Soft top brackets/gutters - DIY?

Morning all, I've recently bought myself a full tilt for my 109 and have been toying with the idea of making my own door gutters, brackets and possibly sharks tooth rail too (I need to check the width of the bender in the workshop at work) as if possible I'd rather not throw the best part of £300 at a few bits of bent sheet steel. Anybody made their own? Any advice?

on the earlier landies the shark tooth bits were just welded onto the windscreen frame top

I am sure you could do something having seen the way you patched your chassis etc

I certainly think the c£70 price for an s3 sharks tooth rail is ridiculous

That's useful to know, I wasn't aware of that. I may see if I can get a second screen to modify which would make life a bit easier.

Any ideas what thickness of metal is used for the brackets? I have a load of 1.2mm mild steel which I think would be ok, 2mm seems a bit overkill.

probably could have told you last week, unfortunately left my s1 at the coast, if no one chimes in I can measure in a couple of weeks

Thanks for the offer, I may just suck it and see, 1.2mm is easier to work with than 2mm so I think I'll give it a shot.

Ajb I made my own brackets from 2mm stainless shaped by heat from oxy/acetylene I just felt that 1.2mm was a little thin although fine for fabricating parts of outer body panels on other classics. If youre bending 2 or 3mm and most Benderss cant Cope! Use a thin 0.8 cutting disc and cut 50 per cent depth along the line of the bend then simply hold the plate in a vice and tap with a hide hammer to get the bend you require.Finishing with a line of weld along the bend to regain its strength kind regards. Chris



I felt that 1.2

Chris, that's good to know, thank you. I don't suppose you have any pictures of what you made do you? I was thinking of using 1.2 as I have a 2X1 metre sheet of it at the workshop but not much 2mm left over from dealing with my chassis. I'll have a look and a think about it next time I'm there. I may stick with 1.2 and add a couple of gussets if it's looking a bit flimsy.

Ajb I will take a few pics early tomorrow before I start work and post them for you

Fantastic, greatly appreciated.

Ajb first pic is of the door top framework I copied the one from the other side that I could obtain. Second pic is one of 4 brackets required for the fixing straps. Third is one of 2 front corner brackets that I made from stainless steel. And finally front hoop with welded 2mm bracket to attach frame. Hope this helps kind regards. Chris sorry pics out of correct order difficult to upload

Thank you very much for uploading those, I presume the actual gutters were bought?

The gutter in the pic I made in two halves the top lightly curved and the bottom section a 90 degree bend strip of steel , I used the other side that I could buy as a template in reverse, there are still the holes to drill . Regards Chris

Ah, I see, sorry, I misread your previous post. It looks good enough to be factory produced. Gives me something to aim for, thank you once again.

Thanks Ajb I made my own chassis too see my profile kind regards. Chris

excellent job, I would have guessed the gutters were bought too without you saying you made them yourself

chris7 said:

Thanks Ajb I made my own chassis too see my profile kind regards. Chris

Click to expand...

I may be being dense but I can't see anything on your profile about a chassis build? Perhaps my user settings are wrong. I'm very impressed though!

You are right the pictures seem to have been lost when they updated Landyzone sorry cant see anyway I can get them back on my profile? Perhaps I'm missing something? Will try later Regards. Chris

Thanks for the compliment Honolulujoe

Ajb ive put my hand built Chassis on my Avatar cant see how to download them onto my profile regards. Chris

Looks like a top job, very impressed with that! Did you take measurements from an old chassis for a template? I have to say for the cost vs effort I think I would have bought a new one!