Have some rust along the inside bottom edge of the tailgate. Will make good with the wire brush, rust treatment and smooth black Hammerite at some pointÂ…
 
That door will definitely be a hole when you grind off the rust,if your not getting a patch welded in, you will have to fiber glass it, then grind it off,then body filler,depending on the thickness of the filler you can use 40grit then 80grit,and to smooth the scratches out use 180grit,or you can use wet or dry to finish off,then prime or use spray putty,which is a primer but thicker,wet flat with 1200 wet or dry,clean up then paint & lacquer.you will get a dry edge on the lacquer if your not using a spray gun,if you are you will know you have to spray thinners on the lacquer edge to blend it in.

Chris
 
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That door will definitely be a hole when you grind off the rust,if your not getting a patch welded in, you will have to fiber glass it, then grind it off,then body filler,depending on the thickness of the filler you can use 40grit then 80grit,and to smooth the scratches out use 180grit,or you can use wet or dry to finish off,then prime or use spray putty,which is a primer but thicker,wet flat with 1200 wet or dry,clean up then paint & lacquer.you will get a dry edge on the lacquer if your not using a spray gun,if you are you will know you have to spray thinners on the lacquer edge to blend it in.

Chris

That is a brilliant response thank you. My inner lazy self is probably going to pay somone for doing all that now. I never have the time or patience to do a good job
 
i can not count my wifes freelander is 14 and a bit years old no rust on body work just bits underneith on things like tank holder

Our 2005 had a very rusty tank holder that needed treatment to hopefully avoid MOT problems in future years. Our 2003 tank holder is ok. I wonder if the initial finish on some of these bits could be poor. Bodywork on both cars is excellent.
 
That is a brilliant response thank you. My inner lazy self is probably going to pay somone for doing all that now. I never have the time or patience to do a good job
Make sure they wax oil in side the door,even if they weld a patch in.

Chris :)
 
What problems (if any) have people had with rust on there freelanders?

My sills are looking a bit fragile. Passed MOT this year but definatly wont last untill next. I was thinking of patching them but it will look naff with all the lumps and bumps so perhaps passing on a few pound notes to me mate to replace and paint 2x new sills on.

The bottom of me fish tank may be the next culprit too. Although that wont matter for the MOT and the rear corner of the doors are starting to go.

Might be worth getting the old girl sandblasted and waxoiled to prevent it getting any worse and chucking some old engine oil down the doors.

Does anyone else have problems with rust yet or is it just because my freelander came from the depths of the fens where they dont have proper tarmac roads and so no-one washes there cars

2000 V plate 3 door.
Mine is a 1999 freelander 1 petrol 5 door and I have quite a bit rust on the back door (quite a big hole behind the handle), another rust hole below the split in the back passenger windows, seems to be where water collects. I've just patched it up, using body filler after treating and painting over the rust. I haven't looked but I suspect the seal has gone and water is getting in behind the doors.
 
OMG I'm soooo sorry! I just didn't look at when it was posted, I just don't know why I did that have let everyone down I know, sorry, sorry sorry <sobs>
 
lol :)
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Shhhh, don't let anyone know but big rust holes under the boot door handle are common. Not unusual to have the handle come off in your hand too. :oops:
 
Mines a 2006 and I was told by my mechanic that there's loads of rust underneath. After that comment I got it waxoyled. Not happy with the way they done it either. Perhaps it's because mine is from Wales near the coast.
 
I've got the rust under the handle too. Looks like the three dowels that go through the holes are the weak point. They seem to corrode, and expand in doing so, which then puts pressure on the paint in the lip of the holes. Paint fractures, the acts as a little nasty damp trap, gradually getting worse, and unnoticed.

I'd say if you have any sign of dirt looking like it is coming down from the handle, check to see how much rust you have. I was quite shocked by how much was under mine, on what is otherwise a very clean vehicle.

When I fit the new handle. (Which I got when Rimmers were doing their 15% off weekends, making it a similar cost to the secondhand Ines), I'm either going to make sure those dowels are nicely waxoiled, of replace them with Stainless ones.

Other than that, I have some surface rust in patches underneath the vehicle, and on a few points lower down in the engine bay. This summer I will get dirty and do something about them to stop them getting worse. Dwalsh - what did they mess up on your WaxOyl job?
 
Mines a 2006 and I was told by my mechanic that there's loads of rust underneath. After that comment I got it waxoyled. Not happy with the way they done it either. Perhaps it's because mine is from Wales near the coast.

Possibly. My SE has more surface rust than my older V6. My SE spent lots of it life in Bristol, which is a bit of a rust hotspot.
 
Mine was well rotted. visibly nothing wrong, the thick paint was intact on the sills but the metal underneath was just mush.
Rear door handle wasnt great either.
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I must be lucky.

I have some surface rust underneath the car but as far as I am aware, no rust anywhere else on my TD4 2006.
 
Here is what was lurking behind the handle on mine...

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This had been cooking a while...
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The swollen bolts
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And finally, under the vehicle, some of the surface rust starting to appear.
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Fuel cradle is a lost cause though...
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All nice jobs to do this Summer!
 
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