My first Defender 300tdi that I bought in September has rusty doors. I only bought it fir the winter and the dogs but I’ve fell for it and use it as my daily driver Great cars
The doors of my 1995 110 Station Wagon were suffering rust and aluminum corrosion. A repair would be a nightmare and original replacements are expensive, so I decided to replace the 4 doors by Series Type (split top-bottom) doors. Ordered them at sp4x4 in UK and they came as a full set including cappings. These doors are galvanised so will not rot anymore. Right now I am in the proces installing the doors. The sliding windows and lift up handles are looking great. Can’t wait for summer to take the tops of. Take care in Canada and thank you for all your postings. Kind regards from The Netherlands.
just done one of my door frames (front passenger side) following one of your previous vodeos. when i took it apart, the frame was super rotten, not just the bottom but the mid sectoon and sides. fortunately, its a hobby vehicle so i could take the door off for a few weeks, cut out and weld in lots of new steel, then soak for a week in a phosphoric acid bath to get any final internal rust, before cold galvanising it all. planning to reassemble it this weekend and was going to wrap the frame in packing film so no contact with the aluminium skin that i am only putting back on due to not wanting a mismatch on the overall patina. wouldnt have got this far without your videos Mike so many thanks and keep up the good work. merry christmas
I cut my teeth repairing doors on classic cars - hugely complex forms, head melting stuff - compared to them, Defender/Series doors are a walk in the park. You need 25mm/1" box iron & some flat 1mm steel sheet - you can make everything out of those. One thing you do need is a very good sandblaster. It will cut everything back to good bare metal so you can re-build off a solid base. Beyond that, believing Defender doors are hard to repair, well you never did a 1970's Hilux door so. Those are hard - Defenders are in comparison a total & utter doddle. Heat is your friend when opening/closing the door skin folds - that common spot you had your finger on - it's a matter of building back the rusted steel using the mig - takes only a few minutes. My own honest opinion is that unless you have a very decent blaster that can take both the ally & the steel back to clean bare metal everywhere, you're on a hiding to nothing - but if you do, they are hugely repairable. My own "go to" for rebonding the steel to the skin is Orkon adhesive - it's crazy expensive but also crazy good. I have my own recipe "anti-rust" spray that I spray into all the cavities - after years of buying rubbish, I made my own that works better. Another "Must" is to remove absolutely everything before even going near repairs - every nut, bolt, latch, hinge, seal, glass, guide, rivet & trim - get the door down to the absolute bare metal - work back from there. Also, use crushed glass in your blaster - not sand. Crushed glass will give a brilliant finish on the ally panels, sand will leave it like the surface of the moon. You can prime straight off the crushed glass finish & it will lay on smooth as - no amount of sanding will even get close to the surface you can achieve. Use a 2-pack epoxy primer - give the cheap stuff a miss - there's no point preparing everything nicely then ruining it using rubbish paint - use the good stuff - but above all, get stuck in. You can repair them - you just have to get stuck into the process. My 2c. :-)
Ive just repaired my rear door, peeled the skin and put chopped up plastic bottles between ally & steel bonds. Also CT1 silicone is a good barrier. Both my 2nd row doors or shot but £££££££. I'm going to watch your reskinning vids when I get round to repairing them.
i dont mean to be so offtopic but does someone know a method to log back into an Instagram account? I was stupid lost my login password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me!
@Leon Kingsley Thanks for your reply. I found the site on google and im trying it out atm. I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
I’m a bit of a sentimentalist unfortunately Mike, every dent and mark on my old Land Rover tells a story... my drivers door has a big dent in it where a good friend and work mate fell into it drunk, he’s not with us anymore unfortunately...It’s now part of the vehicle so I’ve been welding that door up for a few years now but it really is bloody hopeless... they don’t last long before the welds crack or the rust gets back into them! Like you said, the best way is to prevent it in the first place
Pill Sharks very true. My drivers door has a big patch of paint missing where the next door neighbour decided to pull it all off! Fingernails clagged with green paint and she denied everything .... Oh how I cried
With the way they are nicking doors and bonnets in U.K. I will not buy used or salvage doors here now. Having had a defender stolen I know the pain it causes. John Craddock LTD sell front row doors brand new for what a second hand set would cost
Sad to say all my doors show the exact same corrosion as your example Mike. I’ve purchased the boot bottoms ready to install and the upper interior frame for the front doors as they crack. Am going to try and repair the upper rear door frame at the window corner. Not looking forward to it but at £800 for a door vs maybe £100 for parts and my time I’ve got try try. All the best Mat
I got rear ended 18yrs ago and the insurance replaced the rear door. Now I had fitted an aluminium door card to the original with rivnuts to support the frame knowing that they tend to break with spare on the back. I was pleased to find the door had all the additional reinforcement used on the defenders. I took the card off the replacement door a few months back to find the insurance/garage hadn't swapped the reinforcement over :( and it's cracked in all the usual places now. Bit late to have a go at them for it. On another note, any chance you could do those measurements for setting the B/C pillar spacing from the rear tub.
@@BritannicaRestorations Ahh if only it were that easy... All that will be original on my tub will be the fuel filler side skin the 'wing tops' and drop to floor/load bed. I am replacing all the floor, the fore most upstand, (from the 2nd row floor) the sloped bits the seat clips and zigzag supports sit on as well as the B/C pillars/sills. This is more than 'trigger broom' job, I think the only original items may be the steering column, the axles/diffs, fuel lines, windscreen frame and the fuse box cover, oh and the second row of seat!
what is your opinion on the lower door seals? My 110 had the ones mounted on the sills, I ditched them years ago and never bothered with anything other than thicker socks. I'm trying to decide on the rebuild if I do seals on the sills or door bottoms.
Hey mike make a video regarding door cards repair as they hang off. Or maybe a video of removing door card. Whilst its off do basic repairs and pimping and injecting oil, paint then hanging the door cards back on
acf 50 ... good enough for helicopters . more than good enough for land rovers , even when they are half way rotten , which is usually just as they are leaving the factory. it will stop rust , it wont fix it , but it will stop it getting worse as long as you stick with it. till folk realise this needs sorted from day one , ill keep welding them , land rovers are a never ending source of income for a good welder and with doors at a thousand pounds each , i can certainly repair them for you ,,, but its not going to be cheap.
Well, we have no MOT in Quebec, so nothing is inspected, however IF you import a car that has perspex or plexiglass windows it will not pass Canada import inspection - they want glass So I am not sure - we do not see a market for fibreglass kit cars like the UK here as most of the cars have rusted away and cars are cheap here Anyway I saw a company making fibreglass doors but they stopped making them - do a Google for them - maybe a problem with getting them to fit right? A steel door can be twisted to fit the body!
@@BritannicaRestorations ok thank you i see secondhand puma doors for sale here butt no good td5 doors mine are rotten at the bottom i am a welder butt one must have parts to fix it to start with if i had it i will fix it
G'Day Mike. I'm going to have to swap out my 2nd row right side door, I'm contemplating going with a galvanised Puma door, its expensive but........ Then I saw your 130's SQUARE bottomed 2nd row doors an I was like, "Me likey likey" and since then I've been searching like crazy for them but still aint found nothing :( lol
Hi, there is a company in Liverpool uk they trade under spg, they make lots of different landrover door frames, all galvanised, kind regards phil have a great christmas
@@philparr2724 G'Day Phil, I think you mean this mob yeah : www.sp-4x4.com/ I still don't see a 2nd row SQUARED off bottom door. but thanks anyway, I already have this lot bookmarked And a Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you an yours as well.
Maybe because I custom made them? On my 130 crew cab I had no doors so I chopped and welded several knackered mid and front doors to mask mine - Needs must old boy! Lol! All the best! Mike
@@BritannicaRestorations DOHHH, NOW you tell me Mike, last time I asked you about them, you mentioned something about 'Some old Military units came like that" or some such, unless I'm getting your Defenders mixed up. (Most likely) Oh well, there goes that Idea, I don't wont to chop up new Galvanised doors just to do that.
I like to keep you guessing! Lol! The angle on the middle doors would not fit with the rear cut down tub I fitted to the 130 chassis - hence the square cut bottoms This was a real pig in poke and you know, I think this is what LR should have made - a pick up crew cab with a large deck on the back that will easily hold a pallet with drop down sides for 3 side access (and NO computers!) I should do a video on it one day! Mike
..my old front doors had the usual orangey brown drainage channels in the bottom, which is why I'm replacing them...also the final episode of the year of Grump's Barn is now up....I've got 20 subs now :))
My first Defender 300tdi that I bought in September has rusty doors. I only bought it fir the winter and the dogs but I’ve fell for it and use it as my daily driver
Great cars
The doors of my 1995 110 Station Wagon were suffering rust and aluminum corrosion. A repair would be a nightmare and original replacements are expensive, so I decided to replace the 4 doors by Series Type (split top-bottom) doors. Ordered them at sp4x4 in UK and they came as a full set including cappings. These doors are galvanised so will not rot anymore. Right now I am in the proces installing the doors. The sliding windows and lift up handles are looking great. Can’t wait for summer to take the tops of. Take care in Canada and thank you for all your postings. Kind regards from The Netherlands.
How do you find them? Any wind noise etc? Would appreciate feedback as I'm considering the same for my CSW.
just done one of my door frames (front passenger side) following one of your previous vodeos. when i took it apart, the frame was super rotten, not just the bottom but the mid sectoon and sides. fortunately, its a hobby vehicle so i could take the door off for a few weeks, cut out and weld in lots of new steel, then soak for a week in a phosphoric acid bath to get any final internal rust, before cold galvanising it all. planning to reassemble it this weekend and was going to wrap the frame in packing film so no contact with the aluminium skin that i am only putting back on due to not wanting a mismatch on the overall patina. wouldnt have got this far without your videos Mike so many thanks and keep up the good work.
merry christmas
Well done that man!
Mike
Love how you go into the finer detail
Very wise advise. Have a good Christmas.
You know how expensive it is to get a door shipped over!!
I cut my teeth repairing doors on classic cars - hugely complex forms, head melting stuff - compared to them, Defender/Series doors are a walk in the park. You need 25mm/1" box iron & some flat 1mm steel sheet - you can make everything out of those. One thing you do need is a very good sandblaster. It will cut everything back to good bare metal so you can re-build off a solid base.
Beyond that, believing Defender doors are hard to repair, well you never did a 1970's Hilux door so. Those are hard - Defenders are in comparison a total & utter doddle. Heat is your friend when opening/closing the door skin folds - that common spot you had your finger on - it's a matter of building back the rusted steel using the mig - takes only a few minutes.
My own honest opinion is that unless you have a very decent blaster that can take both the ally & the steel back to clean bare metal everywhere, you're on a hiding to nothing - but if you do, they are hugely repairable. My own "go to" for rebonding the steel to the skin is Orkon adhesive - it's crazy expensive but also crazy good. I have my own recipe "anti-rust" spray that I spray into all the cavities - after years of buying rubbish, I made my own that works better. Another "Must" is to remove absolutely everything before even going near repairs - every nut, bolt, latch, hinge, seal, glass, guide, rivet & trim - get the door down to the absolute bare metal - work back from there. Also, use crushed glass in your blaster - not sand. Crushed glass will give a brilliant finish on the ally panels, sand will leave it like the surface of the moon. You can prime straight off the crushed glass finish & it will lay on smooth as - no amount of sanding will even get close to the surface you can achieve. Use a 2-pack epoxy primer - give the cheap stuff a miss - there's no point preparing everything nicely then ruining it using rubbish paint - use the good stuff - but above all, get stuck in. You can repair them - you just have to get stuck into the process.
My 2c. :-)
Ive just repaired my rear door, peeled the skin and put chopped up plastic bottles between ally & steel bonds. Also CT1 silicone is a good barrier. Both my 2nd row doors or shot but £££££££. I'm going to watch your reskinning vids when I get round to repairing them.
i dont mean to be so offtopic but does someone know a method to log back into an Instagram account?
I was stupid lost my login password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me!
@Will Antonio Instablaster :)
@Leon Kingsley Thanks for your reply. I found the site on google and im trying it out atm.
I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Leon Kingsley it did the trick and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy!
Thank you so much you saved my ass !
@Will Antonio You are welcome =)
I hope you have a good Christmas Mike (if it’s still legal to celebrate that over in Canada).
Just checked with Comrade Turdont and he says it is OK - for now!
I’m a bit of a sentimentalist unfortunately Mike, every dent and mark on my old Land Rover tells a story... my drivers door has a big dent in it where a good friend and work mate fell into it drunk, he’s not with us anymore unfortunately...It’s now part of the vehicle so I’ve been welding that door up for a few years now but it really is bloody hopeless... they don’t last long before the welds crack or the rust gets back into them!
Like you said, the best way is to prevent it in the first place
Pill Sharks very true. My drivers door has a big patch of paint missing where the next door neighbour decided to pull it all off! Fingernails clagged with green paint and she denied everything .... Oh how I cried
One ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
My 130 is dented but not rusty - I do not care as long as the doors are solid!
Lol!
Hi Mike very well done as always Mike would that with a transit to drill holes in the the top of the doors to rust prevention many thanks Eliot
I wonder if anodized rivets would make any sense,works on mountain bike components ?
With the way they are nicking doors and bonnets in U.K. I will not buy used or salvage doors here now. Having had a defender stolen I know the pain it causes. John Craddock LTD sell front row doors brand new for what a second hand set would cost
Yes I am aware there is a lot of this going on
Sad to say all my doors show the exact same corrosion as your example Mike. I’ve purchased the boot bottoms ready to install and the upper interior frame for the front doors as they crack. Am going to try and repair the upper rear door frame at the window corner. Not looking forward to it but at £800 for a door vs maybe £100 for parts and my time I’ve got try try.
All the best
Mat
When I say C$2000 per door folk think I am nuts but when you add it all up, it's not far off
I got rear ended 18yrs ago and the insurance replaced the rear door. Now I had fitted an aluminium door card to the original with rivnuts to support the frame knowing that they tend to break with spare on the back. I was pleased to find the door had all the additional reinforcement used on the defenders. I took the card off the replacement door a few months back to find the insurance/garage hadn't swapped the reinforcement over :( and it's cracked in all the usual places now. Bit late to have a go at them for it.
On another note, any chance you could do those measurements for setting the B/C pillar spacing from the rear tub.
If you have a CSW then the distance for the C/Pillars are dictated by the pop rivets in the tub - easy to work out
@@BritannicaRestorations Ahh if only it were that easy... All that will be original on my tub will be the fuel filler side skin the 'wing tops' and drop to floor/load bed. I am replacing all the floor, the fore most upstand, (from the 2nd row floor) the sloped bits the seat clips and zigzag supports sit on as well as the B/C pillars/sills. This is more than 'trigger broom' job, I think the only original items may be the steering column, the axles/diffs, fuel lines, windscreen frame and the fuse box cover, oh and the second row of seat!
what is your opinion on the lower door seals? My 110 had the ones mounted on the sills, I ditched them years ago and never bothered with anything other than thicker socks. I'm trying to decide on the rebuild if I do seals on the sills or door bottoms.
300 Tdi onward seals are the best - I have done vid on how to modify them from the old style
@@BritannicaRestorations ohh great, I'll go find that one. Did you get my message via your web site re UK outlet?
Hey mike make a video regarding door cards repair as they hang off. Or maybe a video of removing door card. Whilst its off do basic repairs and pimping and injecting oil, paint then hanging the door cards back on
I think I have done one - go to the home page and search for door cards
Great video as always. Any chance of some videos on Differential rebuilds?
Which (if any) models are Puma doos a direct replacement for? I have a friend in SA with a Defender whose doors make those ones look new
The Doors on the Defender are all the same dimensions - even the old Series 2, 2a, 3 were the some shape
Any experience of replacement doors that have galvanised skins Mike? PS hope you have a good Christmas.
They are good but a bit heavy to bend round the frame
My big door restoration problem is door cards. I've never seen anyone who can repair one.
What do you need to repair - I have done a video on card repairs
acf 50 ... good enough for helicopters . more than good enough for land rovers , even when they are half way rotten , which is usually just as they are leaving the factory.
it will stop rust , it wont fix it , but it will stop it getting worse as long as you stick with it.
till folk realise this needs sorted from day one , ill keep welding them , land rovers are a never ending source of income for a good welder and with doors at a thousand pounds each , i can certainly repair them for you ,,, but its not going to be cheap.
Buy Rocky Mountain Series doors! Less problems for less money and more sound to enjoy. 😉
Are fibreglass doors legal over there Mike?
Well, we have no MOT in Quebec, so nothing is inspected, however IF you import a car that has perspex or plexiglass windows it will not pass Canada import inspection - they want glass
So I am not sure - we do not see a market for fibreglass kit cars like the UK here as most of the cars have rusted away and cars are cheap here
Anyway I saw a company making fibreglass doors but they stopped making them - do a Google for them - maybe a problem with getting them to fit right? A steel door can be twisted to fit the body!
Will puma doors fit a td5 defender?
They will fit the door aperture, but the door card and winder plate are different
@@BritannicaRestorations ok thank you i see secondhand puma doors for sale here butt no good td5 doors mine are rotten at the bottom i am a welder butt one must have parts to fix it to start with if i had it i will fix it
G'Day Mike. I'm going to have to swap out my 2nd row right side door, I'm contemplating going with a galvanised Puma door, its expensive but........ Then I saw your 130's SQUARE bottomed 2nd row doors an I was like, "Me likey likey" and since then I've been searching like crazy for them but still aint found nothing :( lol
Hi, there is a company in Liverpool uk they trade under spg, they make lots of different landrover door frames, all galvanised, kind regards phil have a great christmas
@@philparr2724 G'Day Phil, I think you mean this mob yeah : www.sp-4x4.com/
I still don't see a 2nd row SQUARED off bottom door. but thanks anyway, I already have this lot bookmarked
And a Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you an yours as well.
Maybe because I custom made them? On my 130 crew cab I had no doors so I chopped and welded several knackered mid and front doors to mask mine - Needs must old boy!
Lol!
All the best!
Mike
@@BritannicaRestorations DOHHH, NOW you tell me Mike, last time I asked you about them, you mentioned something about 'Some old Military units came like that" or some such, unless I'm getting your Defenders mixed up. (Most likely) Oh well, there goes that Idea, I don't wont to chop up new Galvanised doors just to do that.
I like to keep you guessing!
Lol!
The angle on the middle doors would not fit with the rear cut down tub I fitted to the 130 chassis - hence the square cut bottoms
This was a real pig in poke and you know, I think this is what LR should have made - a pick up crew cab with a large deck on the back that will easily hold a pallet with drop down sides for 3 side access
(and NO computers!)
I should do a video on it one day!
Mike
..my old front doors had the usual orangey brown drainage channels in the bottom, which is why I'm replacing them...also the final episode of the year of Grump's Barn is now up....I've got 20 subs now :))
Yes i saw your video - I wonder why you split the gear box off the engine - too heavy?
I've got to replace the rear crank seal and clutch...so was easier to split it this way
Mike celebrates Christmas with all the best health and God's favors. Dariusz Polkowice.
Hey mike ship a container of doors for yourself sell them
It's an idea, but there is a lot of volume in a 20 Ft container = 1,360 cubic feet (39 m3 ) And a lot of money!