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I have just read through your build, amazing work! The one thing I can't get my head around is how the front doors now seal against the new aluminium box section. Do you have any photos which detail this? We are contemplating converting our 130, and compiling as much info as possible.
Thanks for your time,
Jay
Hi Jay,
I haven't been on AULRO in a while. Thank you for the complements.
The front door rubber seals are held onto the box section by 20x20x2mm aluminium angle which is riveted to the box section - exactly the same as how Land Rover does it. Same at the back door. I used the curved galvanized 'Arch' off the series 3 riveted into a cut out in the box section (posts #42 and #82). The standard pinchweld seal (or whatever it is called) just pushes onto it.
I just took a couple of pics for you. Hope this helps
I sent you a PM with my number if you need anymore detail.
Brilliant! Makes perfect sense now.
I am thinking of something along the lines of....Attachment 154281
Looks great Jay. The extra length and width will be really useful. I would consider having the camper door on the side just behind the the rear wheel, with a L-seat along the back (rear) wall and a little bit along the other side. Be best for reducing dust entry and weight distribution. I have attached a photo of an interesting 3 level interior sleeping arrangement. Also you could put the spare wheel under the taper at the back, if you didn't want to have it on the bonnet.
A couple of links for inspiration - Custom Campers - Land Rover 130 Crew Cab - Custom Campers GmbH
Ortec camper (can't find the link to manufacturer at the moment, but some interesting photos here) - VERKAUFT: Land Rover Defender 130 – Integrierte Version mit Hubdach | EXPLORER Magazin
I had a stack of other links I can't find at the moment.
The other thing to consider is, if you are planning on shipping this machine overseas that the length and height of a standard shipping container is L - 5.89M W - 2.35M H - 2.36M and a high cube is L - 5.89M W - 2.35M H - 2.69M. Often the doors can be a smidge lower. But you can always lower the tyre pressures, or drive in on the rims (or steel disks like in the photos attached) or take the bullbar off and ship it under the back car etc for the rare occasion this might be an issue.
I'm not sure how many people you need to transport, but if it was just the two of us I would build something like this with a fibreglass back. I don't like their interior layout though - Land Rover Defender Gets Camper Makeover From Matzker
I look forward to reading your build thread. Good luck with it.
Firstly a big thank you for all the info - apologies for not responding sooner, I have only just come across your reply!
Do you have any further details or photos of this camper?
With your 130 conversion - is there anything you would change or improve if you did it again? Any lessons learnt, things to avoid?
Hi Jay,
I'm not sure what further details or photos you would like? I documented pretty much every single step of my build in this thread. Let me know what extra info you are chasing?
I still love my 130. It's perfect for our needs.
A lot of thought went into the construction before and during my build. For inspiration I had my 110 Defender Pop top which I built in 2003 and we had for 10 years and also a Trayon Camper. The details of my 110 pop top build and other Pop Tops I have seen in Europe are in your 2012 thread - DIY pop top roof conversion - 110 defender
In the past 5 years we have camped 279 nights in our 130 Pop Top, and everything still works perfectly and is user friendly. Since I last updated this thread I have made some additional things like a rear awning (which only needs one peg and vertical pole) , version #3 fly, additional tables and 2nd row bucket seats - which I will try and update at some time.
If I were to do it again, there is nothing I would change apart from maybe the tent section pole corners as mentioned in post #181. For the construction I would buy the right tools. eg. A compound mitre saw would have saved a lot of work (and time).
We just came back from 1.5 weeks on Moreton Island where I saw this 140.5 inch station wagon (by my rough reckoning) at Kooringal. They used the whole of a Series 3 back and stretched the chassis (approx 33cm) to fit. The series bodywork overhangs the chassis at the back like mine. They used oversized flares at the back to hide the Series 3 'swoop' which I think would work better with bigger tyres. It's another option depending on what your needs are. Somehow, I only seemed to get one photo of it.
Mate this is amazing.
Huge congratulations on such a fantastic and epic build. Your attention to detail is something to be desired. Looks fantastic.
Secondly, thanks so much for the detailed documentation of it. Its so east just to forget to take photos, or crack on with the job and not bother, but you managed to not only take comprehensive photos, but great commentary along the way too.
Cheers!
Hey Thomas, thank you for your kind words. It was a lot of effort documenting it all. Glad that people are still finding the build interesting and useful.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas27488
I haven’t been on AULRO in a while and I’ve been a bit slack updating this thread, but comments like yours are great motivators. Thanks again - stay tuned
I wanted better rear seats for the kids, something supportive with a headrest. I looked at various options, and was trying to chase down some Ford FG XR6 seats. One day, I chanced upon these Autotechnica seats for $199 on sale at Autobarn - Autotecnica Adventurer Recliner Sports Seat - Autobarn
They are a bit shorter in the seat base, and slightly narrower at the shoulder than the Recaros. They could do with some more lumbar support. The side bolsters are just foam and not steel frame like the Recaros, which is friendlier for the kids. Overall pretty comfy. The most exciting part for the kids was the massive cardboard box they came in!
I made a similar seat bracket design to the front seat mounts. The brackets are made of mild steel - 40x40x3mm angle top and bottom, with a length of 65x3mm flat bar joining them. They are super solid! It took a bit of mucking around to fit the bracket around the filler for my under seat water tank. Only stuff up was when I made the second seat's brackets, I managed to make the mirror image bracket, then proceeded to stuff it up a second time. Third time was a charm.
I was dreading getting the seat box out as the sill tanks restrict access. But it also went smoothly. Also great that my little bloke is super keen to help with the unscrewing, so I didn't need go-go gadget arms. Inside the seat box, I bolted lengths of angle to the overlapping double skin corners (fixed in two planes). These have captive nuts, which allows me to remove the seat brackets when needed to create a flat floor for carrying large items, like a washing machine, as the back of my wagon is full of cupboards. Plus with my under seat water tank, I had to bolt the seat box in first, then twist the water filler fittings in, then bolt the seat brackets on to the seat box, as it all fits very tightly.
To finish it off, I bought some defender front seat belt stalks, as the originals were bent and faced the wrong way - BTR4373 | BUCKLE ASSY SEAT BELT LEFT HAND DEFENDER | Land Rover | Defender 1983 To 2006 | Britcar (UK) Ltd and BTR4372 | BUCKLE ASSEMBLY SEAT BELT - RIGHT HAND - DEFENDER | Allmakes | Defender 1983 To 2006 | Britcar (UK) Ltd
I still need to make a box, or buy another front cubby box to go between the seats. I’ve been using a cardboard box for the last year, which is becoming a flexible semi permanent solution. I also sewed up a heavy duty canvas bag which is strapped to the crab bar behind the seats, and velcroed to the carpet. This securely stores a surprising amount of recovery equipment and tools.
With the seats in, I have the same distance between the front edge of the back seat base, and the back of the front seats, as with the originals - about 18 cm to my front Recaros. Seats are about 3cm higher than the front ones, to clear my water tank fittings. When I sit in the back, I have 6cm of knee room and about 3cm of head room (I’m 183cm). Because the seat bases are curved, there is now much better access to the window winders.
I also bought some seat back organisers for the kids. These have been great value for $20 for 2 delivered - 2x set Car Back Seat Organiser Travel Storage Bag Organizer iPad Pocket Holder | eBay
Some dodgy phone photos attached.
More seat photos