Sunshine roof

In message , Julian Pollard writes

My 98 90 has a factory fitted sunroof over the front seats. However there may be an issue if you try to fit over the load bay due to lack of supports in the roof - or so I was told by a LR dealer.

Don't do it unless you enjoy ice cold water in your lap each time you turn a corner.

I have Icicles hanging of mine a couple of weeks back just from condensation!

As for cooler... Just lets more sun in. Get some CSW windows, blinds and grills fitted.

Lee D

Agree, the roofs flex on Defenders so the sunroof seals will never last, don't bother, it will be hassle in the long run.

Air con retro-fit is possible, not cheap but pretty straightforward I believe.

Andy

In message , Lee_D writes

I must say mines not as bad as that - just the odd cold drip. The advantage with a dog is that you can leave it open and be reasonably secure so combined with the front flaps it does let a bit of air in in warm weather - but certainly not in the height of summer

Mine has a factory fitted one.

It tends to attract condensation in huge quantities.

If you close it in the wet it leaks, and you have to open it to dry it out to stop it leaking.

On the other hand it makes the front of the vehicle a lot brighter and a nicer place to be.

Mine doesn't actually leak... it did when I got it but that was due to crud on the seal. Popped the glass out, cleaned the seal and fine ever since, purely condensation, on the bright side the dog would never be short or water.

The other option as a project would be to get an old Series Safari roof. Drill the rivets and remove the top skin. Drill the spacer angle and remove it from the old roof. Fit it to the 90 installing the roof vents in the roof of the 90 first.

Why they don't do the safari roof still amazes me. I did this on my last IIa shortening an old LWB roof skin to fit.

It can be seen in some of these piccys fitted...

and here before, being prepped..

The difference is remarkable as the convection currents pull cool air in to the car and out through the roof. The top skin in effect acts as a sun screen.

I couldn't find a good SWB safari roof at the time for love nor money hence resorting to chop shop.

All accessed from my main site

Lee D

In article , Lee_D writes

Too jolly right. I provide bin liners for front seat passengers without appropriate clothing. And it's not a small amount of water either - they're big drips and lots of 'em, and they seem to fill up the space behind the rubber surround (on the inside of the vehicle), so that when you turn sharpish you get a gout of water, which sometimes makes it across the headlining to emerge over the passenger's left knee like something from an Ansel Adams picture. And all that is AFTER replacing the rubber seal (about 50-70 quid!) so it's now theoretically waterproof.

Did I mention they get you wet?

OH, and to keep them 'waterproof', by which I mean not letting water in from the outside, a wise person lubricates the seal from time to time with Vaseline or similar, and works the catch a bit, so that the seal doesn't stay compressed all the time, and keeps cleaning the glass-surround groove out on the roof so that cr*p doesn't break the rubber seal and let water in.

Oh, and you can't open them fully if you have a full length roofrack fitted, which is a right PITA, as the glass is supposed to be completely removable, which would be excellent for wildlife photography (wot I do occasionally).

Apart from that, they're great.

Did I mention they get you wet, though?

Use silicone grease, it doesn't rot the rubber like Vaseline does.

In message , SpamTrapSeeSig writes

I must be very lucky as I don't get anything like these problems just a bit of condensation drip when it is very cold, and I have done absolutely no maintenance on it in 10 years.

I've left that bar out on my 110 and clad the roof rack for a photography expedition.. one day!

Lee D

Mine does stand so to be fair isn't getting dried out every day. I guess it sees a1/5th of the vehicluar action around these parts.

Lee D

In article , hugh writes

I've no reason to believe mine wasn't originally factory fitted. It has all the right badges and it looks right. Changing the seal a while back certainly helped, but it was a horrid job (previous one had been bodge-glued in with some black goo I had to chisel out really carefully before fitting the replacement seal).

I also have other leaks in the roof that need dealing with too. As soon as the weather improves the headlining is coming out and I'm going after them ruthlessly! The other thing I hope to do is to remove some of the longitudinal bits of box section on the rack, to make a rectangular hole into which the sun roof can lift up properly. It's easy to bodge, but doing it tidily will take a bit of time (gotta grind off the galvanizing before welding, for example).

Har, my Defender was bought for the purpose of carting camera gear around, but turned out to be more interesting than the cameras..