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My '98 300 has caught tin worm :(


Guy H

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Hi All

After some advice. Sills are not bad really both rears ends are bad and the driver's front is shot and there is obviously a bit missing on the driver's floor.

So, do I patch up or box section them? The Disco isn't a pretty one - it's servicable tool (or was!!)

I've got to replace both rear crossmember mounts and a chunk of the underside of the xmember as well, but other than that it is pretty sound. The floor is ok for a while but the area that shocked me was the rear inner arches and back. As you can see from the pics, there is a bit of a hole :o

I've not really seen this before so was after thoughts as to the best way of dealing with it.

Driver's side is worse, I've removed the wheel arch already as there really wasn't anything left at the top, but from there backwards there is a large hole between the arch/floor and the vertical side.

HELP!!! I would really appreciate advices as to how do I deal with this area?

Sorry about the rubbish picture quality - taken on my phone with the sun setting certainly upsets it.

Cheers

Guy

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All depends on whether you can weld or not I suppose

Take it to a garage and you will have to take your donor card with to drop off and arm and leg.

It’s all reparable.

Patching and copious amounts of waxoil inside and out would keep you going for a year or two but once the tin worm has got hold the only way for a permanent repair is to cut it out and replace with good steel.

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I can weld - MIG & gas & I've also got a stick welder with TIG kit (but never used it), my fabrication skills are not great though.

I'd like to get it through the MOT so I can then repair 'at my leisure' rather than have it off the road for ages. I'm going to cut out all the rot in the rear body x-member and I have bought replacement parts for that. There are no back seats in it, so the rear arches are not so important BUT I'd like some pointers for repairing the bits over the arches and back.

Over the arch - do I repair the inner arch first the horizontal bit, but then how do I do the vertical bit - not sure I can cut a piece accurate enough to touch all the way round IYSWIM.

& what gauge of steel should I use the original (especially the rear vertical piece) is pretty thin, but it has the 'corrugations' in for strength.

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take a look here, mine was same...this is bible for what to do - all completly MOT friendly :)

Box section was 65 quid both sides delivered last Xmas for mine!...6 sheets of 1.8 thick steel for 20 quid(i think it was - i wanted to go thicker :) - cut the lot out - I never welded much before either - by using proper gas bottle with mig (not disposables - theyll cost 100s..)you start getting good seam welds after practice..

I enjoyed it that much, i was cutting anything out with light \ medium rust on in the end - i had to stop myself doing anymore :)

http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=16471

Rich

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I can weld - MIG & gas & I've also got a stick welder with TIG kit (but never used it), my fabrication skills are not great though.

I'd like to get it through the MOT so I can then repair 'at my leisure' rather than have it off the road for ages. I'm going to cut out all the rot in the rear body x-member and I have bought replacement parts for that. There are no back seats in it, so the rear arches are not so important BUT I'd like some pointers for repairing the bits over the arches and back.

Over the arch - do I repair the inner arch first the horizontal bit, but then how do I do the vertical bit - not sure I can cut a piece accurate enough to touch all the way round IYSWIM.

& what gauge of steel should I use the original (especially the rear vertical piece) is pretty thin, but it has the 'corrugations' in for strength.

if your not worryed about looks too much use more small bits insted of one big bit i find it much easyer to do when you've got curve or corners.

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Guy,

Your pictures are not perfect, but still very useful. Had a look at mine last night. I had realised that there was a void over the wheel arch in the C post, but I hadn't realised that it goes back over the wheel arch. Thank goodness mine is not in the state that yours is in. but your pictures made me investigate and get some treatment in there before it has rusted through.

I thought I knew most of the rust spots in a D1, but I didn't know of that one.

Ian

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I had realised that there was a void over the wheel arch in the C post, but I hadn't realised that it goes back over the wheel arch.

Yes, the wheel arch 'under the void was only being held in place by the rubber underseal :o - I now have a free floating 'C' pillar - not good.

The driver's side rear seatbelt mount is perfect, the n's one fell out. It hasn't been offroaded as there is no silt build up in the sills - in fact, other than the ends and the patch on the driver's floor they are in very good nick. Looking in from the rear end the inner sill looks almost perfect!!

Yet the back end has rotten out completely. The rear x-member whereas I thought I would get away with 2 new mounts and patches - once I got in there with a screw driver, the lower panel of the x-member, between the mounts was pretty non existant.

The top, under the 'step' covering is almost as new - original paint!! yet the o/s mount fell out once I had undone the bolt ...

I have received a new 'underneath' and new mounts from YRM - I have drilled all the spot welds and tomorrow should see the old half removed. I will try and take pics if anyone is interested.

I think that it has suffered from salt roads - it used to 'live' in the Lake District and I just think the salty water got under the underseal at all the panel joints and just rotted through. All the bad bits are directly in the line of the tyre spray.

Thanks for the advice everyone :)

Is 1.2mm sheet the 'normal size used for body repairs? 1.8 seems mighty thick and hard work

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If only the back is in a bad way it may have been used in a similar manner to the one owned by a bloke at the same place I worked at a few years ago. He would reverse the back of his discovery into the sea to launch & recover his speed boat. His view was that providing the engine was kept running to stop the sea water going up the exhaust it would be alright!

Ian

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We did the floor and rear x-member, on Oranges Rangie too: tech archive thread

The piece above the wheel arch was cut free hand using a plasma cutter, from a cardboard template.

enjoy

Mark

Thanks for the link - certainly useful :-) and persuaded me I'm not mad

Oh for a plasma cutter ...... I'm cutting the rot out with an air hammer and a panel chisel which works really well, may have a go with it on the new sheet, but it really needs something to work against to cut properly, and when it goes wrong it makes a bit of a mess.

Managed to remove the underneath of the x-member and the 2 rear mounts today :)

Need to make a decision about MIG gas this week - I'm undecided between Adams Gas and BOC Crawley (I presume they still do monthly rental)

.... thoughts anyone (I have read the tech thread Argoshield in the South East and they ended up with BOC)

The Adams gas bottle contain 60ltrs of gas - how far would that get me??

Right break over - try and clean up the underneath of the x-member ready for the new and chop out more rot

Guy

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Update on the rear body x-member

When I started it looked like the first photo and I thought I was going to get away with just new mounts

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- then I poked at the underseal with a screwdriver and found that the steel behind the underseal had long since departed the underseal gave way lol

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This the start of the poking - it got worse !! If you look in the hole you can see the original wax still on the upper part of the x-member!!

Drilled out all the spot welds, attacked it with the air saw and it came out pretty easily.

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So, ordered new mounts and underneath panel from YRM old and new - spot the difference.

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and it fits!! picture is self explanatory as to what you need to do I think, so no real point going through the steps of getting it in there.

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Note the reinforcing section inside.

You have to open up a flap each side to get the panel in - you could undo teh body and lift it, but I thought this way was easier - just weld it up again.

I'm impressed with the panel fit :-)

This might be useful so thought I'd post info that it can be done as I haven't seen it done before (just the bottom bit that is)

I'm guessing it's taken about 3 hours after the bumper was off, most of that drilling spot welds & cleaning it up.

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