JeffR

So job stopped for a day or two, neighbours had a sense of humour failure about after about 150 spot welds were drilled out and ground down. Mind you the rain, hail, snow and sleet didn't help...Must clear the garage this weekend. Never mind, deconstructing the door frame has been an education, they are sooooooo poorly made. Frame top hat sections measure out at 1mm thick metal, the "closing" panels measure out at 0.9mm....Not intended to last very long, clearly. I have some YRM repair sections (bought for another door) so measured them. All made of 1.2mm steel, rather than the tinfoil Landrover seem to prefer. Also measured some bits of 1985 safari door, guess what, all the steel in them was (cue drum roll and fanfare) 1.2mm. There are a surprising number of small, and not so small, rust holes that appeared when frame cleaned up with angle grinder and knotted wheel. The nastiest bits are all around the door lock aperture. Mind you I did find out why the door skin used to deform when the hinge screws were tightened down, the anti-crush tubes sit a couple of mill below the frame... So plan is to plug weld the pin holes (yes I know I should cut the rot out and weld in patches) and patch the bigger holes before welding on the one piece closing panel thats replacing the myriad of bits that Landrover used. But got some work to finish first. Oh and I cannot find any 1.2mm plate locally so waiting for that to arrive (when did sheet metal get so bloody expensive?)

Can anyone guess where I'm going with this idea.....Why have loads of bits welded together when one can have a single bit. RIP double width filing cabinet, you will live on in my memories. This may be getting out of hand a wee bit......

It will be welded, rust killed (Neutrarust 661) inside and out, primed and painted. The best way to get rust killer and primer inside the box sections is with a cavity wax applicator (when I work out what safe place I tidied the bugger away to....) Skins bonded to frame with PU sealer. Last one I did for a customer tiger seal was applied in thin layer with a filler applicator and left to cure, once almost cured a bead of PU applied round frame and skin clamped down till that cures. Then the edges are clinched over. Takes time but really works. I had a old safari door (pre 200 tdi) kicking round (well the bottom half sans window part) that I took apart a while ago, the frame on that was rotten, but it was fully welded by the factory, one has to wonder why they stopped doing the door frames in that way, cost no doubt.

As for why the doors crack and split, well it would help if the factory actually fully welded the frame, again, they only weld what you can see: Rather poorly made don't you think. By the way, the skins (with the exception of the top one) all came off rather easier than expected and with minimal damage, with a wee bit of hammer and dolly work, they'll go again. I figure that if I fully weld the frame, it should be a lot stronger

I can smack aluminium with a hammer to convince it to fit... Its interesting looking at the door frame, only the bits you can see were painted by the factory. No bloody wonder the doors rot

I'm contemplating making my own skin out of 2mm sheet and bonding it to the frame. Has anyone got any photos of stress cracks on rear doors as I might as well strengthen the frame white its in bits

So the deskinning is actually quite easy, if one takes care and time. Now this is a genuine parts door which has seen very few road miles. If you wonder why doors disintegrate: So what other horrors hide beneath the skin.....watch this space

All change..... Now deskinning the door cos there is some rot in the frame that needs addressed. Will I get the skin off without trashing it ? Will I lose my temper and beat it to death with a lump hammer? Who knows, just watch this space

The next thing to break will be my patience..... Now comes the really fun part, noticed that the door skin has separated from the frame (LR never did use a decent sealant, it dries out and turns brittle, throw in the different thermal expansion between aluminium and steel and separation is always going to happen) removing the old sealant/glue/ brittle stuff and resealing the skin to the frame. Foul language begins in 5...4...3...2.......

A very productive morning. Found out one can replace MRC9833 without removing the hard top. simply drill out these pop rivets: And the corner panel (with a wee bit of levering) simply lifts out. Remove knackered MRC9833 , replace with correct part (or in my case a VW Passat B5.5 suspension bolt, cos its the correct length), replace rivets, tighten down nut and jobs a good un.

I'm genuinely surprised at the difference it makes! Useless bit of info, when one is adjusting a door it helps to remember that the hinge screws really need tightening..................blonde moment/senior moment

one on its way....

Thinking about the spare, when I bought the diesel it had both a bonnet mounted slick spare and a rear mounted spare ! The V8 station wagon had a rear mounted spare, you may have hit the nail squarely on the head mate

Back in the day I ran a Mk 3 Cortina (2 litre pinto eventually replaced with a 2.8 injection V6....), ex rep mobile with full dealer service history. Half the nuts bolts n screws were metric, half imperial....it was a "run out" model so had bits of Mk4 . bloody nightmare trying to buy parts for it

If you want a giggle, look at the alternative workshop manual I wrote a few years back:

I agree, it is a very east bit of fabrication , I am convinced that Defenders are actually sentient beings put on this world to cause us grief. Went through my parts book with a fine tooth comb, its odd that the V8 station wagon had one (1988/89) whilst the hard top diesel (1985/86) does not. Had a look at three others last week (mid to late 90's) two had the stiffener one didn't. There is no rhyme or reason! Gotta love the random fitment of parts carried out at Load Lane. It really makes life......................interesting.

So, in a fit of enthusiasm I had a bit of a safari door inspection, rust held together by corrosion and structural paint..... Never mind I'll simply borrow the one off the V8. Howks both doors and hinges off. Fits less corroded door and sets about making it work. Finds that the panel that takes the upper hinge is somewhat miss aligned, actually it's more crooked than a politicians expenses claim. Never mind shouldn't be difficult to re-align said panel. Wanna bet........... Unscrews upper and lower bolts, finds panel needs to to pivot on the body capping bolt, this wretched thing Un-does bottom nut no problem even if it was somewhat crusty, Top nut, well it looked perfect, not crusty, not even the colour of Trumps complexion, TWANG, it bloody shears off despite heating it with an induction heater . Bugger it. I'll put the spare one in. Spare one is the short type, I need the long one. Bad temper and tool throwing ensues. A job for another day cos like I really don't feel like taking the hard top off..... Feel the need for a bodge repair that does not involve taking the hard top off, again (don't ask). Plan is to weld a length of M8 studding to the stub to increase length. But that requires taking the rear roll hoop out, and emptying the back of the vehicle..... Never mind thats tomorrows job. So tightens down the panel for the 111th time (including modifying g clamp to temporarily act as MRC9833) and fits door hinges (do only the top and bottom hinges till door aligned with sensible chasms/water egress points gaps. Hang door and step back to admire a perfectly fitted door, not. Door bottom hitting threshold plate and seal but there aint enough adjustment available to lift the door up 5 or so mm. Feel free to rearrange the following words into a sentence - out, toys, of, throw, pram. Give up, blood pressure approaching at least 120 bar. Grab tungsten burr and make hinge holes very elongated. Sorta works. Door chasms almost acceptable. Except top of door too far in , way too far. Make shims, don't help. Lets bend the top of the door outwards. Door off, violence ensues, door back on , rinse and repeat a few times. Last bend of door and garden becomes covered in small glass sprinkles as the window cries enough. Tape tarpaulin over hole and go away to sulk and practice anglo saxon vocabulary. Then weather intervenes so give up. Locate spare heated rear window and spend a happy few hours covering myself and window in sealant and losing all the stupid little screws that hold it in place. Back to the grind So door fits hole, more or less, actually definitely more less, think square peg in round hole. Now for the striker plate. Old one was somewhat cattle trucked due to wear and tear. Use spare. Sort out height first , gently (if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you cheap like) close door. It latches. Can't open the bar steward but it latches. No amount of harsh language , grunting, levering and tantrums will open the bugger. Climb into load area , trying, unsuccessfully, to avoid the stuff (seats, tools, way too many sharp and pointy things and general debris)that appears to have taken up permanent residence in there: Start to remove door lock from frame. Captive nuts on nut plate (part number AFB710250) make a very successful bid for freedom. Drill the heads off and jobs a good un, well the door opens. Strangely enough I have a spare nut plate and fixings (no bloody idea when or why I bought them, blonde moment , senior moment, or off me mammaries on painkillers....). Have another go and another and another. Finally gets height correct. Door latches nicely and actually opens on the handle, no drilling, puncture wounds, acrobatics or bad language, just lift the handle and it opens. Mark height with sharpie. My mam didn't raise a foolish child. Door is about sticking out about half inch too far so move striker plate in over by that much. Re tighten screws to about 2k ft lbs. Door flush with rear body work at last. Open and close half a dozen times. Go have a celebratory coffee. Try to open said door. Nowt happens, can feel lock mechanism trying to work, but it aint happening folks. Repeat the acrobatics (new puncture wounds, really must empty the load area or find knee pads and puncture proof gloves) to remove lock. Reset striker plate. Door opens and closes as it should. I'm a happy bunny. So closes (slams door would be a better, more accurate description) door for what should be the final time and goes for coffee. Finds new rear door seal and sets off to fit it it. Effing door will not open. WTF. Wife takes gallon of petrol and box of matches off me, neighbours complain about bad language, cats hide in bathroom, Children leave home to stay with Aunty Mandy Give up. Get nominated for Nobel Prize for Sulking and Creative Use of Multi Language Swearing. Leave it a day or two. Phone a friend to gis a hand cos, well, I've found the petrol and matches, it may be E10, but it'll still burn...... Mate turns up, repeat removing door lock from door, complete with puncture wounds etc. Empties load area (there was some serious carp in there, including dead thing gravy that may or may not have once been a rodent). Repeats resetting striker plate (thank the good Lord for sharpies). Mate opens and closes door numerous times, while I lay down in load area and watch the proceedings. Everything appears to be doing what Landrover wanted it to do. Then I get him to vigorously close the door..... Door jams, again. But this time I can see why: this here panel flexes when one vigorously closes the bloody door enough jam the lock on the striker. Looks on V8 and low and behold theres a strengthening plate/bracket to prevent this from happening. Eureka Its this: Borrows the one off the V8. Phones local independent dealer for a price. They can't find a part number, neither can I. Not a problem as V8 won't be back on the road in the near future, so I'll worry about that at a later date. Oh and now the rear door lock has had enough and refuses to play at all. Job stopped till parts arrive. I GIVE UP Over a week to fit a bloody door.......

Had way too many run ins with thieving little bar stewards (rural Northumberland), had my heating oil tank emptied in December ( 1000 litres , not covered by household insurance, found that out the hard way - always read the fine print), we had the last laugh though. They climbed over a wall using some very very rusty shelves which collapsed. Judging by the amount of blood, it was a significant cut. La couple of years back, caught some itinerant bar stewards trying to remove the doors from my V8, evidently hitting the twot 3 times with a shovel is classed as excessive force..... Used the flat of the shovel. I suppose cable tying him to the fence was perfectly OK as was lobbing a brick through their trucks rear window. They got 100 hours community service, I got a caution and bound over to keep the peace for two years. Local plod suggested that in future if I "catch" someone doing something similar "sort it out yourself and forget to inform us". Security lights and trail cams installed, a bloody mouse sets em off now. Its fascinating just how many folks wander round my garden during the night. Those I know by sight, get a "stern" talking too. I really really hate thieves

Have a look at VW passat pdi viscous fans (pre 2005) they are vey slim, plus the viscous gubbins are removable

Needs another box with him effing and blinding cos he's made the perfect second flair, but forgot to put the male/female end on........ come on, we've all done it

MMI11.pdfMMI11.pdf I wonder what grade stainless it is

If you make your own, use cupro nickel (kunifer) not copper. Copper is fine, but goes green! Also buy the best flaring tool cos the el cheapo ones are garbage personified. another tip is to anneal the end you are flaring

I'm a bit more domesticated these days (a wife with a black belt in Judo.....), but ..... Scenes from my office: Sorry bout shaky pics, but arms aint working very well today

Welcome to my world....Found my speedo transducer in the bathroom medicine cabinet when i got out of hospital on wednesday. I blame the painkillers (which I started taking the day I got out.....). Good luck.

Buon Natale, Joyeux Noel, frohe Weihnachten, vrolijk kerstfeest and Merry Christmas to all. Be at peace with your Gods Gents. May your breakdowns be minor and have a good one. Sod the medication, I've an appointment with a 30 year old bottle of Port to keep.....