110 Floor panel replacment.

[Defender_Bloke]

G'day all,

After discovering a decent rust hole in the driver and passenger floors (And Chassis) It looks like I'm going to be busy for a few weekends.
Was wondering if anyone out there in Defender land has had the same problems and if so how did you go about fixing them?
I can get hold of some replacement footwells easy enough, but I've no idea how to get the old ones out and put the new ones in.
And also how should I go about fixing the hole in the chassis? I saw a video on YouTube where the bloke just cuts the rust out, cleans it up and welds a new plate on. Is this the best way? And if it is then ill need some advice on buying a MIG welder please.

[Distortion]

Some photos would be helpful.

I'm going to have to do the same thing on my series. My plan was to pull the front wings off and do it from that side.

My understanding is that once you have the inner wing/guard you should be able to reach the bolts at the that join the wing to the firewall. then you have a couple joining to to the radiator brackets at the front and a couple at the top just under where the bonnet mounts.

Biggest issue I can see at getting at mine is the Heater/Aircon may need to come out to get the wings off but I'm not to fussed about that as the panel it's bolted to needs replacing anyway.

I've been advised to do it in sections ie do 1 side at a time leaving all the windscreen bolted up etc as this should prevent it warping when bits of it get cut away.

Cheers
Rob

[flagg]

Careful doing the chassis if you haven't done much welding before as it is very much a structural component. You will need a consistent proper penetration and sound technique for the bracing and angles or it will crack or be inherently weak. There are a lot of tricks to safe chassis / structural repairs..

[Defender_Bloke]

Some photos would be helpful.

I'm going to have to do the same thing on my series. My plan was to pull the front wings off and do it from that side.

My understanding is that once you have the inner wing/guard you should be able to reach the bolts at the that join the wing to the firewall. then you have a couple joining to to the radiator brackets at the front and a couple at the top just under where the bonnet mounts.

Biggest issue I can see at getting at mine is the Heater/Aircon may need to come out to get the wings off but I'm not to fussed about that as the panel it's bolted to needs replacing anyway.

I've been advised to do it in sections ie do 1 side at a time leaving all the windscreen bolted up etc as this should prevent it warping when bits of it get cut away.

Cheers
Rob

Sounds like your doing a bit more than me mate. I shouldnt need to do anything to the windscreen , Bonnet or radiator.

[Defender_Bloke]

Careful doing the chassis if you haven't done much welding before as it is very much a structural component. You will need a consistent proper penetration and sound technique for the bracing and angles or it will crack or be inherently weak. There are a lot of tricks to safe chassis / structural repairs..
Ok, maybe I'd best get it done professionally then I think.

[Distortion]

Sounds like your doing a bit more than me mate. I shouldnt need to do anything to the windscreen , Bonnet or radiator.

Yeah I was referencing those in order to take the wings off to get at the footwell.

Bonnet comes off (Easy)
radiator doesn't get touched except where the front wings bolt to it's brackets.
inner wing comes off so you can get to the bolts attaching the outer wing to the firewall

Here is a guide showing exactly what I'm talking about
Roll Cage Installation Defender 90 Soft Top (http://www.roverworld.com/rollbar_english2.htm)

You can see in the photos it gives excellent access to the engine side of the footwells which is needed if you want to do a proper job of it

[Didge]

Yeah, having done advanced mig at TAFE and owning a cheap chinese 195Amp mig welder that I think they meant to advertise as 1 x 95amp mig welder, my advice (if you haven't done any welding) would be to just take it to a welding pro as they don't charge that much and if it fails, they're responsible. If you weld, then sell the car or it fails whilst you own it and someone gets hurt, the lawyers will come a hunting and guess who will be in their sights. :) Pay someone else = cheap insurance. (And believe me, I don't like paying people to do things I can do, but sometimes you have to just to cover your rear end). I was thinking about welding up a rear wheel carrier, but what if it fell off and hit someone??????? :)