Defender 90 2.5TD full body replacement

[Lockylockwood]

Hi folks,

my defender body is misshapen, rusty and patchy with the worst paint job ever.

someone recommended I look to buy a new one on the internet. 

any advice here? Can I buy new body parts of the shelf as a kit or would a used body make more sense? 
 

 

[Stellaghost]

I guess it depends how far gone it is and how handy you are with tools...

YRM seem popular on here for replacing rusty bits, other panels can be picked up second hand or bought, of course there is the manufacture your own route also, so plenty of options. You could buy a used body but you will pay serious money for a good / mint body, anything not so good you will have to bring up to condition, if it was me I would repair what I had..

Some pictures would be good to allow all to judge how bad is bad and which way to go with regards to restore or replace

regards Stephen

[miketomcat]

As Stephen says most people buy a mismatch of second hand panels, replacement parts from yrm or similar and original parts then repaint.

However a body swap is a massive undertaking so unless your truck is mechanicaly mint, impossible to replace or of sentimental value, you might be better off tidying it up and selling it. Then combined with the money you would have spent (probably £1.5k+) buy one in better shape.

Mike

[Maverik]

I drover her around for a few years before I could afford a full paint job  - some new panels, some 2nd hand.

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Bring a trailer and a wodge of cash to newbury sortout next year and see how much you can cover in one trip... although a lot of used stuff will have gone in all the same places and is sometimes still surprisingly expensive.

Land Rovers are one vehicle that wears dents & scratches very well so I would not even fuss about those, the steel bulkhead is the major PITFA but all the repair sections are available, given the price of good bulkheads it's cheaper to learn to weld & buy a welder & DIY it.

If you post a few pics of what you think are the problems people can be a lot more helpful / specific.

[Lockylockwood]

Thanks all. The issue is that it’s all misshapen and everything looks off. The garage has shimmed the bulkhead so it’s not that. I’ll share some pics tomorrow 

[Lockylockwood]

Hi all, here’s some photos of the body. It’s just not straight. This doesn’t do my point justice though. It’s a lot worse when you see it for real.

[Bowie69]

Fix what you have, most of that is just adjustment. 

[Stellaghost]

This ^^^^^^^^^

The reality is that is in pretty good condition for its age as these vehicles can be hard used, I would be delighted with that condition, not really a lot of work to sort out

Regards Stephen

[Eightpot]

Looks like its had a replacement chassis - it takes a lot of careful measuring and adjustment to get the rear tub, bulkhead, wings & doors lined up nicely but its quite possible to get a very neat job done as there is a lot of adjustment available in every component.  That also means they can be quite far out when reassembled though. 

What you have there looks fine, a nice tinkering job for warmer days to make some adjustment.

[Bowie69]

I would replace the rear door however, looks like there's a massive sheet of Ali pop riveted over it. 

[Shep The Disco]

I have found when I replaced 200tdi panels with td5 they were much thinner, that saves weight but you can't stand on the body in random places to shoot from .

I would repair the older panels every time.

 

That don't look totally fubar ...

Edited December 24, 2023 by Shep The Disco

[steve b]

That is all build alignment, just shimming the BH is not enough, as stated above. 

If it was mine I'd remove the front wings and while off sort out the terrible fit of the outer/top/front panel then look at the rear body/sill/BH fit.

This is the factory gap spec's. 

Get a parts book to familiarise yourself with how it all goes together and where the adjustments are. 

....I've found that it can be necessary to shorten the front end of the bolt tube on the BH foot (to outrigger) fixing point to get the right door gap with  replacement chassis.

As Eightpot said , it's all about measuring and string (stretched along the body waist fold) to see what is needed.

Steve

[Shep The Disco]

Agreed.

 

The replacement chassis will definitely need "shaping" so it will be worth taking it all apart..

[FridgeFreezer]

I've seen far worse... hell I DRIVE far worse.

The rear door needs replaced and that front wing needs pulling off, dismantling & re-mantling but honestly the truck looks like any other used Defender from here.

As others have said - the rest of that just looks like the time-consuming job of adjusting everything properly, something that most folks can never be bothered with the faff of.

[Bowie69]

Also, how do you open the rear door? 

[FridgeFreezer]

1 hour ago, Bowie69 said:

Also, how do you open the rear door? 

Secret knock?

[Snagger]

At that age, the doors were always going to be scrap.  I think the SP doors are meant to be good, with galvanised frames and a choice of valve steel skins instead of aluminium, if I’m not mistaken.

The tub looks like it has non-standard square patches either side of the door to cover the antiluce holes.  The standard shape parts should be available from YRM.  I suspect you could neaten the rough patch under the tub side capping by removing the roof and capping and having a go with filler and a sanding block.  Likewise the hard top aft left panel and the side panels, which have more rivets than they should, leading me to suspect a thin sheet has been fitted over damaged panels or to cover window apertures on the sides.

The front wings need stripping apart (the upper, front and side panels unbolt) and then cleaning back to clean metal before careful dressing to regain the original shape and reassembling.  It looks like they have tears in the front sections, which also look the most mis-shapen, so you might look at the cost of replacing just those front panels alone with used or new.  Ultimately, it’s all reparable.  You could even return the back corners of the tub to standard with some aluminium sheet, PU adhesive and new rear corner cappings.

[Troll Hunter]

On 12/24/2023 at 1:55 AM, steve b said:

That is all build alignment, just shimming the BH is not enough, as stated above. 

If it was mine I'd remove the front wings and while off sort out the terrible fit of the outer/top/front panel then look at the rear body/sill/BH fit.

This is the factory gap spec's. 

Get a parts book to familiarise yourself with how it all goes together and where the adjustments are. 

....I've found that it can be necessary to shorten the front end of the bolt tube on the BH foot (to outrigger) fixing point to get the right door gap with  replacement chassis.

As Eightpot said , it's all about measuring and string (stretched along the body waist fold) to see what is needed.

Steve

Please can you tell us what publication you’ve referenced here, and is there a link to it.  Thanks.

Mike

[miketomcat]

26 minutes ago, Troll Hunter said:

Please can you tell us what publication you’ve referenced here, and is there a link to it.  Thanks.

Mike

Genuine land rover workshop manual.

Mike

[ThreePointFive]

There's a lot of filler in that car so you have a few things at play - the panels are thicker so don't align flush, then you have whatever distortion from the impact(s) they've taken. Filler doesn't magically un-bend a panel; it's hard to see from the photos but I would expect you have them pinched flush at some points and gappier than a tramp's dentistry in others. That's going to be very difficult to make right.

In any case it would need sanding back even if you want to roller/spray-can it. I would investigate the bits that are flaking off (a sign of filler, as is unevenness that looks like bubbles of corrosion which hasn't surfaced) and see how what the panel underneath really looks like. Then you can establish if it's worth the rest of the labour when new panels are available.

Due to the time and cost involved, I would definitely see if this is salvagable before undertaking a body swap, and even then you're not guaranteed perfection. Ask me how I know....

What you have is a perfectly functional vehicle, so it really depends how much you care.

That's just my opinion so probably do the exact opposite of what I said.

[Arjan]

Nothing too wrong with that..

I have to replace my rear tub on the Series as somebody ran into it and we sourced 2 bodies to make 1.

Ultra does new rear Series bodies and will do Defender ones, too, soon they claim.

Be sure to sit down before opening the price list though....

 

[FridgeFreezer]

On 12/25/2023 at 8:52 PM, miketomcat said:

Genuine land rover workshop manual.

Likely specifically the Workshop_Manual_Supplement_and_Body_Repair_Manual

 

[Troll Hunter]

Many thanks, mtc and FF, for the pointer and link.  I only had the LR 1987 110 Workshop Manual and the Parts Catalogue, so now I’ve got another reference to see just how wrong I am!

Mike