S3 88 hardtop going topless, advice on fixing the tailgate please

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
T

The Toll

Member
Posts
11
Location
Cornwall
Hi, I'm looking at taking the top off for the summer. I've found a tailgate locally and it has the bottom loops and top brackets. The Landy already has the bottom gudgeon pins fixed.

My first question is, how do I hold the tailgate closed once fitted. Should I purchase a set of series 2/3 Antiluce tailgate plates and replace the existing plates (I can get some locally) or is it better to simply (?) affix a set of bolt-through Antiluce fastners to the existing plates? Or am I deluding myself about this being at all simple?

My second question is how the seatbelts are best dealt with. Currently the inertia reels feed to a second point at about shoulder-height on hardtop. WIth the top going the routing for the belts would change considerably. Is some form of rollbar or riser required, or are there better options. What have others done?

Thanks.
 
Mine has the antiluce plates on and they are solid rivetted so changing them could be a lot of work. There are holes in the tub that line up with the back of the antiluce so you would only have to drill the plate not the tub if yours has those holes..
Huge amount of discussion of seatbelts and soft tops, best google it first then read up. Depends how safe you want to be and how much you want to spend.
 
The Toll said:
hould I purchase a set of series 2/3 Antiluce tailgate plates and replace the existing plates (I can get some locally) or is it better to simply (?) affix a set of bolt-through Antiluce fastners to the existing plates? Or am I deluding myself about this being at all simple?
Click to expand...

It is that simple, and an the reality is it will make no difference to function it is just about how very particularly worried you are about being perfectly original. i replaced mine with genuine antiluce corner plates when I fitted my softtop, but that is because I had a spare tub that had them fitted so it was just a case of swapping them over. Mine were and now are agian just held on with poprivet rather than solid rivets so it was a very easy job to drill them out and replace.

There is a lot of debate about seatbelts as mentioned above but the best, easiest, safest, although not cheapest option is to fit one of the seatbelt bars to raise the shoulder point to be higher than the shoulder.
 
rob1miles said:
Mine has the antiluce plates on and they are solid rivetted so changing them could be a lot of work. There are holes in the tub that line up with the back of the antiluce so you would only have to drill the plate not the tub if yours has those holes..
Huge amount of discussion of seatbelts and soft tops, best google it first then read up. Depends how safe you want to be and how much you want to spend.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice. Really apreciated.
 
dag019 said:
It is that simple, and an the reality is it will make no difference to function it is just about how very particularly worried you are about being perfectly original. i replaced mine with genuine antiluce corner plates when I fitted my softtop, but that is because I had a spare tub that had them fitted so it was just a case of swapping them over. Mine were and now are agian just held on with poprivet rather than solid rivets so it was a very easy job to drill them out and replace.

There is a lot of debate about seatbelts as mentioned above but the best, easiest, safest, although not cheapest option is to fit one of the seatbelt bars to raise the shoulder point to be higher than the shoulder.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. Really apreciated.
 
I wanted to do exactly the same as you a few summers ago - the picture shows how I sorted out the belt mounting point (this is after the summer when I had refitted the hardtop). These bolt in three places to the top of the tub and I think I only had to drill one hole. They are well braced and to be honest are stronger than the original top mount which was just through the side of the hardtop. The seller states that they don't fit a hardtop but as you can see they can be made to fit with a very small amount of trimming of the bottom edge of the hardtop to fit around the tubes. I think they are also advertised as fitting Defender but mine slotted in just fine (it's an '82 by the way in case this makes a difference) This is where I got them from - LAND ROVER SOFT TOP RAISED UPPER SEAT BELT MOUNTING Defender | eBay
I think there is something similar available with a cross bar that joins the two sides from some of the more mainstream suppliers so you don't then need the third brace as on these. The galvanised finish also suits the LR I think as well. Luckily my S3 already had the antiluce fittings on it so I just found a rather battered tailgate locally (ex-army) and stuck that on for the summer. Hope that helps .Cheers....Ian
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3194.JPG
    IMG_3194.JPG
    273.5 KB · Views: 159
  • IMG_3195.JPG
    IMG_3195.JPG
    310.8 KB · Views: 166
Moorhouse2 said:
I wanted to do exactly the same as you a few summers ago - the picture shows how I sorted out the belt mounting point (this is after the summer when I had refitted the hardtop). These bolt in three places to the top of the tub and I think I only had to drill one hole. They are well braced and to be honest are stronger than the original top mount which was just through the side of the hardtop. The seller states that they don't fit a hardtop but as you can see they can be made to fit with a very small amount of trimming of the bottom edge of the hardtop to fit around the tubes. I think they are also advertised as fitting Defender but mine slotted in just fine (it's an '82 by the way in case this makes a difference) This is where I got them from - LAND ROVER SOFT TOP RAISED UPPER SEAT BELT MOUNTING Defender | eBay
I think there is something similar available with a cross bar that joins the two sides from some of the more mainstream suppliers so you don't then need the third brace as on these. The galvanised finish also suits the LR I think as well. Luckily my S3 already had the antiluce fittings on it so I just found a rather battered tailgate locally (ex-army) and stuck that on for the summer. Hope that helps .Cheers....Ian
Click to expand...
They are exactly what I was talking about in my earlier post, I would personally fit these ones pictured although I have the one with the cross bar in mine. because I have the bar i use it to hang tow ropes/shackles on but by choice would not have it.
 
Moorhouse2 said:
I wanted to do exactly the same as you a few summers ago - the picture shows how I sorted out the belt mounting point (this is after the summer when I had refitted the hardtop). These bolt in three places to the top of the tub and I think I only had to drill one hole. They are well braced and to be honest are stronger than the original top mount which was just through the side of the hardtop. The seller states that they don't fit a hardtop but as you can see they can be made to fit with a very small amount of trimming of the bottom edge of the hardtop to fit around the tubes. I think they are also advertised as fitting Defender but mine slotted in just fine (it's an '82 by the way in case this makes a difference) This is where I got them from - LAND ROVER SOFT TOP RAISED UPPER SEAT BELT MOUNTING Defender | eBay
I think there is something similar available with a cross bar that joins the two sides from some of the more mainstream suppliers so you don't then need the third brace as on these. The galvanised finish also suits the LR I think as well. Luckily my S3 already had the antiluce fittings on it so I just found a rather battered tailgate locally (ex-army) and stuck that on for the summer. Hope that helps .Cheers....Ian
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help. I'll post how I get on once I've worked through it all. Hopefully it'll all be done soon......... :)
 
Re the safety belts...I just bolted side on to the side rail of the tub....mine were out of an old VW golf...rears I think....the mounting angle was important or they locked.

Passed prob 30 mots with them fitted.

The the tail gate antiluce....I bought 2 from a trailer part supplier....galvanised....just drill a hole think the blank is already there.

Think the lower tailgate hinge is held on with big split pins.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0868.JPG
    IMG_0868.JPG
    41.3 KB · Views: 123
nickjaxe said:
Re the safety belts...I just bolted side on to the side rail of the tub....mine were out of an old VW golf...rears I think....the mounting angle was important or they locked.

Passed prob 30 mots with them fitted.

The the tail gate antiluce....I bought 2 from a trailer part supplier....galvanised....just drill a hole think the blank is already there.

Think the lower tailgate hinge is held on with big split pins.
Click to expand...

This works, and will pass an MOT but is not best practice from a safety point of view depending on the height of the driver and of the seat. Although still safer than not having them fitted if the seat belt goes up and over your shoulder before going down across your chest you are at serious risk of shoulder injury in an accident rather than a raised shoulder point so the belt is always going down across your chest. If you have high back seats, or are very short in height and your shoulder is below the height of the back of the seat then potentially much less of an issue.
 
nickjaxe said:
Think you will find thats were Landrover fitted them back in the day....good enough for Landrover....good enough for me.
Click to expand...
Land rover also fitted 6.00 from the factory to swb's which everyone then replaces with 7.50's. Similarly, and more safety related, sealed beam headlights which everyone replaces with halogens. I would normally agree that good enough for land rover good enough for me, but there are somethings that safety technology has moved on to such a point where imo it is just foolish not to upgrade to modern standards, especially when there is no impact on the vehicles performance, character, or aesthetic and very little cost involved.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top