There are three types of top fill tanks. Most Moke had a large cap that is toward the front. Those Leyland hardtops have to be modified to fit the early cars, the cap gets in the way of the indent in the side. Around 1978 they changed to a small filler cap that is in the middle of the large filler cap hole (surrounded by a very half-arsed looking rubber gasket). Later they moved the filler further back into a smaller hole and thats the style the leyland roofs were designed for. At the end of '79 or start of '80 the filler cap moved to the side and they put an extra battery cover over the top of the tank to access the pipes. I think those Leyland hard tops fit side tanks OK, but I'm not certain about the placement of the extra battery cover.

My old Leyland hardtop had been modified with an awkward long tunnel to poke the filler through . It worked Ok, but there was this one time when a stupid servo bloke shoved the filler in, locked it on and walked away. It fell out of course and shot a couple of litres of fuel into the gap between the hardtop and body, filling the interior with fuel. I was getting high driving around in it, I was worried it would explode.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Yeah I really wish I had not lost my phone so i could post up pics!! I have a moke with the big fat forward filler.

I actally think that the side of the one i have has been modified so the front 'doors' are quite large and you have direct access to the filler. I also think that they must have had flip forward clubman seats or something that allowed you to get into the back... i havent quite investigated that yet. Having a four door, it looks like passengers will be getting in from the boot hahahah.

24 hours to go and all will be revealed.

LS1380's 'hardie' is off a 78 moke I think which were unique to that year, they have a different fuel tank with a small cap and it's about 6" further back than the other top fill tanks. They can be modified to fit other top fills but looks a bit ugly.

Well after no rain in Sydney for 5 weeks, Moira was all set and ready for her big trip to Newcastle. We packed her up with tools, fuel, oil, water and coolant as well as rope and all the other stuff thats important for a big drive in a Mini/Moke.

At 6.30 am we woke to rain. LOTS and LOTS of rain. 20 mins later, her canopy (sans sides) was on and by 7am we set off. It basically rained THE WHOLE WAY to Newcastle where just as we turned into the suburb we were goign to, it stopped.

We spent some time fitting the roof......



It went on perfectly, although there were no mounting points on my car for the roof, so out came the 20m of rope and we tied the roof down. Then we started her up and off we went back.

We drove out of Newcastle and then it started raining. MORE and MORE rain. Heavy rain. The roads were slippery and we thought about stopping, but we pushed on getting back home SOAKED from being splashed by other cars and from water pouring in up over the windscreen and under the roof (the rubber seal that connects under the roof on top of the windscreen was missing)

Anyway, 2.30 and we were home and let me just say, I LOVE MY NEW ROOF....

It has these two perspex doors which cover the entire side that is open int he above pic, so with the windscreen seal and doors, its gonna be a nice dry rainy winter for me in my moke..!!

oh and PS... after spending 3 hours removing the roll cage, we actually worked out this roof slipped straight over the californian roll cage, so guess what I will be spending 3 hours putting back in............

Good to hear marcello.
So you won't have to modify your rollbar at all?

Hard top looks good, this coming from an "i hate all roofs, soft or hard" kinda guy

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You're so square
Baby I don't care

Adam... yeah it will go straight over the top of the roll bar without any problem so I am putting it back on. Although Aaron just gave me the number of a guy I will call because he can maybe fabricate one for me which will be stronger and more appropriate than what I have.

But yeah its totally awesome. Just have to mount it properly so i can remove the ropes.

It looks good mate, but im like adam I dont like roofs hard or soft. But dad insists...

Well I hope so. My hardtop leaked worse than my not-very-good soft top.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

OMG Tim dont say that. This thing was waterproof totally when the moke was standstill, 98% waterproof going at reasonable speed with reasonable rain (ie 60km/h with light showers) and 50% waterproof at faster speed with torrential rain (ie 100km/h on the freeway with it bucketing down).

The most water came in between the front of the roof and the windscreen, but the guy i bought it off said there is meant to be a rubber tube which goes across (i can see the old glue lines) which stops water blowing up there and also stops it rattling on the window). Im sure to get something from clarkes rubber that will do the trick...

The day was a good day to compare because we went up with soft, came back with hard... and although its ugly as sin and does take away some of that open wheeler appeal the moke has, it is pretty functional.

Also ads to the "WTF IS THAT" appeal i love about the moke.

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where did you go?

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'62 Morris 850 (Marion)
'65 Mini Delux - sleeper 1275/S discs (Ms Plum)
'69 Vanden Plas Princess 1300
'71 Wolseley 1300
'74 Austin 1300 Countryman
'94 XJ6 Sport 3.2
'04 Rover 75 CDTi

Your Moke would have been screaming its tits off at that wouldn't it?

Not a fan of the hard tops. But to each their own.

You loose man points during the winter SWOM cruises though

Samm

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Here am I sitting in my tin can far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do...



“A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.” - Jeremy Clarkson

Nah its not badly geared now. Greig changed the diff over so its got respectable off the mark gearing and its good for up to 100km/h (revs at about 3500 or so) any more than that, and its too much for a moke anyways.

I loose man points??? Mate you 1. Dont even get your moke dirty and 2. Dont want your moke scratched.....!!!!!!!