12c Land Rover Safari roof hole difference

[Brad Pittiful]

for lack of a better term...i noticed in some auctions that there is a difference with the 12c Land Rover Safari roof hole...in these pics you can see one is just a round...i dont know if this is a known variation so i figgered id make a post about it...the two with the extended area looks like where they poured the mold...so i guess that means two different tools...i also saw a gold SF that matched the middles roof style...so the tooling was used into the SF era...unless like i said this is a well know thing disregard this post haha!





the green models on the far left was repainted by someone...it was originally green but i guess enough paint was missing they wanted to make it green again...thats the reason for the color difference

[kwakers]

What a Great spot of some well hidden roof casting changes on this Land Rover. I have cataloged the interior driveshaft tunnels, (or lack of) on these as sub variations over the last 3 years, and really have found them to be 2 totally different interiors used over a very long period of time.
Perhaps these 3 different external roof posts will be as random in use as the 2 different interiors, but what a study I will now have with these unknown casting details you have shown us Brad. Although hidden, these 3 studs show either a die change progression, or maybe even 3 different body castings being used throughout production. Maybe in three more years I will have learned enough to tell which is the case, but for now these roof changes are new information to me.
Very Nice pictures of all three roof types, Thanks for sharing and showing them here Brad! kwakers

[Idris]

The one on the right is associated with the very first body casting (i.e. without the reinforced edge either side of the tow hook).
By the sounds of it, the other two may represent a difference between the paired tools after modification, although it is possible that the gold SF version without the extra ring merely represents stockroom cleanout at the end of production. Additional research is required!

[Brad Pittiful]

thanks Dick!

yeah idris the one on the far right is the first casting

[motorman]

I assume that this version i own is a later casting with the reinforcement on the roof hole.