Q for Mulgo (&/or HoHars): Lifting roof on converted 110s

[spudboy]

Hey Mulgo - I see from your website that amongst other things you do "roof conversions" on Landies, so you can stand up in the back.

You've gone for the pivoting axis in the front/rear style, as opposed to something like a "Doormobile", where the roof opens in the left/right style (if that clumsy word picture makes sense):



Did you consider doing your roofs in the Doormobile way, and was it too complicated, or did you think that the angled roof was a better solution?

I think the Ho Hars have a roof on their red 130 the same way too, so perhaps they might chime in with their thought on this.

Thanks
David

[jerryd]

I'm a great fan of the Landrover Dormobile, I owned a couple when I lived in the uk I've found two in Australia for sale and on both occasions missed out by a couple of minutes

I have contacted "dormobile" in the uk about shipping a roof out, but the last I heard the guy had gone on a walkabout and somebody else has now taken over to pick up the pieces.

There is also this place - DEF 110SW/CSW "DORMOBILE" Convert but they do not seem to answer emails I'd love to get hold of a roof and convert my county.

[Ranga]

Maybe these guys can be convinced to make one? recreational vehicle conversions - exploz pty.ltd. - australia

[Mulgo]

Hello David,

Thanks for that post.

It all depends what you want from such a converted roof. The one shown in your picture will most probably not give you the possibility to sleep on the 'upper' level. It will however give you full standing height.

There are a few reasons why we hinge our pop up roofs at the front and lift them at the rear:
- Strength: You are able to carry 'stuff' on your roof.
- Design: We re-use the standard LR roof. Our Pop Top perfectly blends into the overall design of the Defender.
- Sleeping: With the hinge at the front you will get a bed of roughly 2 meters in length and still have about 55cm at the back.

In case you would like a roof hinged at the side of the vehicle I would actually go one step further and flip it open 180° (with fitting two 'legs'). This way you would get full standing height in the rear of the Defender as well as a bed in the roof (which open, is inside out at the side of your vehicle). Still no capacity to carry stuff on the roof thought. Sketch as an illustration of the idea:
LR-Def-110-spec.jpg

That's the great thing about Defender's you can do almost anything - I often say that the sky is the limit.

Cheers,
Daniel

[Mulgo]

Maybe these guys can be convinced to make one? recreational vehicle conversions - exploz pty.ltd. - australia

Almost certainly...!

[spudboy]

Thanks for that info Daniel. I hadn't thought about going the whole 180 degrees opening, but that's not a bad idea! You'd just have to secure all your bedding somehow so it didn't fall down when you closed things up.

I like the simplicity of 'your' style, with a single hinge at the front, but you lose a bit of headroom towards the front of the vehicle. You have mostly got something solid above your head which won't leak for the full length of the vehicle, and it would be better insulated as well to keep heat in/out. Easier to attach things like solar panels and still be able to lift it easily too.

The side hinge gives headroom all the way along, but I can see the fabric being more prone to leaks and flapping in the wind more, plus not as insulated.

I've bought myself on old Series III roof for $250 (came with a safari roof attached too) which I want to fabricate into a hinged roof for the back of my 130 canopy, so just thinking about the best way to design it.

Regards
David

[Mulgo]

No Worries, David. Always happy to help.

Send me a photo of your Defender (side view) and I will have a look how I would tackle this.

Cheers,
Daniel

[The ho har's]

David

Our roof in on the camper which we take off the defender when not travelling....we hinged it that way so we could carry our solar panel and also put "stuff" on top if we needed to
here is a pick






Mrs ho har

[spudboy]

Mungo - I haven't got a great photo of it on the web. I'll try and organise a better one, but here is something to give you an idea of what I am talking about:

[spudboy]

Here's some mock ups of the canopy I've drawn with Sketch Up.