Defender soft top

Hi, planning the rebuild of my defender. I’m really keen to get a decent soft top but I don’t like the old fashioned hood sticks, had them before and they bugged the hell out of me. Can anyone recommend something decent ?

What Land Rover model/type...? Plus they differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, i.e., Exmoor to Safety Devices. I have std inner Def90 frames, std three window tilt and full SD external cage. Some may think this odd but the set up works really well and is easy to roll up/back and then refit.

newson said:

Hi, planning the rebuild of my defender. I’m really keen to get a decent soft top but I don’t like the old fashioned hood sticks, had them before and they bugged the hell out of me. Can anyone recommend something decent ?

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purely metal in suffolk do a chunky version to replace the original hoodsticks, I have them on my 90 and very good they are as well

flat said:

http://www.purelymetal.co.uk/products/

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@flat, I really like the look of these. It's amazing, had never heard of this company...LZ is a wonderous place for hearing of new suppliers. A shame my galvanised frame and tilt was brand new when I bought the 90 as this would be a very smart hood frame option.

Leave the tilt off.
Put a coat on when it rains.

How exactly did they bug you?
I have a pair of MOD spec hoops on mine, early type at the rear (reversed and seatbelt mountings cut off) and later type (with diagonal) at the front.

Litch said:

How exactly did they bug you?
I have a pair of MOD spec hoops on mine, early type at the rear (reversed and seatbelt mountings cut off) and later type (with diagonal) at the front.

View attachment 228747

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I like that set up. I’ve only got the front mod spec hoop and have thought about a bit more strength at the back. Have you got a picture of the fixing for the rear hoop?

flat said:

purely metal in suffolk do a chunky version to replace the original hoodsticks, I have them on my 90 and very good they are as well

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Thanks that’s exactly what I’m after. What make of foof do you have ? What other bits did you need to buy?

Litch said:

How exactly did they bug you?
I have a pair of MOD spec hoops on mine, early type at the rear (reversed and seatbelt mountings cut off) and later type (with diagonal) at the front.

View attachment 228747

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@Litch , that a very smart looking Defender you have there

"Have you got a picture of the fixing for the rear hoop?"

Unfortunately not but it is nothing special, the mounting plates are just bolted through the capping. The extensions that used to pass through the capping into the sockets on the centre-bulkhead, I just cut those off.


"@Litch , that a very smart looking Defender you have there"

Thanks.
That photo was taken last year when I was just starting my re-chassis.

To ensure there would be no delays or surprises I had removed the rear tub 6-months before and had it re-sprayed along with the tailgate, new front doors, sun visor etc (more cost effective to have as many parts painted at the same time). That way when it came to moving the body from one chassis to another (as per the photo) the time taken from lifting it from one chassis to it sitting on the new one was under 30-minutes.
For the re-spray the tub was stripped (capping, lights, badges etc were all removed) so he could do a decent job. I knew corrosion was starting to form in a couple of places and luckily the chap whose company did the painting is a LR enthusiast so he know how important it was to deal with it early.

Litch said:

"Have you got a picture of the fixing for the rear hoop?"

Unfortunately not but it is nothing special, the mounting plates are just bolted through the capping. The extensions that used to pass through the capping into the sockets on the centre-bulkhead, I just cut those off.


.

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That’s great thanks. I was wondering how it was fitted otherwise as the rear light aluminium covers would have been in the way I thought.

newson said:

Thanks that’s exactly what I’m after. What make of foof do you have ? What other bits did you need to buy?

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mine was a soft top anyway so didn’t need to buy anything but those bars. I have a standard full length OEM canvas roof and a truck cab canvas from all wheel trim