SLROC Forum

Hello,

  I've just come off the phone to John Craddock, asking about body cappings for my Defender 110 van - they told me that body cappings are special order only from Land Rover and are 160+vat per side, which seems a bit steep considering they're not galvanised, but maybe that's just me...

  Can anybody tell me if there's somewhere I can either get cappings more reasonably priced or galvanised for that sort of money, please?

  Assuming I can't buy galvanised parts (and John Craddock told me they don't exist), what finish do the parts from Land Rover have?  Could I get somewhere to galvanise them for me?

  Thanks for any help with this,

Paul

a common dodge is to get galve cappings from a series motor and then paint them, they will be short so you will need an extra bit for a 110

Hello,

  I've just come off the phone to John Craddock, asking about body cappings for my Defender 110 ......  Could I get somewhere to galvanise them for me?

 Paul

Paul, The LR parts will come with a base coat of paint, white if I recall. Most major town will have a galvanisers and they are not that expensive - but the part to be galvanised must be 100% paint-free.
How bad are the originals ? Any good cleaning them up, filler and paint ?

Paul,
dont know if they do 'capping's', doubt if there are cheaper copies,
possibly they can tell you who does do them if anyone can.
www.yrm-metal-solutions.co.uk

or contact
www.strathearnengineering.com
see if they can supply them.

www.forfargalvanisers.co.uk
New ones on a hard top,
 IMO as a painter,
really only need prepared properly (etch/primed) & painted & fitted with gaskets.
Or as you are wanting,
 they can just be left as the Galvanised finish if you can get them.
Painting galvanished parts is yet another story.

Can you tell us about the problem.
(looked at the pictures you posted, & i see what you are probably worried about)
Common on older vehicles, surprised how it looks on yours being a 2001 vehicle.

 is this the external rust issue on the cappings of your 110 below the hatch cover?
If so are they rusted right through & showing inside,
are they totally rotten??

I take it you going to remove the hard top & replace them now yourself?
(looks like lots of work on your vehicle)
Not really a huge job, just like meccano.(but its what you find as you dismantle)

 i would be looking at getting then sanded down & rust inhibitor on & painted up
as a temp measure now if they are not rotted all the way,
at least untill you know if anything else is going to need work doing,
 just so any more painting/respraying can all be done at same time, doors,bulkhead etc...

 it must just be due to how the Conversion company did the modification to the hard top,
(no gasket/seal between hard top sides & cappings)
& just the salt/sea air & a working vehicle.

You will need to get a decent rubber gasket or sealer
 between the panels when you replace with the new ones if its staying a hardtop.

I am asuming you are not turning it into a truck cab?

How is the bulk head corrosion?
is it all external/cosmetic?

Maybe post some closeup pictures of where the problems are showing.

george

Alright fella you tried lrseries ? Im sure i saw em there when i wis looking !

External on mine not to bad but the front corners are facked !

 :)top tip.
www.lrseries.com

Defender 85 on,
body/fittings,
page 41
110 Stationwagon cappings.
?59.99 per side inc VAT.
including postage ?130 for the pair.

for 90's on page 36.

george

When i replaced mine on the 110 i used to have i got them from Strathearn Engineering, Aberuthven. Google them.  They were galvanised and i cant remember where they got them from. Either Bearmach or Britpart. I got these about 4 years ago so don't know what they cost now.

Hello all,

  thanks very much for all your help and suggestions - I'll be chasing these all up next week!

  In answer to some queries:  The cappings on mine are completely rotten on the outside, but seem fine between the upper and lower body sections.  They're beyond sanding down and filling - you can just crumble them off between your fingers...

  I *was* planning on lifting the body (I have access to a barn and lifting gear - I was going to just unbolt the rear body and winch it up in the air, fit the new cappings and lower the body back onto them), but I appreciate the concerns about what else I might find in the process...  I'd read somewhere that it was a good idea to replace the seals/gaskets when changing the cappings - I specifically asked John Craddock this and they told me that there were no seals etc to change!

  I'm not planning on changing to a truck-cab or anything...I'm happy with what I've got   The bulkhead corrosion seems superficial to me, but I need to get it looked at by more experienced eyes than mine - I'm hoping to get to Inverness Landrover  (I found them near HIS, but they were shut on the weekend) or Strathearn Engineering, as everybody seems to rate them quite highly...

  I'll try and post some more pics - watch this space, as they say

Thanks again,

Paul

Hello,

  as promised, here are some pictures of the rusty body-capping and the rusty bulkhead on my TD5.

  I contacted L.R.Series today, but they don't stock cappings for a hardtop (the station-wagon cappings are shorter than mine to allow for the doors) and just passed me onto John Craddock again, so no luck there.  I also spoke to YRM, but they didn't know about body cappings for a 110 hardtop.  Will a set from an MOD 110 fit my Defender, do you think?

  All the best,

Paul

.... Will a set from an MOD 110 fit my Defender, do you think?

 

Well, I've seen a lot worse !  I think I'd be more worried by the top rail in the bulkhead :-(

There should be no difference in an MOD spec Defenders cappings and a civvy model, have you found some surplus stock ?

Just been and looked in the garage,I do have a drivers side 110 capping,new unused Landrover part in black,also reckon I have a pair of early 110 cappings (sure they are galvanised) at another location,let me know if interested.

Hi,

  will early 110 cappings fit?  If they're galvanised, I'd definitely be interested.

  The cappings are worse than they look in the pictures - the driver's side is pretty much all rust from the door back and it has spread between the upper and lower body...

  I'd also be interested in peoples opinions on my bulkhead - the rust is all on the surface (it hasn't gone through) but it is all along the top rail, above and below it.  I've sprayed it with rust inhibitor to stop it getting any worse while I try and find somewhere to take it and have it fixed.  Do you think it needs new sections welded in or doesn't it look as bad as that?  The rest of the bulkhead seems solid (I've had the floormats out and the footwells have no rust at all) but is it worth spending money fixing a bulkhead, or does it make better sense to completely replace it in the long-run?  Roughly what sort of cost do you reckon repairing/replacing it would come to?

  Thanks for all the ongoing help

Paul

the passengers side looks very bad to me in those photos

the drivers side under the bonnet looks quite bad too tbh ...

Id tap it with a small hammer , if it doesnt go through id sand it back to good metal and liberally coat it in rust inhibitor primer and paint ...

i have a suspision that if you tap some of that youll go through - i had better looking bits than that that went through......

if you lifted your window frame and looked under the seal i dont think youll like what you see ...

as a quick test - open your doors and pull back the door seal up a the top corner - esp on the passengers side ! - what do you see ....

That sounds like a potentially depressing thing to do   

To be honest, I want to get it properly fixed and I'm happy to spend money on it, so I'll have a go at it and see what I find - I'm taking it up to a bodywork place this lunch time for them to have a poke at, so I'll report back on the damage for anybody that's interested...

Paul

...well, the chap at the bodywork place took a look and declared he didn't want to go near it with a barge-pole...

I didn't think it was that bad!