Dfndr

Hi everyone, Thanks so much for all your comments and advice, much appreciated! That link to the other detailed forum thread is extremely helpful and we’ve gone through it in detail. We’ve got a couple more questions if that’s ok… In the ‘how to’ guide the photos show replacement of the whole side of the tub capping as a single piece. This looks fairly straightforward but we’ve realised that we have a couple of complicating factors. Firstly, we have a bulkhead removal bar fitted which means the capping would require some adaptation at the point where it joins the bulkhead and secondly, the pop-top roof makes lifting and hinging as far forwards as is needed tricky due to the excess weight and the way the roof has been adapted at the front. Also, we can’t strip out the headlining as is done in the guide as this is all altered and insulated/lined. Whilst browsing YRM for parts we noticed that they sell the corner pieces only as a separate to the full capping (https://yrmit.co.uk/product/top-rear-corner-capping-lr-defender/). Does this mean that some people only replace the corners? This would be ideal for us as it’s only this bit that is showing any rust currently and it would mean much less manipulation required of the roof and sides to access this section. If we went down this road could we remove just the corner piece from the existing capping (cutting the corner piece off from the side length at the weld) and then insert the new piece? Ideally we would get this welded properly but we don’t have access to the gear for this and suspect that finding a garage to take it on for us would be tricky with current restrictions. Would it be reasonable to join the corner back to the side length with chemical metal or steel epoxy or equivalent? Essentially, as this is a non-structural piece, does this sound like a reasonable plan? Or is this a really stupid idea that will do more harm than good?! Happy to be told this if so! Thanks again 😊

Hi everyone, we’re first time Defender owners in the process of refurbing our 110 van pop-top camper conversion. In the process of stripping out a couple of cupboards we don’t want to keep we came across some nasty-looking rust on the right-hand rear body cap (pictures below). As newcomers we’d really appreciate your advice on a couple of points. Firstly, this looks pretty horrible to us, but is it the sort of thing that really needs to be dealt with immediately or is there a short-term fix we could do for now before replacing? We’re planning a trip in the next couple of weeks and also don’t have access to a garage to work on her at the moment so now feels like not the best time to embark on this. Do you think we could afford to wait a while? If this really does need replacing, is it possible to do it by just removing the side panels on that side of the body? The other side has some built-in cupboards and electrics which we were intending to leave alone for now (although we can see the rear capping on that side and it looks fine, just the right one which is the problem). Grateful for any words of wisdom!

Thanks for the replies everyone, really helpful to have your thoughts - we've decided to give it a try this weekend and will post some pictures here to update. Useful to know we should add in some additional structure, this was something we'd wondered about. Also great to see some pictures of other builds, plenty of inspiration! Happy to share some photos of our project as it progresses ☺️

Hi everyone, We are pretty new Defender owners and would really appreciate your advice on a query regarding the rear wheel boxes. We have a 110 TD5 van (2002) and are trying to create more space in the rear tub to fit some gear for overlanding. The previous owners have cut holes in the rear wheel boxes behind the front seats to create additional storage space (see photos). We would ideally like to remove this section of wheel box altogether, from the front of the wheel arch to the bulkhead behind the passenger seat (to fit a fridge). Does anyone know if it’s ok to do this? Obviously on the station wagon version the wheel box doesn’t extend this far forwards, so it makes sense to us that we should be able to cut this piece out in front of the wheel arch. But has anyone ever done this and are there any things we should consider before going ahead? Appreciate we may be missing something! Thanks in advance.