Thread: Saving the defender

Started on the rust in the footwells today. Drivers side was the worst, so that was the place to start.

Basically the left and right sides of that footwell are rusted through, so is the bottom edge.

I thought about a few different ways to approach this and then decided on making a full sheet out of .9mm mild steel, then cut and bend it to fit.

First up I made a cardboard template, then layed that onto the steel, traced and cut it out with my grinder.

I then sandwiched the sheet between the legs of my ladder, G-clamped it then hit it with the butane to heat it up and then gave it a bend.

Next up was the second bend to meet the floor pan, then a heated it up again and used the pliers to fold on the leading edge to copy how the original was.

A few taps with the hammer to even it all out and it was done.

Next up will be to cut out the sections of rust, treat, paint and then I will do a combination of tack welds and structural mastic to hold it all together and hopefully prevent any rust there again.

I love the ladder clamp
Chris

Priceless.

haha. my other thought was to use a door/ door jamb, but then I woulf have had no excuse to use the old g-clamps that I've had for 28 years and used twice

Only just saw this thread. Great project and you're making a serious amount of progress in a short time. Well done.

Steve

I admire your dedication.
While cliche`, its not the destination, but the journey you take to get there. You'll look back fondly on the build I think, even if it is beating you up a bit as of late with the paint etc!

Originally Posted by Toxic_Avenger

I admire your dedication.
While cliche`, its not the destination, but the journey you take to get there. You'll look back fondly on the build I think, even if it is beating you up a bit as of late with the paint etc!

No mate, its not dedication, i'm just the guy who finds himself in a hole and doesnt throw away the shovel

In other news, I cut the rust out of the footwell today - not much footwell left lol

Originally Posted by Andy130

No mate, its not dedication, i'm just the guy who finds himself in a hole and doesnt throw away the shovel

In other news, I cut the rust out of the footwell today - not much footwell left lol

Come on Andy. Milk it for all it's worth. Dedication is a good description and it points to what looks like being a top quality job.
Who Knows? At the end of it all you could cop a motza from Chris for it.