Hardtop conversion

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soms

soms

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Hello all,

I own a 1992 Defender 90 and I have had it for about a year now.

At some stage earlier in its life it looks to have been converted to a hard top. This is fairly obvious since the hard top section is a different colour which has been resprayed.

I am converting the truck back to a pickup and have ordered up a resprayed cab and tail gate from a local workshop.

This will not be ready for a few days so I have begun by checking out the fixings and so on.

A few things are on my mind which do not immeadiately match up when you compare the truck to a pickup (although I am sure this previously was a pickup).

One of these is that I am not completely sure of the mounting of the truck cab. I can see that the roof and panels attach to the sides of the mody and front of the wind screen but I can see no mounting holes on the body work seperating the rear compartment from the front so assume there is no fixing required in the middle section as it is secured simply on each end? (if that makes any sense)

Another thing is I do not know how the spare wheel is mounted internally but I know it has something to do with the additional piece of metal work welded to the body. My question is, with regards to my attached photo if that handle thing above will impare the fixing of a spare wheel?

I haven't a clue what it is there for but I have not seen it on any other Defenders. If it is in the way it will be much more easily cut off prior to conversion.

The final question, regards the cotter catches wich hold the tail gate up. I can see on the inside of the body work the holes where these would fit but there are no external holes. Are these simply drilled out? I can only assume that the piece of metal on the outside was replaced when the vehicle was converted.

Other than that everything appears fairly straight forward, I have easy access to all the hard top bolts and since the rear crossmember was replaced I have usable holes for attaching the tail gate :)

Sorry for the long post, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 

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Reet... i did this conversion the other way round not long ago.

That 'handle' is part of your spare wheel carrier - there should be one the other side, where the dish of the wheel sits, with a threaded rod coming out between, with a funny shaped plate to hold the wheel down.

There ARE mounts along the back edge, you need an odd shaped steel bracket with a nut welded to it, which bolts onto the front edge, i think, of the bulkhead. If theres no holes, then make/get some brackets, and drill the holes.


Wish Id taken more pics when i did my conversion

The collet stays on mine were pushed through holes drilled, and then welded on. Drill the holes, and weld/bolt them on.

Have fun! What colour are your hard top sides? :)
 
Thanks for the reply.

That pic of the "handle" was taken from the rear compartment, but I noticed in the in photos athe threaded rod and plate to secure the wheel.

So I guess I should leave the handle thing on and try to find the rest of the assembly from the donor vehicle?

My main concern is the cab mounts, but then again I was told that I could have all the sundries I needed from the donor vehicle so I hope that will not be a problem.

The hard tops original colour is blue, and has been sprayed grey. The spray job was done to a good standard and presumably before being fitted to the truck as it is fully sprayed both inside and out. After however many years though the grey coat is starting to crack up and is falling off around the rivets, hinges, door handle etc.

Somewhat ironically the cab donor vehicle is the same blue as the resprayed hard top.
 
Try to get it, but the wheel carriers are pop rivetted onto the bak of the centre bulkhead. I can get some pics of mine if you want.

When you go to pick up the truck cab ask if you can have a look at his - look at the mounts, take too much rather than too little.

Oh yeah - don't bother with headlining either :D
 
Thanks for the reply.

A pic would be very helpful if you are able to get one.

Thankfully the folks I am buying the cab from said it would be OK for me to fit it in their yard so I should be able to retrieve any necessary bits as required. I hope that also means that if some big drilling and welding is required that also might be done on site.

Do you think the hard top is worth keeping? The paint work isn't it that bad shape really and should get any worse since I cleaned it up and polished it a few months ago.

It has a little rust on the inside but nothing major and is perfectly usable. I was thinking I could swap it for any additional help I might require.

I opted to do the conversion myself thinking it would be really easy and saving me a lot of labour money in the process. Its just as well I found out about these little things in advance so I can work out how to get what I need.
 
Personally... I didnt like the pickup, found it was much less useful than the hardtop. However, each user is different.

I would keep it, you wont get much for it, i.e. i paid £10 for my roof.

You shouldn't need to weld anything though, nd the drilling shouldnt be serious.

It really is easy to do it yourself, as i said me and one friend did the whole job in 4 hours, including a trip to go get more bolts and a sandwich :D
 
Personally... I didnt like the pickup, found it was much less useful than the hardtop. However, each user is different
Click to expand...

Recently I have been wanting to move some quite large objects in the Landy and have found the back door a complete PITA both for fitting stuff in it and also for keeping on shutting on me even on pretty level surfaces. Also I have to admit I think pickups look cool and i'm putting an Ifor Williams back on it so it will be both agricultural and practical ;)
 
you could always convert your rear door into a 2 piece affair - that's what I did.
It's even more practical than an Ifor top on a truck cab, because I can use the length of the cab too for carrying timber and so on. You also get the tailboard to use as a seat or workbench.

12-10-07_1429.jpg


12-10-07_1430.jpg


12-10-07_1431.jpg


12-10-07_1433.jpg
 
i thought about that, but the tailgate annoyed me more, i kinda like being able to reach further into the car, and i didn' trust the wee chains to suport me healthily. Besides, i can just sit on the floor! I also havn't got a check strap on the door, so it opens nice and wide, and i keep a bungee cord in the back for holding the door open, i hook it round the wheelarch and the door handle. Sorted!
 
The 2 piece does look a good compromise and is something I have never seen before.

There is something I love about rough and ready pickups and that is the type of back I think fits my way of doing things best.

In keeping with the pickup tradition, I can assure you the tail gate will be dropping right down onto the tow bar.

I think after looking a bit more into how the spare wheel is fitted I will remove that strange handle thing and get hold of or otherwise make up a bracket which fits that lower assembly to hold the wheel in place.
 
If you get a good condition tail gate, don't let it hit the towball... They all get knackered so quickly like that and it weakens them lots and makes them almost worthless. Mine was well bashed when i got it, made it flex so much.

However... The pickup did look good, i will agree, especially without the canopy on it, but i just find the hardtop much more useful.

I have seen the spare wheel mounted in a few places in pickups, but i think you will struggle to get a good genuine LR bulkhead mounting one.

Trewey. did you make or buy your swingaway one?
 
If you get a good condition tail gate, don't let it hit the towball... They all get knackered so quickly like that and it weakens them lots and makes them almost worthless. Mine was well bashed when i got it, made it flex so much.
Click to expand...

In that case i'll be gentle with it. I knew they got battered but didn't know it really weakened them.

Since it is second hand it will already be quite dented but I will endeavour to look after it and keep the new paint work in as gooder condition as Treweys one in his pics.
 
If you don't use your towing hitch take it off and the tailgate won't hit anything, I find it much more user friendly without the stays and dropped down out of the way. I've also made an "H" frame fitted behind the cab for supporting long stuff and intend welding diagonal struts to it and bolted down to the body cappings and welding a plate to this to fit the spare wheel to, so the wheel sits on the wheel arch.
 
I do use the tow bar so will keep it on and will be careful about dropping the tail gate.

I intend to keep a canopy on the back but think any other temporary structures could be crafted to fit. Last year someone made a makeshift fireworks launcher for their pickup.
 
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