Side-entry into a 110 Hardtop
 

Anyone know if its possible to fit a side entry system into a 110 Hardtop? Response from local suppliers has been poor with one supplier quoting £600 to design and fit.

The side entry would be used to gain access to the rear for entry to the fridge etc.

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I know Liveridge 4x4 (www.liveridge4x4.com or 01564 703 682/5)refurbish Land Rovers and put windows etc in the back of hard tops. You might try them, they are based near Solihull.

£600 sounds a bit steep for what is essentially cutting a hole and fitting a door. perhaps try foleys http://www.foleyspecialistvehicles.co.uk/

good luck

Huey

I was thinking that £600 seems quite reasonable. You would need to reinforce the body where you cut the hole and thats going to be a fair amount of work. You are also going to have to create a support to mount the hinges on.

I'm with Toby2 on this one. If you used second hand parts, it would still be in that region by the time it was repainted. If it were my vehicle, I would get two ex mod jerry can lockers and fit them in front of the rear wheels. This sould make more space in the rear of the vehicle. In a 3 door LWB (109 or 110) the best place for the fridge is by the back door or between the front seats. I have seen new lockers on websites aimed at truck operators and recovery suppliers.

Cheers Mick

Thanks to everyone replying...
Based on a number of companies I called, this is an expensive job (£600+) requiring quite a few mods. The side entry system works well on a rebuild vehicle using ex-army componants rather than cutting holes!
For now, I shall save the money as £600 goes a long way in Africa!

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www.overland-network.com/bigsky

FWIW, I built my own locker in the side of my 110 hard top - it is behind the rear wheel arch on the LHS (just above the exhaust). It was dead space anyway, so I built a locker (accessible from outside using a hinged door bought from a caravan suppliers) which I use to store my gas bottle, barbeque and 1l fuel bottles. Much rather have that lot "outside" than stored in the back somewhere. It was remarkably easy - used a sheet of aluminium, lengths of aluminium L section, exterior silicone sealant (sikaflex) and loads of rivets! Took about a day, from memory.

I am now considering how I can turn my hard top into a something with rear seats, as we have just had a baby and it is a squeeze with the three of us in the front! Any ideas appreciated.

Hi Ollie

Your locker sounds very much like the MOD jerry can locker I mentioned above.

Re the rear seats. There are lots of seat available to bolt into the back of your 110. Trackers are the most expensive and the best IMHO. I would opt for the forward facing type. They come handed and fold up out of the way, when not in use. The trackers seats have seat belt mounts on the seat, so should be no problem strapping baby down. The other option is to remove the rear bulkhead and replace it with one of the bars specially designed to replace it. These bars are bent to drop where the middle seat back was, to allow you to walk through into the back. This is still a bit of a squeeze for adults, but great for the little ones and makes it easier for you to reach them to fasten seat belts etc.

A good look through any of the Landy mags should give you all the info you need.

I don't know what sort of seat you have for the baby, but personally I would find one that can be fitted in on a semi perminant basis.

Cheers Mick.

Mick,
Thanks for that. Yes, my locker is a bit like the MOD ones - altho' because I made it myself, it isn't so obtrusive and uses up less space. Horses for courses. It was very easy to do - and apart from jigsawing a 8" hole in the side of your car, wasn't stressful.

Thanks for the seat advice - I will look in the Landy mags. I presume you need to bolt the seats down to something substantial - do you think the floor is sufficient? Also, does anyone know what the rules and regs are on fitting your own seats?
I wonder whats better - climbing in through the rear door to strap the child in, or wrestling over the front bulkhead to do it - hmm...

I have two tracker fold up seats in the rear of my 110 3 door hardtop. They work quite well, they are side mounted onto the corners of the raised side sections with seat belt mounts fitted where the side panels meet the roof. They face forward and fold up to the sides. It meant three adults could go trans africa over 7 months in relative comfort. As to access, I removed the bulkhead because I'm 6ft 4" so I could rack the driver seat back further. I have reinforced the area where I removed the bulkhead but this now gives easier access to the fold down seats in the middle seat. I have a cargo barrier fitted behind the fold down seats so I can carry all the expedition kit so for us it has to be front acces. Might be quite difficult putting a kid in and out and I don't know whether one of these would give sufficent support to strap in a child seat.

I have Trakker/Tracker (?) seats fitted to rear of mine also - they sell well apparently!

Did us great for 7 months, 4 pax per LR, London-Sydney. We did raise the roof, though, by about 10cm. Otherwise, as an adult in the back, you sit high enough for your head to touch the roof (even without any bumps!). That, though, is a fairly serious bit of action with a disc-cutter!
I would check that before you buy.

I have also removed the bulkhead behind the front seats (parallel with the floor width of the rear load area) - I have not reinforced it as there is a full, to chassis, roofrack - so the roof takes no weight whatsoever. Whether it's correct or not I don't know, but I have since done:

London-Ivory Coast-London
Brussels-Tamanarasset and playing-Brussels

without any squeaks/breaks etc....

I have fitted long range fuel tanks inside the void areas in front of each rear wheel, gives me an extra 90L, gravity fed, out of sight etc. Am planning on fitting a further fuel tank where the old filler used to be (ie rear rhs), and mine has a cubby box - internal access - already fitted by Land Rover in the same area rear lhs.

Sam.

Ollie-

In terms of how to gain access for the child, there is SOMEone in the UK market (cant rember who but it will be in the mags) who sells a steel bar that you can replace the bulkhead with. From memory they arent that pricey. About 2 hundred quid?

So if you want to get children access into the rear, how about doing what they used to do in 3 door estate cars - swap the bulkhead for the bar and have hinge-forward seats?

I only suggest it as Im wondering about the same thing..... dunno about MoT test crash regs etc though, but I expect its something you could fix.

The bulkhead removal bar can be bought from:

Kevin Baldwin
MUD-UK
Land Rover Solutions
www.mudstuff.co.uk
+44 (0) 1422 847704

I am also after a bar so I wonder if he will give us discount if we mention this bulletin board ;-)

Great stuff. Still not 100% convinced that it will be feasible to lug stuff (eg kids!!) over the front seats and into the back...

I assume you just get rid of the middle front seat and put in a cubby box also - or just take off the back of the middle seat and leave the base.

Where people have Trakker seats, I am presuming you also have side windows. Ours is a hard top, so it may be sensible to stick some windows in at least one side. Can anyone recommend window manufacturers?

Thanks for all the advice

For the windows you could buy the side windows as standard parts from LR, alternatively it may be cheaper to buy them second hand from a breaker's yard. You need to buy the window and the rubber to seal it in. Its a staightforward job to cut the window shape, and fit the windows.