The roof panel is the next major piece of body work on the schedule. This part of the body consists of the main roof (to keep the water out and provide some structural stability) and the safari sun sheet (to keep the sun off the main roof).

As previously commented the original sun sheet was pretty battered. After a year of searching, I found an ex military one in Yorkshire, England. It didn’t have the “bulges” to accommodate the 4 roof vents but I can confidently swap those over (with some drilling, cutting and riveting) but thats easy right… Right 🙂

A friend of mine does the same with sails, boat covers and anything needing a complete fabric based overhaul…. Same thing really but without the swarf,  heat and sparks. Easy right?… Err no. Have a look at her blog… Curious Constructions 

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Genuine Land Rover New Old Stock… Ex UK military sun sheet. This will need the bulges from the original sun sheet “let in”
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New sun sheet on the left, original sun sheet on the right. (note the damage on the lower right hand corner)
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Foreground: old sun sheet. Background: new sun sheet. They both look rough but one less rough than the other.
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As viewed from the underside

Before we get as far as fettling with the sun sheet, the main roof panel needs a complete repaint…. Lets start with scrubbing 50 years of dirt off.

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Quick hose off first to loosen as much as possible
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After a good scrub with hot soapy water, the original colour shines through.
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The underside is a different tale. What’s left of the original sound insulation, made of sack cloth, stuck on with bitumen, will remain, This will all be covered with Dynamat and a new interior roof lining.