While liking the Land Rover roof rack, I found it hard to keep things up there as well as balancing on the cross members, so I wanted to put flooring up there. What I did was buy a single 8'x4' sheet of flattened expanded metal. (I believe I used 16 gauge). Any local welding shop should have some scrap pieces sitting around so you can choice for yourself if you think you might want to go heavier. A disadvantage of welding is that your powder coating will be burned off in spots where ever you put a weld.

Things you will need for this project:

- (1) Land Rover Adventure Rack (duh)

- (1) 8'x4' sheet of 16 gauge flattened expanded metal.

- (1) Roll of wreath making wire (available for any craft shop). Zip ties will not work as the edges of the metal will cut though them.

- (1) Electric Dremal with (2) packs of cutting disks. I had first tried using my battery operated Dremal but it cant generate the RPM's an electric one does and was painfully slow, so I used a set of small bolt cutters to trim down the sheet. For my final trimming I was able to borrow my friends electric one.

- (1) Small paint roller. I used a 3" disposable unit available from most places that sell paint supplies.

- (1) Small paint brush for getting the parts the roller cant.

- (1) Medium size can of Flat Black Rustolium paint.

- (2) Cans of flat black non-slip spay paint (for top after rolling)

- (1) Welder (either welding unit or person)

- (1) Friend to help you get the rack off and on again.

- (1) Pair of work gloves (thick cloth or leather)

- (1) Box of band-aides (3 if you try this without gloves)

Things you will need before picking up your sheet:

- Good work gloves

- Heavy duty tie-downs or wire to secure it on your rack for the trip home. Don't try to use bungee cords unless you run them under the rack. The edges of the metal will cut into them if you don't.

- Someone to help you get both the sheet and your rack off the truck when you get home so you don't scratch your paint.

- Good work gloves. You notice I said this again. I can't tell you how many nicks and cut I had by the end of this process. All the little edges on the sheet can be very sharp so plan on trying to do every thing up to the painting wearing them.

Installing the flooring: After picking up the sheet, you need to trim it down to fit correctly before welding.

- Take the rack off the Disco and set it on a level work area on the ground. (See Fig.1)

Fig.1

- Start to lay the sheet inside the roof rack butting the front factory edge up to the front posts and one factory side up to one of the sides. You should have some extra over hang on the opposite side as well as off over the back. Right away it wont sit flush because of the bend in the corner (See fig. 2)

Fig.2

- Next, start in Corner 1 and only trim enough so that the corner of the sheet matches the bend of the corner in the rack and will allow the 2 edges to sit flush with their sides. (See Fig.3a)

Fig.3a

- Start trimming the sheet around the rest of the marked posts in Fig.3b. Make sure you trim enough so that you have the edge of the sheet sitting on the bottom rail extending to the outer edge for welding points. This will be how the welder tacks it on around sides.

Fig.3b

- Now trim the remaining area's marked in Fig.4.

Fig.4

- Take your wire and start securing the front part of the sheet to the rack. (See Fig.5)

Fig.5

- To help bend the sheet to couture to the upward slope of the Adventure rack, I found it best to have someone stand on the front half of the rack on top of the sheet where the upward bend starts. While they are there, start lifting the remainder of the rear sheet up in the air, putting a bend into it. (See Fig.6)

Fig.6

- After you have the slope fashioned, continue to wire the sheet down to the rack. You should wire heavily on the racks slope area to help keep the form. Also, this makes it easier for the welder. Make sure you do not wire down the last section on the rack yet. (See Fig.7)

Fig.7

- Trim off the remaining overhang on the side and rear and finish wiring down the rest of the rack. (See Fig.8)

Fig.8

- I wanted additional tie-down holes on the flooring so I cut out holes around some of the cross members. This would allow me to use our roof top luggage bags without cutting their straps. (See Fig.9)

Fig.9

- If you have to drive your rack to the welder, then put your rack back on your truck and bolt it properly back down. If you own your own welder then you wont want to do this yet. Take your tools with you to the welders because you should again remove it for the welding process.

- Tack weld every 4" - 10". Make sure to put a few extra welds on the slop part.

- Once done welding, put the rack back on top and head home and remove the rack again. If you welded yourself, allow to cool for a while before starting to paint the rack's flooring.

- Use a roller to paint the flooring. It covers the meshing better and is much less wasteful than spray can paint. Use a small hand brush to get the areas that the small roller could not get to. I suggest applying 3 coats. **Don't forget to do the underside as well.**

- Once the coats dried, use a can of no-slip spay paint to give the top a bit of grip for feet when you are up there.

- Let it all dry overnight and then put the rack back on.

Once finished, I recommend you still walk on the cross members but now you wont have to worry about your balancing act while securing items.

Written by: Chris von Czoernig - chrisvonc@gotmud.org

Additional credit: Rob Davison - Base diagram that all the reference pictures were built up from.