Defender Rear Quarter Panel Replacement

[tommi]

Hi all,

I recently replaced the rear quarter panels on my Defender tub – thought this might be useful for anybody who’s considering the same. Mine had corroded around the rear crossmember bolts, and where the corner cappings were bonded. 

Before you start; if you’re content with your current rear door gap, measure the opening at top and bottom of the aperture (between each side of tub), so you can use this as a reference when fitting the new panels!

First, remove the top cappings from the tub, along with light fittings etc:

The panel is attached with pop rivets and spot welds. Both will need to be drilled out (I used a 4.8mm drill). First I tackled the spot welds on the corner of the tub:

Once removed, use a suitable tool to split the panels:

Next, drill out the five spot welds in the centre of the panel:

There are four spot welds where the door seal is retained:

Three pop rivets on the inner face against the wheel arch:

And a combination of spot welds and pop rivets at the bottom of the panel – not a great picture but you get the idea. 

Finally, there are two solid rivets at the bottom of the panel, which have to be dealt with through the wheel arch. I used a grinder; access is not great but workable: 

You should then be able to ease the panel away and remove (taking care not to distort other panels in the process):

You can see some of the corrosion here:

I used replacement panels from Paint Man Panels (https://www.paintmanpanels.co.uk/). I have nothing to compare against, but they seem good quality.

First, clean up the mounting faces, and deburr any holes. You’ll need to ensure that they are sufficient size for your new pop rivets (in my case 4.8mm). 

I used Sikaflex 221 sealant to bond the panels together; apply a decent bead to the mating surfaces:

Fit the new panel into position; I secured with some clamps, before adding a rivet into the top corner (this will later be covered by the top capping):

At this point, you should make sure make sure the rear door gap is good (based on your previous measurements). There is little ability to influence the bottom gap, but the top can easily be tweaked by 10mm or so by pulling the assembly inwards (to ensure a parallel gap). Once you’re happy, drill holes for the pop rivets through the new outer panel, using the old spot weld / pop rivet holes for positioning:

And then rivet; I used “sealed” rivets. 

Repeat in the middle of the panel:

I’m removing the tub again for paint, so will add additional fixings in place of the two solid rivets in due course (it would be difficult to drill these in position). Complete: 

 

 

Hopefully this might be useful for anybody sizing up this job!

Kind regards,
Tom 

Edited September 17, 2023 by tommi

[steve b]

That's a very tidy job you've done Tom, panels look good quality too.

Steve

[oneandtwo]

A better and neater way to do this job is to bond the panels with sikaflex or Soudal Carbond as you have done, then use countersunk pop rivets down the vertical corner joint where the spot welds have been drilled out. These are then hidden completely by the corner capping. For the tub rail / wheel box joint, if bonded properly then no outwardly visible rivets are required and makes for a much neater job without the usual telltale line of rivets. I have replaced many tub panels using this method, and twice I have had to replace them some years later a second time due to accident damage and they are a pig to remove once bonded.

Photos below are of a rear quarter replacement with this method due to accident damage, pulled the side wing straight using the new quarter panel as a reference, no paint work required on the side, only the rear quarter.

Edited October 1, 2023 by oneandtwo

[Peaklander]

Nice work both. It’s a job I will need to do eventually.

@oneandtwo can I ask, is that a 300 TDi chassis and is it a 90?

As I sit here looking at my rear crossmember, the chassis holes are identical. (Don’t know what they are all for). Mine is a 300 TDi 110 Richards.

My mudflap bracket is the earlier type that sits forward of the tailpipe. I’d be interested to know if those later ones fit and if there’s an improvement gained.

Also the distance from wheel to rear crossmember looks to be shorter than on this 110. I’ve never looked closely at at 90, are they different or is it an illusion?

[oneandtwo]

That was an old 2006 TD5 CSW I had about five years ago. I had kept the photos as reference of how to do the job and pull a crumpled wing straight incase anyone needed to see it.

110’s have mudflaps mounted forward of the rear crossmember and fastened to the wing return, which usually rots out. The rear overhang of a 110 is at a guess a foot more than the 90, hence mounting the mudflaps that way instead of on the crossmember like the 90.