Riverside Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Hi all, I've been using this forum for ages, have always found the help I've needed, so here is my first posting. I've had my early 300TDi,auto, reg March 94, 5 years. It's my second Landy, the 2.6l 109 1 ton, 76 vintage went some 10 years ago. MOT time, there is a 12" hole in the bottom of the OS sill, both rear wheel arch outers resemble cheesegraters, the rear body crossmember is very poor on the NS, also rust in the rear body post and boot floor edge in this area, the OS , just the crossmember end and body mount area is a bit crusty. At the front,OS, the inner wing to battery box is missing about 2" of panel! On the brighter side, boot floor, NSF inner wing, NS sill, chassis etc is sound. The bubbling bottoms of the doorskins, and minor cosmetic probs I can sort/live with. The steering box has always been leaky, droparm damp, it never gets worse, used about 1l of oil in 5 years. Now the aircon wont come on, low pressure refrigerant pressure I reckon, as all the electrics test out ok. So, guess the old thing is pretty well worthless to anyone but me. I'd like to get another couple of years use from her before the scrapman gets it. Plenty of life in the mechanicals yet! I'm no welder, but I do have a mate of a mate who is. What would be a fair price for the welding job? Would a new replacement rear body crossmember be easier/cheaper? I guess it's hard price without actually seeing the damage. Just a ballpark figure would help, it's years since I last had to have any welding done. Scrap or Save! Cheers, Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiman Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Hi Mate i'm no welder but again got a mate who is and althougth I have only just bought a disco he did a lot of welding on my Suzuki deal I had with him one he do me a favour I would do him one back and I paid for the metal required I know both paddocks and mm 4x4 do all the panels mentioned if you look on both websites you would be able to decide who has best price if you decide the tdi is scrap then you could try and break it engine axles boxes lights wheels seats doors tailgate etc all worth money personally I would keep it and get it done regards Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Hi, I am not going to answer your question, but may be able to give you an idea of why it is such a difficult one... The car sounds pretty bad to me - and if that is what you have found, then there is probably a lot more you will find once you start repairing it. I speak from personal experience of replacing just about all of my RRC bodywork that falls within a foot of any lower extremity of the vehicle. When I first started mine I got a quote of £800 from a local body-shop to do only the sills (I think he knew something I didn't) and so I 'employed' a mate of a mate to do them (they were the only MoT fail point) and after half a day knocking holes, he ran off screaming and was never seen again... So I started it myself and that was over 2 years ago... I guess what I am saying is that if I was a professional welder making a living doing cars and knowing about RRC/Disco rust, I would probably walk away or quote something silly. Sorry to sound so down about this - but Hey! It's only the biased opinion of one back-street-bodger. Finger crossed, yours may well be fine and a simple job. Best of luck with it and sorry I didn't answer the question! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 To give you an idea... Range Rover Classic..... both sills, bottoms of door pillars, rear body crossmember, boot floor, floor supports, wheelarches, floor panel in front footwell, some inner wing work at the front..... I paid about £350 for materials and consumables (i.e. gas, wire, grinder discs etc). It took the best part of 6 working days to do the repairs from start to finish. This was with 2 of us doing the cleaning, grinding, cutting, fitting. Only one welder (I am medically inept) and only me doing the clean-up work and painting afterwards. We used a floor and crossmember from a much earlier vehicle found in a scrap yard and sills made from box section, so 'parts' costs were minimal and what metal we had for patches etc came from a friendly local forge, so again, costs were minimised. My threads on doing the work are below and as Mr 'n' Sheds (how many has he got at the moment??) has already said, the rust will always be much more widespread that you can see from first glance... Range Rover Sill replacement Floor and crossmember replacement Not the sort of thing I would have undertaken without having the help of someone who knows what they are doing and had done similar work before. I certainly wouldn't relish the thought of sending it to a garage to have the work done. I also don't relish the thought, god forbid, that the welding looks perfectly good once it's done, cleaned and painted, but isn't actually holding much together because the garage have rushed/bodged/cut corners to make a bit more profit by saving a couple of hours. Unless the vehicle has sentimental value (not just cos you've had it 5 years), then I would be tempted to get some estimates for the work, then use that 'fee' as an estimated budget for a replacement. You can also get good money for bits on your vehicle, so that too can add to your replacement fund... Hopefully you don't feel too disheartened. If you want a project and can afford for the vehicle to be off the road while you do it, then do it, but if it's the daily drive and time is tight before the MoT runs out, I would expect there to be only one outcome... Adrian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Just to build on What Orange said above, The rear body cross member on a discovery is different to a Rangie, but is available as a replacement if required. I would that thoguht that if all you want is a couple more years (rather than repairing for the long term) then mot of the problems you mention could be patched up. I have no idea on what it would cost you to have it done. To be fair, it would probably cost you a lot less in financial terms to buy a welder and learn to weld though! This may be a longer term option though, and you don't say how quickly you need the vehicle back on the road. Don't be scared of Orange's pictures. We went as far as we could with that car, as we didn't want to be doing it again. I had already done similar on my discovery, so it was not entirely un-charted territory for me. It could probably have been patched to last a couple more years with far less comprehensive cutting... hth Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 ... as Mr 'n' Sheds (how many has he got at the moment??) ... Adrian Strangely the number of sheds is decreasing - the Peugeot went to the bay of E with all known faults listed and made a remarkable £300 and the Disco went to the crusher to make room for a rather nice BMW316i which I was given !! . So this leaves only the RRC (immobile shed) and the Honda CBR600 (daily commuter shed). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverside Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 Hi All, Thanks for all the replies. I've been underneath today, with a big hammer and various pointy steel tools and done some serious probing. Apart from the crusty areas mentioned, everything is very sound. Thought it best to seek out as much rot as possible so that the welder guy who is looking it over tomorrow can see the worst. I'm feeling quite confident he can save it! Had some very encouraging reports of his work and prices in the village pub tonight. Three sheds. You might like to know I live 100 yds from the site of Wesleys shed. His cottage is opposite me. The shed was taken down about 5 years ago. The series landrovers used in the filming were a very common site to me years back. My old 109 is in at least one episode too. I guess the old bus is a bit special to me, we've done 50k miles, France, remote places in NW Scotland etc etc. It may be past its best, but it has been totally reliable, I love driving it, its up there with my two 27 year old Moto Guzzi motorbikes as pretty damn good fun to use, easy and generally cheap to fix and so bloody useful! Cheers, Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverside Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 The old thing is home with a nice new MOT. Only the sill needed welding and my back street mechanic (in the Fred Dibnah sense) fitted it in between other mundane cars, a bit here and a bit there! I've sorted the wheelarches myself, not structural so the VOSA man said, as well away from the seat belt and door catch areas. Likewise the rear crossmember was solid in the mount point areas and far enough outboard of them including most of where it joins the boot floor to pass. So I am going to cut out the remaining rusty metal and rustproof what is left to make it last a bit longer and glass over the few holes to make it look tidy. My mechanic suggests waxoyling the problem areas myself to put off the inevitable for a couple of years more, its not worth doing the whole thing professionally. I wish I had done it 5 years ago. Cheers all, Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 its up there with my two 27 year old Moto Guzzi motorbikes as pretty damn good fun to use, easy and generally cheap to fix and so bloody useful! Hmm - exactly why I chose a Guzzi to take me and the (then) missus to Africa and back in the early 80's. Fabulous machine - wish I still had it! I sold it (in bits) for £50 10 years ago when disparate for cash... Mine was an SP3 1000, what are yours? Mind if I pop over and drool over them one evening? p.s. Glad to hear I was wrong about the car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverside Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 Hmm - exactly why I chose a Guzzi to take me and the (then) missus to Africa and back in the early 80's. Fabulous machine - wish I still had it! I sold it (in bits) for £50 10 years ago when disparate for cash... Mine was an SP3 1000, what are yours? Mind if I pop over and drool over them one evening? p.s. Glad to hear I was wrong about the car! Hi Three sheds. I know the SP3, fully faired touring beastie, you dont see many of them. I have a LM850, very modified from stock, and a V50 Monza. The 850 is going to Wester Ross for it's holidays shortly! Pop in when you are in the area by all means, but give me a bit of warning so that I can hide the Disco! Only joking! Sadly, the Disco is getting to the stage of being uneconomic to restore, a shame as mechanically it is sound. At least it will last at least a couple more years. I have neither the space, skill, or money to sort it properly, so eventually someone is going to get a bargain 300tdi engine, gearboxes etc etc. But you never know. When I had an old Spitfire mk111, you could get bits easily from scrap yards, then I sold it for £200 complete with 2 hardtops and a spare set of wire wheels as the body was past saving. Someone saved it though as I check every year on dvla and it gets taxed for the summer! Cheers, Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Wester Ross = Torridon? The best biking country ever - have been up there a couple of times with mates on bikes and the only thing I regret is not taking more photos, but then you just don't want to stop! (Unless it's to turn around and repeat the odd stretch of road ) LR content? I have always wanted to take the RRC up there and just spend a week touring and sleeping in the car. Just me, the Land Rover, Memory Map, and the dog. Heaven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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