Hey Everyone, hope you're all well.
Need a quick bit of advice with some paintwork for my Defender 90 TD5

The paintwork underneath the windscreen in front of the driver is peeling quite considerably. Have attached a picture so you can see. This is the only bit of the truck i'm worried about paint wise - as from the front it does draw your eye to that particular area as it is quite bad.

I've had a chat with my local Defender guy whose paintwork shop has advised to paint the whole of the front - to make sure it colour matches. I just need these little bits done under the windscreen but don't want to pay £750 - £1000 to get the front done.

Can anyone advise if you think it would look ok just to get the bits done underneath the windscreen? ( please see the photos ) -
Does anyone know anyone who could do this for me? Don't mind driving at all - so if anyone could help please could you let me know? Any help would be most appreciated!!

Also at the moment there are some silver vents which are coming off - but i want to take off the silver chequer plates - my question to all of you who may have taken them off before - will it leave some nasty marks? I'd put rivets in there to cover the holes up - but do you think the paintwork would be ok?

Thanks for the advice in advance - just want to get it looking back to how she would have been before some t**t decided to decorate it and turn it into a Mitsubishi Pajero!! lol!

Look forward to hearing from you

If its only the vent flaps that need doing, do them yourself with a rattle can. Rub down to bare metal and etch prime. I wonder if is was etch primed before? perhaps that is why its peeling? Incidentally, i finally chose oslo blue for mine when i get round to it. Is yours metalic or solid?

Hi Mick thanks for the reply. Pretty sure it's metalic. I'm going to go with your suggestions and rattle can it - paint costs go through the roof anyway - so i think to bring her back to life and spruce her up a bit - going to powder coat the existing chequer plating black - and going to rattle can those vents! Oslo blue is a great colour!!!

It's a shame your so far away, I'm a painter up north and would of helped. I don't know what the prices are like down there, but painting 2 vent flaps shouldn't cost much more than £100/£130. Bearing in mind they have to sort out someone else's poor prep work. Take it to a local body shop and tell them you just want the vents painting and are willing to run the risk with the colour. Being such a dark colour any slight variation won't be as noticeable as it would be with a silver or white vehicle. Or the other option is do it yourself with a rattle can.

As for the chequer plate, You might be able to remove them and polish up underneath, but it all depends how long it's been on there, I've taken mine off ready to repaint the wings and the plate as worn through the old paintwork on the edges (must be the vibration that's caused it). So worst case would be to repaint both wing tops.

I have a Cairns Blue 2005 TD5 and the paint is flaking off the vent flaps on mine too, although not as bad as yours.
Maybe it was not done properly at the factory.
l'd just take off and spray the vent flaps as suggested above. Mine's not that bad at the moment but l'll get to it this Summer.

Ash2304 said:

It's a shame your so far away, I'm a painter up north and would of helped. I don't know what the prices are like down there, but painting 2 vent flaps shouldn't cost much more than £100/£130. Bearing in mind they have to sort out someone else's poor prep work. Take it to a local body shop and tell them you just want the vents painting and are willing to run the risk with the colour. Being such a dark colour any slight variation won't be as noticeable as it would be with a silver or white vehicle. Or the other option is do it yourself with a rattle can.

As for the chequer plate, You might be able to remove them and polish up underneath, but it all depends how long it's been on there, I've taken mine off ready to repaint the wings and the plate as worn through the old paintwork on the edges (must be the vibration that's caused it). So worst case would be to repaint both wing tops.

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Hi Ash
Thank you so much for the reply. Really appreciate the advice regarding the work to be done. luckily have found a 4X4 specialist in defenders who are gonna spruce her up for me. They've ordered the oslo blue paint and they are just gonna rattle can it - which will make it look so much better than it does now! I just don't feel confident doing it - and the chap there has done it before - so hopefully will look ok!!

Regarding the chequer plate - they're gonna take them off - and have a look what it's like underneath
The 4x4 guys' contacted their local powder coater - and apparently to respray those two silver chequer plates will cost £90.00 - which isn't too bad i suppose
( seeing as i was gonna buy new ones - and he said mine are trickier to find as their slightly wider than most - and the holes have been drilled already and are in really good condition ) - I'm going to let them take take the chequer plates off - see what it looks like underneath - if it's okay - might just get them to put rivets in and leave them - or save up a little bit to get them powder coated!!!

lightning said:

I have a Cairns Blue 2005 TD5 and the paint is flaking off the vent flaps on mine too, although not as bad as yours.
Maybe it was not done properly at the factory.
l'd just take off and spray the vent flaps as suggested above. Mine's not that bad at the moment but l'll get to it this Summer.

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Hi Lightening - thanks for the reply - i think so - i have a feeling it might not have been done properly at the factor - but as above -- hopefully they'll do a good job and they'll be okay with a rattle can job!
Will post up some pictures of the work once they've done their bits - and we'll see what it looks like!

Thank you both for the comments above - extremely grateful!!

No worries! Not a bad idea getting them powdercoated. Will make them look brand new again. I've just prepped and painted mine black and the prep work was so tedious But I've saved myself some money I guess.

At a guess they may have been replaced or painted before, if it hasn't gone back down to the bare metal and just the colour is coming off, either the primer wasn't properly keyed before base coat or it wasn't completely dry, either results in peeling paint.

Get some pictures up when you're done!

If the chequer plate is currently plain silver bare metal and you are removing it anyway you could paint it yourself very easily and cheaply. Just give is a good wash and de-grease, a coat of etch primer and then a coupe of coats of black machine/tractor enamel. I did mine with a roller about a year ago and it still looks good and shows no sign of coming off.
I may be biased however as I really hate powder coating and have had nothing but bad experiences with it when it chips and water gets underneath, particularity if it is a steel part and then rust away nicely out of sight.

Ash2304 said:

No worries! Not a bad idea getting them powdercoated. Will make them look brand new again. I've just prepped and painted mine black and the prep work was so tedious But I've saved myself some money I guess.

At a guess they may have been replaced or painted before, if it hasn't gone back down to the bare metal and just the colour is coming off, either the primer wasn't properly keyed before base coat or it wasn't completely dry, either results in peeling paint.

Get some pictures up when you're done!

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Hi Ash - thanks for the message! Yeah i'm kinda thinking that powder coating will be good as it will make them look brand new! I just want to tidy her up- do really love her - so i think it will make such a huge difference - was it pretty tedious getting it done? I was thinking about getting it done myself - but there is the patience level - and of course time!!!!! How do they look now?
I have a feeling you're right - maybe wasn't keyed before base coat !!

Will def post some pictures up before / after and show you what it looks like!!!!!
('i'm thinking about possibly doing those chequer plates myself now!!!! )

dag019 said:

If the chequer plate is currently plain silver bare metal and you are removing it anyway you could paint it yourself very easily and cheaply. Just give is a good wash and de-grease, a coat of etch primer and then a coupe of coats of black machine/tractor enamel. I did mine with a roller about a year ago and it still looks good and shows no sign of coming off.
I may be biased however as I really hate powder coating and have had nothing but bad experiences with it when it chips and water gets underneath, particularity if it is a steel part and then rust away nicely out of sight.

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Hi Dag, thanks for the message
Yeah the chequer plating is currently silver - i think ( with the above post too ) - i'm thinking about doing it myself now - i reckon a few coats of machine enamel may well do the job! I know they've quoted me £90.00 - and that probably might be good - ( more ease of getting it done more than anything else ) - but i think it could work well!

Yeah i'm not sure too - i think to be honest - hadn't thought of anything else except powder coating before - but as you say it might just be easier doing it yourself - and of course getting to save £90.00 which is always a bonus!

Thanks for the reply - really grateful for the headsup!! Shall have a think on what to do! Just need them back to black!!!

If you decide to spray the chequer plate yourself but are nervous of the result, just think"prep". its all about the prepwork. as already said, clean the plate thoroughly and make sure you etch prime. As with that and the finish coat, better to put many thin coats on than a few heavy ones. The other bonus for you is you can lay them flat avoiding runs, the curse of all spraying. Also, make sure to shake cans well and keep your pressing finger away from the hole or you will get a build up of paint on the end of you finger which you wont realise until iy drips on the panel, sounds daft but ask me how I know

mick the builder said:

If you decide to spray the chequer plate yourself but are nervous of the result, just think"prep". its all about the prepwork. as already said, clean the plate thoroughly and make sure you etch prime. As with that and the finish coat, better to put many thin coats on than a few heavy ones. The other bonus for you is you can lay them flat avoiding runs, the curse of all spraying. Also, make sure to shake cans well and keep your pressing finger away from the hole or you will get a build up of paint on the end of you finger which you wont realise until iy drips on the panel, sounds daft but ask me how I know

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Hi Mick - thanks for the heads up - i'm learning more now about 'prep' than i ever have done before - that makes alot of sense - etch priming too! Will bear that in mind about thin coats oppose to heavy one - and of course keep the pressing finger away!! Ideally would possibly like someone to do it for me if possible - or more ''have a go together'' haha - but will have to find someone mad enough to help!!

I've said to the guys who are working on it this weekend rather than powder coating - could they just be sprayed - we'll see whether or not they're happy to spray them - if not - i may have to find a suitable recruit - and ply them with alcohol and a few notes - ( although saying that - alcohol and keeping pressing fingers away from the hole are probably a bad mix!!!!!

It doesn't necessarily have to be sprayed. Like I said, I did mine with a foam gloss roller. (I actually did the whole vehicle with a roller) but the chequer plate has a better finish on than the body panels. I think because it is textured to start with you don't get the roller texture on it. But there is no skill required at all if you go down this route.

dag019 said:

It doesn't necessarily have to be sprayed. Like I said, I did mine with a foam gloss roller. (I actually did the whole vehicle with a roller) but the chequer plate has a better finish on than the body panels. I think because it is textured to start with you don't get the roller texture on it. But there is no skill required at all if you go down this route.

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Thanks for the reply Dag - someone mentioned that to me before about foam gloss rollers - thanks for the advice! At the moment, it's in the workshop and i think they're going to check out what it's like underneath when the chequer plate is removed in a couple of hours ( will update and post some pictures ) - there could be some nasty suprises underneath - but we shall see- and then go from there. Going to have a look in a couple of hours and will update with some pictures!!

Ok quick update....

Went down to the workshop this afternoon and had some great news - where the chequer plates have been taken off - the surface underneath is really good - no horrible marks and scratches - it's in really good nick - so decided to leave it for now. The workshop has put some black rivets where the holes were - and i think it looks quite smart.

- I purchased some bits for it which the garage are doing today . 1) Chequer plating has now completely come off . 2) Silver air intakes are gone and have replaced with some brand new KBX High Force Air Intakes which i think look really smart - (will put some pictures below ) - 3) Headlight surrounds and grill - the existing ones in silver have come off - and they've replaced it with original black ones - 4) Taking all the LED lights off that the guy had done before - and putting originals back on (minus the indicator light lenses in orange - going to replace those ones with clear )

Have taken some pictures and will add them below. They are yet to fit the lights - and as you can see, they've stripped off those panels where they are going to do that painting underneath the drivers window - they've purchased the original Oslo blue pain - few rattle cans and a touch up brush - and he's doing an amazing job - better pictures of the whole job will post up on Monday.....

But here's what she looks like so far - first picture on top is a before and after... and the other one is a bit of a close up of the chequer plating having been taken off, black rivets and the new KBX air vents! Hope you like them!!