Major modification to back door

[rijidij]

Well, I love my 110 County, and Defenders in general, BUT, there's always been one thing I don't like about them.................the small rear door.
For the last couple of years I've had this modification in the back of my mind, wondering if it could be done.
Around Christmas time, I removed my storage system, basically gutted the back of the car, with the plan to at least build a more efficient storage system.
This gave me an opportunity to have a good look at the structure of the rear body from the inside.
This is when I decided to go for it, so out came the measuring tape, then a lot of time on the computer, and eventually the angle grinder :eek2:

Six months later, this is the result, and I'm pretty bloody happy with it.

I've spoken to an engineer about the mod (before I attacked the car with the angle grinder [biggrin]) and I'm confident it will be ok, but he's yet to inspect the finished job.

Next............new storage system.

Cheers, Murray


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep4QzXFNBGo&feature=youtu.be

[rijidij]

And this is the whole build compressed into 1 minute and 10 seconds.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqINhWAexIk&feature=youtu.be

[Larry]

Genius!!!!!:arms::arms::arms::arms::arms::arms::ar ms::arms::arms:

[DiscoMick]

That's very cool. Hopefully it will be rigid enough to satisfy the engineer.

[rijidij]

That's very cool. Hopefully it will be rigid enough to satisfy the engineer.

After I cut the body away, and before I fitted any of the new RHS structure, I was quite surprised just how rigid the rear opening was. I couldn’t move it at all.

[DieselDan]

Noiiiice!

[Plutei]

Fantastic mod! What were your reasons for going with a top hinged tailgate over side hinge?

[W&KO]

Awesome work as usual.

We have a Poptop and will be living out of it for 1-2years, rear doo seems adequate ATM.

[rijidij]

Fantastic mod! What were your reasons for going with a top hinged tailgate over side hinge?

There’s pros and cons for both.

My main reasons for top hinging were, instant cover if it’s raining (or sunny for that matter), and I wanted the maximum open space at the rear.

A side hinge would allow things to be fixed to the door, for example, a fold down table.

As usual, everyone will have different ideas and requirements, that’s the great thing about customising.

[pop058]

Awesome, when will it be available ?? [thumbsupbig]

[rijidij]

Awesome, when will it be available ?? [thumbsupbig]

I have a regular customer locally who has a Mulgo pop top on his Defender.
We might be doing this conversion to that vehicle. If we do, it will give me a better idea of whether it’s something I can offer commercially.
The problem for me is, I’m a one man operation, and I’m flat out keeping up with the manufacture of the products I already make, so I will see how it goes.

[p38arover]

Fantastic mod! What were your reasons for going with a top hinged tailgate over side hinge?

A side hinge puts a lot of load on one side. I suspect the hinges would need to be somewhat more substantial than the top hinges (I like the fact that they are LR parts).

[Dervish]

Fantastic work! I've thought about this kind of thing many times - I imagine most 110 owners have. I've only seen something similar once before:

151975 151976 151977

If someone could perform this kind of mod to my old bus I would be sorely tempted; there are so many things that are just too big for the rear door.

[DiscoMick]

I have a regular customer locally who has a Mulgo pop top on his Defender.
We might be doing this conversion to that vehicle. If we do, it will give me a better idea of whether it’s something I can offer commercially.
The problem for me is, I’m a one man operation, and I’m flat out keeping up with the manufacture of the products I already make, so I will see how it goes.Time to hire a top fabricator, so you can focus on sales?
BTW my older son is at a similar decision point with his marketing business, so I do understand it's a big step.
Only you can make that decision.

[Timo K]

Shut up and take my money![bigsmile]

[JDNSW]

It would never have occurred to me that the rear door provided any rigidity to the body! This is why the door cannot be full width without major structural modifications to the body.

[Plutei]

What were the main challenges you faced with getting this to work?

[Max Headroom 2.3m]

Awesome mod, nicely executed. I love that you can use it like a rear awning.
All you need now is one of those “swipe your foot under the back of the car” sensors and the tailgate can swing up automatically…… or would that be OTT?

[rijidij]

What were the main challenges you faced with getting this to work?

Mainly all the pre measuring, and thinking about all the details to be confident it would all work ‘before’ cutting the body.
Once I actually started the physical work, it all went pretty smoothly, but only because I did so much preparation.

I also spent a lot of time on the computer, drawing any components I could get laser cut, and some 3D drawings to double check I had all the angles right etc etc.

Cheers

[DeeJay]

Great work Murray, What happens with the fuel filler neck? I see both side boxes are much the same dimensions.
I've managed to hide a 5 litre fuel container in a swing down cradle on that side between the filler hose & rear chassis, so there is only that much room.:confused:

[rijidij]

Great work Murray, What happens with the fuel filler neck? I see both side boxes are much the same dimensions.
I've managed to hide a 5 litre fuel container in a swing down cradle on that side between the filler hose & rear chassis, so there is only that much room.:confused:

G’day Dee Jay, This is what happened with the fuel filler. I wanted to make use of all the space I could.
I was a little concerned that the fuel wouldn’t flow in as easily, but it’s fine once you find the correct angle to hold the nozzle.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190624/05eff1a32e2049fedc89fedd9327d4ac.jpg

[lebanon]

Brilliant. Hat's up.

would also be nice if the front part (wings, engine hood and front fascia) flips up to give access to the engine. [biggrin]

[JDNSW]

Brilliant. Hat's up.

would also be nice if the front part (wings, engine hood and front fascia) flips up to give access to the engine. [biggrin]

Somewhere I have seen a picture of a Landrover set up like that! Struck me that while possible, it would involve a lot of stiffening, as well as providing support for stuff attached to these bits.

[gromit]

Somewhere I have seen a picture of a Landrover set up like that! Struck me that while possible, it would involve a lot of stiffening, as well as providing support for stuff attached to these bits.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e0/a8/f8/e0a8f8b0049055f7fb86aea3731088c4.jpg

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/attachments/flipfront-s3-jpg.14209/

http://www.lrsoc.com/forum/gallery/889-130509195748.jpeg

Colin

[JDNSW]

I think the middle one is the one I had seen!

Thanks, Colin.