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Newer Defender doors are made with steel skins as well as steel frames, so they don't suffer from galvanic corrosion between the two metals. Galvanised they would be quite long-lasting :)

However, good luck finding any! All the breakers I've spoken to have had waiting lists for them, and they go for about £250 a door. Plus shipping to the Bahamas for you!

I would be inclined to repair the current door frame and steel innards, have it galvanised and then fold a new aluminium skin over the top with a suitable seperation layer between. The reason being, if you folded the skins on and then galvanised the lot I'm not sure the galv would reach all parts of the frame (ie. where the skin is folded over). And if you galved both separately then folding the skin on would likely ruin the galvanising on the edges.

Fitment wise they're the same right back to Series II in terms of shape, but all push-button Defender doors have the same strikers (I believe) so that should line up OK.

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Ashtree are doing galvanised doors

Had 2 delivered up north a few weeks ago

front door which is the steel and aluminmium, galvanised and a rear door which is all steel and galvanised.

Havnt had time to do anything with them yet so still stuck in the boxes.

Mark

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What I've done with my drivers door is buy a new Post 06 door "shell" i.e. frame and skin, then "transplanted the inernals from my old door to this one. The main door plate fits but you need to make some brackets like this, I put new window slides in too as the old door they had deteriorated.

post-20087-041104500 1291803405_thumb.jpg

post-20087-043417500 1291803429_thumb.jpg

post-20087-063259300 1291803477_thumb.jpg

post-20087-040021000 1291803536_thumb.jpg

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Ashtree are doing galvanised doors

Had 2 delivered up north a few weeks ago

front door which is the steel and aluminmium, galvanised and a rear door which is all steel and galvanised.

Havnt had time to do anything with them yet so still stuck in the boxes.

Mark

When You unpack woould you be so kind and post some pictures and maybe price?

Regards

M

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Yes, I'd be interested to see how they've got around the galvanic corrosion problem on the front doors. If they've simply folded Aluminium skins round a galvanised steel frame then the doors will look just as **** as every other 2-year-old Defender in a matter of years!

I'm not entirely sure but I think mixing galvanised steel (so zinc) with aluminium is worse than mixing normal steel (in terms of galvanic compatibility and potential for corrosion), but it's been a while since GCSE chemistry!

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Maverik, looks like you have done a great job there :)

Where did you get your doors from, and is it an easy job to remove and refit the innards (door handles, locking mechanism, window channels etc)?

I actually got the door really cheap as a factory soiled item, had a small dint in the panel. (fleebay)

Swapping the bits over was relativly easy. the window "felt" slides are screwed into the frame using countersunk screw, it was a bit fiddly getting them out but not hard. the lock mechanism and handle just slip out when you un screw them. (if the door has had prior work - worth getting new screws for the latches)

You have to be systematic at putting it back together as some of the linkages between the door lock/opener can be fiddly but again quite doable.

I binned the old window slides as they where gone, ordered replacemnt ones from LR series. The door is a vast improvment on the Alu ones, the channel in the bottow is a lot more open so you can waxoil it, also got nice big drain holes to stop standing water.

As soon as summer comes around I'll be doing the drivers side door too, and sell the Alu door on.

Hopefully this will be worry free now.

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  • 11 months later...

The internals are different, the newer inner door plate bigger, it is wider with more pressed moulded attatchemnt brackets. hence to get it to fit you need to make up some new extender brackets as per my pictures.

The actual winder mechanism and window holder is also different for the later doors. i don't know for example if a later winding mechanism will fit an older inner door panel. but if you've got a set of push button doors already then just swap everything over and make a few brackets, failing that you;re in new teritory for me and might have to end up buying new inner door panles winding mechanisms and some other brackets... good luck finding an affordable inner door panel, i converted as above as i objected to paying dealer price and i couldn't find anything anywhere else.

Mav

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My money is on:

  1. Galvanised frames.
  2. Paint the hell out of the frames (and fill with wax later).
  3. Attach skin of choice, with an insulator between.
  4. Paint again in its entirety.

For the insulator I was planning on using 0.3mm PVC pond liner, as it's thin and waterproof, preventing any contact at all between skin and frame. For this reason I was going to use ali skins, saves them rusting out on me in 10 years.

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Certainly not! Galvanising it not invincible, and given that Defender door frames are a prime location for rust development (i.e. prone to water ingress and not 'outgress', plus no real airflow to dry them out), it will only put off the inevitable. Waxing them too will put it off that bit further :)

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thats all true but if its a 100% air tight then there's no problem? when the galv'ed disappears(how ever is does?) the the doors will still have 15-20 left! filling the doors of wax in going to be quite a bit of dead weight? and to insert it would involve drilling it, which would then decrease its lift expectancy surly?

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The doors aren't air-tight. The water gets in from above (past the waist seal which is a bit of a rubbish design due to the shape of the door) and is supposed to run out of drain holes in the bottom channel. When these holes cease to drain due to getting blocked up with rubbish etc. the water just sits there. So no need to drill it, just inject the wax through the existing drain holes in the bottom and the fixing holes for window channels etc. at the top.

Galvanising is a sacrificial coating, which means that the zinc corrodes in preference to the metal. How long the zinc layer lasts depends on how thick it is, which is why you get different levels of galvanising for different applications. Handrails or fences on the beach for example would benefit from a thicker coating!

As for the weight, Defender doors are far too light anyway in my opinion (another benefit of steel skins I guess) so a bit of extra weight wouldn't go amiss.

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thats all true but if its a 100% air tight then there's no problem? when the galv'ed disappears(how ever is does?) the the doors will still have 15-20 left! filling the doors of wax in going to be quite a bit of dead weight? and to insert it would involve drilling it, which would then decrease its lift expectancy surly?

I doubt he actually means totally fill it as it would ooze out on hot days and be a nightmare, probably means generously spray. I doubt weight would be an issue.

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My money is on:

  1. Galvanised frames.
  2. Paint the hell out of the frames (and fill with wax later).
  3. Attach skin of choice, with an insulator between.
  4. Paint again in its entirety.

For the insulator I was planning on using 0.3mm PVC pond liner, as it's thin and waterproof, preventing any contact at all between skin and frame. For this reason I was going to use ali skins, saves them rusting out on me in 10 years.

Exactly what I am doing, except I have got hold of a set of steel skins. Well actually I still need the O/S front, but that's a different story!

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Not sure why folk on here want to fit the old style doors and not the latest steel versions.

Having a new one of each sort on my car I can say the later one is as cheap a fabrication as you will ever find but... it is perfectly good at what it is designed for whereas the old style door is very much not.

So unless you are building something that needs to be correct in every detail just buy the latest steel doors and if well painted and waxoyld they will last for a lot longer than the old style.

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