Me Disco's a wee bit rusty...

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Clarky130

Clarky130

New Member
Posts
3,957
Location
Chippenham, UK
Started stripping out the back of my Disco to fit my LPG kit, and found this:

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Currently wire-wheeling the edges of the boot floor to find the spot welds so I can drill them out. Boot floor's coming out, but the majority of what's on the side panels is superficial surface rust... what do we think... new side panels, or treat the superficial stuff and plate where necessary?

Where is recommended to get new boot floor?
 
IMO rip it all out and do it in one job that's what I ended up doing building up the bits to do the front inner wings
 
gazdav said:
IMO rip it all out and do it in one job that's what I ended up doing building up the bits to do the front inner wings
Click to expand...

That's what my thinking's leaning towards, Gaz... mechanically she's in great shape, the chassis's in good order... even the rear crossmember ain't too bad (but standing by for better inspection once I get the floor out!) so I do want to keep her. I think leaving her standing idle for so long is what's accelerating the rust, hence why I'm fitting the LPG so I can afford to drive her more than just once in a while!
 
I've just done the boot floor and 2 side panels that go round the arches... put a few days aside - I sanded back and hammerited the chassis from the top whilst I was at it and whilst i had the boot floor out treated the cross members (they were solid so just painted them up) Just got a few finishing touches to do when the weather gets nicer then gonna underseal it all aswell to be safe... its rewarding when everythings back in and its all solid!

My next job is new seals all round to try stop water coming in - waste of a job imo otherwise! Get yer grinder out!! :p
 
Just been looking at panels, and where all the seams go and what welds to what...

Looks like I can't just cut out the side panels and weld the replacements over the top, as they have lips on them that point downwards... how do you get the old ones out? (And yes, I've scanned through a few of the build threads but can't find one where somebody replaced the entire side panels as well as the floor...

This is the set I'm looking at: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVE...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item564766cf01
 
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I didn't personally weld my panels back in - got a mate to do it for me as my weldings a left a little to be desired still... I drilled out around the arches and ground it all back nice and flat elsewhere and he just spot welded it back in to the side panels and onto the lip that comes off the arches - takes time and a lot of patience/care to keep the weld points in tact.
 
Looks like you may have to do the inner arches as there holed through close to the seat belt mount. that or patch them but it would be easer to replace than to patch tbh. You may also want to check the cills.
 
Sills are next up to check... although a quick poke around underneath didn't reveal anything untoward... we shall see.

I'll definitely be sorting the inner arches as well - although I can't find any inner arch replacement panels advertised (I've looked at a few sites).

Think I've settled on what to do with the side floors - YRM do a 'blank' panel with the boot floor lip on it that can be cut as required, such as to go around the arch, and they're pretty cheap at £17-odd. Plus, what i cut out can be used for patches, so i think I'm gonna head that way. Odd, though, that YRM don't seem to advertise an actual replacement boot floor panel...??
 
gazdav said:
I replaced the arches after I started to grind back the paint. This ended up with me chancing lines of rust so I gave up and cut them out got them from here.

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 1 R/H REAR INNER WHEELARCH REPAIR & SEAT BELT ANCHOR POINT | eBay

It was still a mater of cutting and welding it in but it looks good when it's in.
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Doesn't look like that'll deal with the part at the bottom where the arch meets the floor... was thinking more along the lines of a complete arch that replaces the whole thing.

Right, decision made - no point in theorising or pontificating - I'm just gonna attack it with the angle grinder and cut out every rusted bit there is, and see what's left - THEN decide how to go about fixing it...

...something tells me I'm gonna regret this, though :scratching_chin: :eek:
 
Welder arrived today... Wolf Weld 140, with a full kit of bits, £150 from amazon - not bad for a bottom-end mig that'll do 135 amps I suppose...

Anyway, nice to see I've not lost my touch and my welding is up to it's usual standard....

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1341948582.556104.jpg

ie...sh*te!!!! This is going to get interesting....

How far should I be holding the torch from the job? Seem to be having alot of trouble maintaining an arc... If I get the torch REALLY close, the arc seems alot steadier... But then the shroud obscures the arc & weld pool and I can't see where to go properly. It runs from 30-135 amps and have it on the middle setting... Wire speed middling-to-high, and when I do get the arc steady I get great penetration...

I'm pulling, rather than pushing - the shroud catches on the bead if I push. Working one-handed at the moment (auto-dark mask on order) - have to hold torch at 45 deg angle to see weld pool and rest shroud on job - any further away and the arc won't maintain...
 
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Clarky130 said:
Doesn't look like that'll deal with the part at the bottom where the arch meets the floor... was thinking more along the lines of a complete arch that replaces the whole thing.

Right, decision made - no point in theorising or pontificating - I'm just gonna attack it with the angle grinder and cut out every rusted bit there is, and see what's left - THEN decide how to go about fixing it...

...something tells me I'm gonna regret this, though :scratching_chin: :eek:
Click to expand...

I'm in the last stages of rebuilding the back end of my RRC, you can't get inner wheel arches, I looked long and hard, I even phoned MM4x4 who listed them but was told they can't get them any more, MPS don't list them anymore either. I had to repair one of mine so just cut it out with the trusty angry grinder then patched it up. Joint to floor is right fiddly, also make sure you have something to bolt the mudflap brackets to.

On boot floor side panels, I was surprised to find on the Rangie dead easy if you need to get in there, the nasty bit was where I replaced the rear cross member, there is an awkward fold that is spot welded to the top of the cross member, part can be cut out with an angle grinder but the rest was done with a cold chisel and hammer. Overall side panels are actually O.K. to patch. Do check the floor edge supports though, I found it was easiest to cut along the side of the floor panel and then buy the side skirt rails from YRM - makes life much easier, you don't need to mess about drilling out all the spot weld along the sides.

HTH
 
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