Back in May a tornado hit Jefferson City and did a lot of damage, including the storage unit where I housed the top to my Land Rover. I replaced a couple of broken windows but had to order a new top to the driver side door.

A local body shop did a fine job of matching the paint but when when I first looked at the old and new top side-by-side, it looked like the angles (see curved arrow) were different. Then I noticed the right side (see red line) of the old window wasn’t square.

Makes sense now because the old top got hammered hard enough to bend the steel (straight arrow). So we’re good to go. My buddy George has taken a hard line on getting the top of the Rover a make-over, too, so that’s next. Hoping I can make it though September — maybe a bit longer — with the soft top.

It’s not uncommon to find a screw or a bolt in the floor of the Land Rover. The truck has some serious vibration and stuff comes loose and falls out. Easy enough to put back if you can find where it came from.

I love this about the old Land Rovers. You can see — and get to — just about every nut, bolt and screw.

Most of the damage to the Land Rover hardtop is easily repaired but the frame around the driver-side window got buggered boogered up and it was going to be difficult to straighten so I purchased a replacement.

It just slots into the bottom of the door with a couple of bolts. Good as new once I get it painted. I continue to marvel at the simplicity of the Series Land Rovers. I can think of nothing analogous in modern vehicles.

I replaced three panes of broken window glass on the Land Rover today. Regular readers will recall the hardtop got tossed around by last week’s tornado. Banged up the safari top; some scrapes and dings; and the shattered glass. The replacement glass cost about a hundred bucks so I really go off lucky. Oh, and I had to order a new window for the driver-side door. That should be here Tuesday.

You can’t be around Land Rover folks long without hearing them compared to an Erector Set. I was more of a Tinker Toy and Lincoln Log kid but the comparison is apt. The body of a Series III Land Rover is held together with some nuts and bolts and screws. I’d be very surprised if any civilians replace the glass in today’s vehicles.

Since switching from the hardtop to the mesh top a couple of weeks ago, I haven’t been able to drive the truck as much as I hoped. Last couple of weeks have been cold and wet. With warmer weather finally here, let’s take a ride. (Just 2 min) I’m loving the open sight lines. And it’s not as loud as the ear plugs suggest.