safari windows

[MerlynIIa]

Hello all. I live in Mississippi where series Land Rovers are not at all common. I have seen two in my life, with much searching, and bought both (non-runners). My question is this. I am combining a IIa and a III to make one good vehicle. I will have two good hardtops and could do some experimentation. The wife loves the look of the safari windows in the hardtop but mine do not have them. Does anyone know if you could cut the holes and install the safari glass in a regular hardtop?. I know you would not have the vents and sun cover,but you would have some of the look. It would be quite an expense and ordeal to find and ship a top, but glass install may be pretty workable.

Thanks
Steven G.

[JimC]

Oh, its really quite easy. You just need the glass and the seals. The worst part is installing them, but if you'll invest in a 30 dollar tool (Bluepoint YA208A) for installing the window seal, then its really easy.

Retail on the glass and seals can be spendy, but if you buy them used or on special you can usually get them at a decent price.

[nategracie808]

So I am curious as well, One could combine a 2a and 3 for a complete vehicle? I mean the only diff I know of is the 4 inches of sill on the 2a vs the 2" on the III. Anything else as there are two half running rovers in my area....

[Eric W S]

Yup. The Brits refer to them as bitsa's

[Blueboy]

and also sometimes thought of as big Meccano toys.


Jaime

[MerlynIIa]

Hello all, and thanks for the replies. My first series, the IIa was purchased 2 years ago with a rotted out bulkhead and marginal chassis. it had a great tub, and good front clip. the front axle has very nice looking swivels. I tore it down to the rolling chassis and have been looking for an easy or not too expensive way to get a bulkhead, etc.. without luck. The III that I just purchased turned up only a hour away. it had been in a warehouse since 1987. the drivers (left) side was trashed on the tub and front wing by fork lifts. the chassis, bulkhead, doors and door tops are excellent. The engine had been partially torn down for repairs in '87 and appears locked up. the IIa engine is free and may be rebuildable.

I am going to use the IIa front, with hood, wings, breakfast and the IIa tub. I will use the IIa hardtop glass to replace a couple of pieces knocked out by the fork lifts. When the changeout is complete, I should have a fairly dent free complete Rover and some extra parts to sell. By purchasing the III, I picked up a chassis, bulkhead, doors, door tops, headlight bowls, side steps, good front bumper, etc. that I did not have--all for 500 bucks.

I will try to post some pics soon.

thanks again!

[Leslie]

Question I have........

If you're using the SIII bulkhead, how's the condition of your dash bits? A IIa bulkhead, being all metal, doesn't have the soft bits that can be torn up, etc. Do you have a preference between the IIa and the III stylewise?

FWIW, I've seen the IIa dash tray cut off before, then welded onto a Defender bulkhead to make it look like IIa bulkhead (had some other work to do, like windshield hinges, etc., but, it turned out nice).

FWIW.....

[S11A]

Hi,

Do you have an 88 or 109? The 109 would be a bit more difficult as it has support brace that runs most of the length of the side panel, a couple of inches above the bottom of the panel. You would have ot cut through that and would want to consider rebracing it (although I would defer to those with more experience as to whether that would be required).

That is why the windows are raised up a few inches on this one:

[MerlynIIa]

The two I have are both 88's. I prefer the IIa dash layout and believe one could (fairly) easily adapt the IIa dash to the III. In my case, however, even the Dash area was rusted. the side tray on each side of the instrument panel has rust through in the bottom. the vent recesses above the bonnet are rusted through also. I studied every possible way to fix or find a bulkhead and could not come up with anything very workable.
Main differences between the two bulkheads are the dash layout, door check straps, bonnet hinge points and windshield hinge setup.
I thought about going with a total IIa look, but would take a lot of work and parts scrounging. I could also go with the III, as I could use parts from the IIa to bring the III back to fairly original specs but don't like the III grill as much. I also considered using the IIa grill and III fender fronts to make a four headlight setup that I have seen on some off road Series.

I decided to use the IIa front because I liked the look and found it the easiest. The III bulkhead left original means very little adaptation, I have to change the bonnet hinges and cut out the IIa fender for the dual master cylinder. I am pretty good at understanding systems and changing out parts but don't have the fabrication skills to make a lot of custom changes.

[MerlynIIa]

a few other minor differences between the IIa and III, while we are at it. the tub seems the same, but the jack and crank handle storage clips are behind the seat in the IIa and in the back of the tub on the III. the IIa has fixed seats and the III has frames and sliders. The door tops have different locking mechanisms. the guards inside the rear of the tub on each side to protect the back of the rear lights are different. the rear hardtop door has a different style latch.

[Daurie]

What part of MS you in?

[MerlynIIa]

I'm in Columbus.

[Escargo]

Hey JimC, What is the prefered tool to cut the hole?

[MerlynIIa]

Bringing up this old thread. I found a site with pictures of a fellow cutting his top and putting in the safari windows. unfortunately, no text, but does show his process and the tool he uses. Scroll down to the bottom of the list on the left side and click on "safari windows" For some reason, I have to also go to view at the top and click "full screen" to show the safari windows link at the bottom.

http://www.zen79997.zen.co.uk/percy/index.html

At the home of this site, shows a couple of other interesting Landy's