The first time I fitted the roof I didn’t have all the necessary parts. But I fitted it anyway because I wanted to take the vehicle for another test drive. Check the previous post on how to fit the cab and roof. Then I removed everything again to fit the cab backlight window on this Land Rover Series 1. I also finished off the roof with carpet and then refit the roof with the correct windscreen seal. Then there was also figuring out how to fit the windscreen seal.
Fitting Roof Windscreen Seal and Finishing Roof Insulation
There is a special seal that fits inside the front of the roof of the Series 1 and seals against the windscreen. This part 304211 – Rubber Seal For Canopy is not commonly available and I had to order it from the Series 1 Club in the UK. That wasn’t too difficult and their service to South Africa was great.
The next problem was working out how it fits. Luckily I still had the siffenning strip that goes inside the seal. This is a profiled metal strip 304212 – Stiffening Strip For Canopy Seal. After lots of internet searches and asking around and consulting the parts manual I worked out how it fits.
With the seal fitted I could finish off the inside of the roof with some carpeting. I used an unbacked needle woven carpet that I glued onto the sound deadening I had already put on. I did this to prevent any condensation from the metal roof and to provide some heat and noise insulation.
How to Fit the Cab Backlight Window
Then I moved onto the rear window on the cab called the backlight. This part of my vehicle was incomplete so I had to source the Perspex and most of the parts and again workout how it all fitted together which was quite a challenge.
The only two parts that I had were the top and bottom rails. I had them galvanized and then fitted some 10mm flexible window channel to the inside of the metal channels. The other parts that are needed are the finger pull strips which consist of two profiled aluminium bits for each side and then the two aluminium strips that locate the two windows together where they join.
It was a bit of trial and error working out how to fit the aluminium strips to the window. Once again I had to look at as many pictures as I could find to see which way around the strips fitted.
I then used 10×10 mm self adhesive strip to seal the outside of the window. The location of these seals are shown in the parts catalogue.
Then the last part was to fit the latch which I made up from a drawing thanks to Louis Powell. I used a small strip of metal bar that I bent at the end. For the actual latch locator, I used a small door knob. It works quite well and looks like it belongs there.
It was nice to see this completed because I had spent so long assembling all the bits and pieces wondering how it all would fit together.
Refitting the Roof with the Roof Windscreen Seal
Then I fitted the cab permanently with the necessary seals. I had also now received my repaired door top back and had it galvanized so I temporarily fitted the door tops to get everything lined up properly. To fit the cab, roof and windscreen properly you also need to have the door tops on so that you can get all the gaps and angles lined up.
It can be a bit tricky fitting the roof with the roof seal because it is a tight fit. It also depends how you fitted the roof seal because if you leave some gaps at the end it is probably a bit easier to fit. But then you risk having some gaps at the edges. If you leave too much seal on then it is difficult to get a proper fit. I think mine was more the latter but I did get everything tightened up and it looks ok.
To see the full video of how to fit the cab backlight window and roof seal check the video on YouTube.
