft top and now has a hard top and full door. I often wonder about converting it to a tailgate and top flap but there are other priorities. Sadly.

[skauldy]

Thanks for the replies guys,

Maybe a stupid question but a fella down the road from me has series 3 rear door, would this fit considering i'm only using the bottom half

[Lewis]

Yes

[simonr]

Nigel made a nice job of his door!

Si

[western]

Thanks for the replies guys,

Maybe a stupid question but a fella down the road from me has series 3 rear door, would this fit considering i'm only using the bottom half

Yes but you will need to drill holes for the upper [centre] hinge as Series vehicles only use 2 hinges, whereas 90/110 has 3 hinges.

[skauldy]

I could live with that, cool Thanks

[muddy]

I think Ralph or myself are confusing the standard series back door with the series top tailgate. Both will fit but the series upper door will need the hinge brackets out of the series roof, they need a small adjustment with a grinder but do fit.

Will.

[deep]

Yes but you will need to drill holes for the upper [centre] hinge as Series vehicles only use 2 hinges, whereas 90/110 has 3 hinges.

That works two ways. I've put the middle hinge on a Series to better support a heavy spare wheel. On my 110, which originally had a tailgate, it's not possible to have that middle hinge without ruining some nice original galvanising, so I've only got two hinges (the spare will eventually have its own carrier, currently it lives under the bed!).

[western]

I think Ralph or myself are confusing the standard series back door with the series top tailgate. Both will fit but the series upper door will need the hinge brackets out of the series roof, they need a small adjustment with a grinder but do fit.

Will.

You might be confused, but I'm not, the upper lift up tailgate [catflap] would need the matching hinges for a 110, not seen that variation in 1987 90 or 110 onwards parts book, but it's in my up tp 1986 110 parts book.

[paulnb57]

I did no mods to the catflap hinges on my 90.......