Land Rover 90 Soft Top Build

Hello All,

Welcome to my project...

Although strictly speaking, I am not officially the owner until Thursday I thought I'd get things started after months of tracking other peoples builds!

My new baby below!



So this may shock or appaul some of you but this is my first ever car at 27 and first ever project too!
Well with 4 wheels, I have previously had a cafe racer project previously...

To the plans, I have took a lot of inspiration from Coolnvintage and Island Rovers not sure if he's a member on here like the other forums...
I really want a soft top, you don't see many around and the thought of even for just a handful of sunny days a year to have the roof off makes it all the more appealing.



In terms of styling I will be keeping this fairly clean (no checker plate in sight!) with a nod to a few nostalgic series/heritage bits along the way. Mesh grills, Wolf Rims, Skinny (ish) Tires, Split Doors... you get the gist.
Colour - toying with Sand or a Camel Trophy nod and go for Sandglow Yellow... Satin Black wolf rims.






https://postimg.org/image/6mw4iohqr/
In terms of order of play:
This may sound a little unorthodox but I will start at the rear and work my way forward as I don't have the room to take tub and front end off to get to the chassis. First of all, chassis refurb with new bushes, discs, pads, springs, shocks and seals.
Sand, prime and paint to boot... then repeat at the front end too...
Once the running gear is up to scratch I will tackle body, panel by panel.
Queue the shock but i'll be painting this myself, i've had reasonable use of spraying back in my uni days so feel confident I can get a reasonably good finish (he says).
Going to use Paintman coach enamel, seen great results with roller so in theory spraying should be a notch better... providing I don't scrimp on the prep!

WIll update as i go, next weekend will be fairly mundane - a wire brush and angle grinder sounds about right, getting the rear part of the chassis back to bare metal!

Hi @rrb7

Welcome to the loonyzone. Nice clean looking old 90 you getting there, what engine has it got?

Honestly, a Soft top is a waste of time, You would have to be deranged to take a hard top and turn it into an impractical soft top, non secure landy.....

If you are going to do a project then start a thread over in the projects section. Keeps all you nutters contained in one place...LOL.
I hope your chassis is in good nick.
So, I as you are doing a body off , are you going to be doing any miles before you start it? If it was mine , I would, to make sure all the mechanical elements are working correctly, would not want to rebuild it and then find a gearbox or axle was on its last legs.

Cheers

neilly said:

Hi @rrb7

Welcome to the loonyzone. Nice clean looking old 90 you getting there, what engine has it got?

Honestly, a Soft top is a waste of time, You would have to be deranged to take a hard top and turn it into an impractical soft top, non secure landy.....

If you are going to do a project then start a thread over in the projects section. Keeps all you nutters contained in one place...LOL.
I hope your chassis is in good nick.
So, I as you are doing a body off , are you going to be doing any miles before you start it? If it was mine , I would, to make sure all the mechanical elements are working correctly, would not want to rebuild it and then find a gearbox or axle was on its last legs.

Cheers

Click to expand...

Agree with all of that^^^^^^^^^^!

And also, how much is a modded landrover going to cost to insure for a 27 year old living in London?

And one of those pics is on a beach! Silly! Salt kills landies!

Welcome to the asylum RRB7
Why DFNL do you want to retrograde a hard top for a rag top?
Sorry, I did welcome you to the ASYLUM for a reason!

By the looks of them most of the pics are lhd, top one is Portuguese,soft top fine down here due to weather but you have to watch your head and legs(they get burnt)and not really a theft problem here either,but London I would maybe have a rethink.Insurance is also different here it's the vehicle that is covered not the driver so anyone can drive your vehicle irrespective of age or history.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

My 11 year old Son wasn't exactly impressed when I bought my SIII station wagon, and begrudgingly gave me a hand to lift the roof off a few weeks later.

A day or two later he said "Daddy, you know I didn't like the Land Rover? Well I haven't stopped smiling since we took the roof off". Sums it up really, but we did put a soft top on for winter. Much quieter than a hard top too.

The project will be soft top.

Soft tops are a pain, you can't see out of the back unless the rear flap is rolled up and you can't just open the rear door to chuck your shopping in.
If your heart is set on a canvas tilt, don't scrimp on the roll over protection, a military style hoop like the ones in your pics is a the minimum you should go for.

I am going give a thumbs up for a soft-top, had them for the past 22-years and don't have a problem with them at all (5-years on my 101 and 17-years on my current 90). Used as my daily driver throughout the year. Warm in the winter, totally waterproof, perfect visibility through the side & rear windows and on a hot day you can roll-up the sides & rear to give open driving without the sun scorching your head.
My 90 was also a hardtop when I bought it but the first job I did was to fit 1-piece doors, side-hinged tailgate and a MOD soft-top conversion (C/W hoop). Insurance are happy as LR parts are used throughout and the bodystyle was a factory option.

Security can be a consideration but how secure are LR locks anyhow? I carry out all the sensible precautions but I would do these regardless of the body configuration. A security cubby-box means you can leave low value items in the cab with some sort of confidence but who would leave high-value items in a Defender anyway? With regards to throwing in the shopping, it is the work of unhooking thee loops of the bungee and the tailgate is open, not exactly an effort.
I prefer 1-piece doors as although I used to remove the door-tops on my old S111 (hardtop), you had to store them and when fitted you only had limited opening through the sliding glass. The alloy doortops fitted to the 90 & 110's were better as both panes slid but you could still only have half the frame open. Wind-down windows are far better as you have the full opening.
When it comes to flexibility the soft-top has another bonus, outsize loads can be carried with ease as you are not restricted to the width, height or length of the roof, remove the tilt and tall, wide or long items can be carried without resorting to a trailer.

I have a soft top 90 and the only slight issues I have are the amount of dust that comes into it even with the canvas tied down and the whiff of diesel fumes you get when the back is rolled up.. otherwise I love it

i love my soft top, and i completely disagree with the warmth/cold argument - my heater is fine, and i find it doesnt get stifling in summer or ice box in winter.

I often roll up the sides, and tbh the rear is rarely rolled down unless its pouring with rain as when your driving the rain gets sucked into the back of the cab.

The bulky loads is a good point, i often stuff 2 tip trips worth of garden waste in the back and do it in one trip..... sides bulging etc.....

ignore the others if you want a soft top, go for it.

Another vote for soft top here

Im rebuilding mine at the moment from the ground up - hard top off soft top on:

Thank you all for your thoughts...
Wont sway from a soft top! Security and practicability don't go hand in hand with a defender anyway so it shouldn't be too dissimilar to a hard top!
Will update again over the weekend when inspection and work begins!

rrb7 said:

Thank you all for your thoughts...
Wont sway from a soft top! Security and practicability don't go hand in hand with a defender anyway so it shouldn't be too dissimilar to a hard top!
Will update again over the weekend when inspection and work begins!

Click to expand...

Good man....Still think you must be a nutter.....................................LOL

Security is more for the stuff you leave in it when you stop for a sunny riverside lunch in the summer. A good locking cubby box is a must.

..practicability..Is this a word??

Cheers

Well done rrb7, done well you won't regret it.

This is a photo of my 90 taken this afternoon.
The canvas was supplied by Undercover Covers some 12-13 years ago and is finally coming to the end of its useful life as the material is becoming brittle. That said, apart from two new straps I have done nothing to it in all that time apart from regular cleaning and a single treatment with Fabsil (it is still completely waterproof). You can see that even after all that time the windows are still perfectly clear so it shows that they don't all crack or go yellow!
Needless to say that UCC will be supplying the replacement.

And this is mine. It did have a military canvas, but I changed it for an Exmoor trim one so I had side windows

neilly said:

Good man....Still think you must be a nutter.....................................LOL

Security is more for the stuff you leave in it when you stop for a sunny riverside lunch in the summer. A good locking cubby box is a must.

..practicability..Is this a word??

Cheers

Click to expand...

but of course!

Land Rover Monthly June have a 90 soft top rebuild.
It is up for sale after a garage rebuild.
£40k not sure if it comes with a tank of diesel.

Gmacz said:

Land Rover Monthly June have a 90 soft top rebuild.
It is up for sale after a garage rebuild.
£40k not sure if it comes with a tank of diesel.

Click to expand...

Oh that is too much, I will sell mine with all 3 roofs and a full tank of diesel for only £39K

A bargain , i am sure you agree.......

Cheers

I'll let mine go for £34950 with a spare military canvas and a quarter tank of diesel which is an even better bargain than neillys