Rust Repair

[circlethewagons]

Just noticed a few paint bubbles around the windscreen frame of my 2015 Puma 90. Pulling off the door seal shows a bit of rust around the top of the bulkhead (see photos)

Not wanting to do a complete replacement of the bulkhead as it's only surface rust and minor - hoping to do a repair. I have very little knoweledge of body repairs.

- Does it look worse than I think it is?
- I was thinking of just cleaning it up and coating with rust inhibitor\converter - does anyone recommend products?
- Any recommendations for someone in Brisbane to take a look and maybe do the repair?

Thanks

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[DieselDan]

My first recommendation would be to use a flat bladed screwdriver or scraper to gently remove all the paint on the affected area and then use a wire brush to remove loose rust so that the state of the corrosion can be assessed better and see whether it's something you want to tackle yourself.
At the moment what is occurring is not surface rust, it is localised pitting corrosion, which often occurs under paint bubbles like this, concentrating the corrosion in a small area and leading to pits and holes in the steel.
Even if you do nothing else, simply removing the paint and exposing the whole surface will slow the corrosion down by making the process go back to being surface rust and not pitting corrosion.

Once you've got it wire brushed down, you'll be able to make a better decision about how bad it is.
Hopefully it's not too bad and you can just get away with some rust converter (any brand will do, you want the milky-white liquid phosphoric acid brush-on stuff that turns the rust into an inert black surface. White Knight or Septone have products that'll do). This black surface is then suitable for primer and then whatever top coat you want.

Perhaps post up another pic after you've done the wire brushing?

[DazzaTD5]

Everything DieselDan has mentioned...

plus with that much corrosion (as that is not the norm in Australia) there will be other spot you will need to look at.

*the die case external mounts that joins the windscreen frame to the bulkhead (firewall).
*front chassis ends that the bumper (or bullbar) mounts.
*the door hinge bolts to the frame.
*the cross member under the gearbox that bolts to the chassis, there is an air gap between the two.
*around the top windows in the roof.
*behind the dash the frontal intrusion bar bolts to the bulkhead. (the dash is easy to remove and is nothing more than a plastic cover to hide all the half arsed Land Rover-ness).

These are all the spots that customers Defenders suffer that get used down on the beach on a regular basis.
I would give the whole body a good check over.

[V8Ian]

Rule of thumb, what you see is 25% of what's there.

[circlethewagons]

Everything DieselDan has mentioned...

plus with that much corrosion (as that is not the norm in Australia) there will be other spot you will need to look at.

*the die case external mounts that joins the windscreen frame to the bulkhead (firewall).
*front chassis ends that the bumper (or bullbar) mounts.
*the door hinge bolts to the frame.
*the cross member under the gearbox that bolts to the chassis, there is an air gap between the two.
*around the top windows in the roof.
*behind the dash the frontal intrusion bar bolts to the bulkhead. (the dash is easy to remove and is nothing more than a plastic cover to hide all the half arsed Land Rover-ness).

These are all the spots that customers Defenders suffer that get used down on the beach on a regular basis.
I would give the whole body a good check over.


Thanks mate, will check it over this weekend.

[DieselDan]

I agree that level of rust isn't usual for Oz and adding to Daz and Ian's comments, those 'box-section' bits of the bulkhead are very likely rusty on the inside too.
Once you've scraped the paint off and brushed it down, then I'd be drilling some discreet holes and squirting some wax based rust proofing stuff in there (Valvoline tectyl or Septone rust proof).

Obviously if it's really bad and needs sections cutting out and patches welding in, skip this bit until the clean metal is in!

[MLD]

Once you've scraped the paint off and brushed it down, then I'd be drilling some discreet holes and squirting some wax based rust proofing stuff in there (Valvoline tectyl or Septone rust proof).

i've used tectyl for storage of metal parts that you want to coat in a waxed product. For this rust minimisation exercise, i'd suggest penetrol. it's better suited to getting between close sheets of metal and it seaps into the poors and drives out moisture. it sets off as a hard thin layer on the surface. bit more impervious to surface layer damage compared to tectyl and dirt doesn't stick to it like the waxed based product. (in my experience).

I penetrol the underside of the defer every couple of years, spraying everything using a weed pressure bottle/wand. You get it from the big green shed in the paint section in pressure cans or 4L.

[circlethewagons]

Everything DieselDan has mentioned...

plus with that much corrosion (as that is not the norm in Australia) there will be other spot you will need to look at.

*the die case external mounts that joins the windscreen frame to the bulkhead (firewall).
*front chassis ends that the bumper (or bullbar) mounts.
*the door hinge bolts to the frame.
*the cross member under the gearbox that bolts to the chassis, there is an air gap between the two.
*around the top windows in the roof.
*behind the dash the frontal intrusion bar bolts to the bulkhead. (the dash is easy to remove and is nothing more than a plastic cover to hide all the half arsed Land Rover-ness).

These are all the spots that customers Defenders suffer that get used down on the beach on a regular basis.
I would give the whole body a good check over.

So great news, had a sickie today.... so hit the rust with the dremel and power-file. It doesnt look too bad actually. No perforation of the body, other than some of the seam edging. I've only tackled the side that looked the worse. Once i had it all clean I added some rust converter. When that dries I'll prime it in the morning.

I went through the entire car - took like 2 hours, including using my electronic\LCD boreoscpe to get into nooks and crannys. I can't see rust anywhere else, which is great news. I think whats happened is teh door seal has "seized" up as its very hard and brittle and was stuck down to the frame. This has allowed water and mud to pool around this area. I've ordered some replacement rubbers.

The picture below shows about 75% of the wire brushing done, before converter. I'll post a picture post converter tomorrow.

190283

[shack]

i've used tectyl for storage of metal parts that you want to coat in a waxed product. For this rust minimisation exercise, i'd suggest penetrol. it's better suited to getting between close sheets of metal and it seaps into the poors and drives out moisture. it sets off as a hard thin layer on the surface. bit more impervious to surface layer damage compared to tectyl and dirt doesn't stick to it like the waxed based product. (in my experience).

I penetrol the underside of the defer every couple of years, spraying everything using a weed pressure bottle/wand. You get it from the big green shed in the paint section in pressure cans or 4L.Which version of "Penetrol" do you use, I see there is a few different ones for different jobs.

[circlethewagons]

Update post rust converter

190285

[MLD]

The Flood Company 300g Penetrol Spraycan - Bunnings Australia (https://www.bunnings.com.au/the-flood-company-300g-penetrol-spraycan_p1560172)

[MLD]

Flood Penetrol 1L Paint Additive - 1L - Bunnings Australia (https://www.bunnings.com.au/flood-penetrol-1l-paint-additive-1l_p0151613)

[DieselDan]

I use that 300g spray can of penetrol, it is really good stuff.
Works a treat on getting in between the seams of spot-welded sheets of metal.
I've often wondered if the stuff in the 1L and 4L cans that's advertised as a "paint additive" is the same stuff as in the spraycan of rust treatment??!

It's definitely better than wax stuff in high impact areas, but for inside box-sections that never see stone chips or the like, I still prefer to use wax.

[akelly]

just in case anyone needs a recommendation for LR rust repairs in Brisbane - Pine Street Smash. Matt is a champion, did the firewall repairs on my D130 and did a fantastic job. Great price too.

[MLD]

I've often wondered if the stuff in the 1L and 4L cans that's advertised as a "paint additive" is the same stuff as in the spraycan of rust treatment??!

AFAIK its the same stuff. I dowse the underside of the defender every couple of years using the paint additive labelled version. it holds up well to weathering. pic taken for a different purpose, but shows the condition of the penetrol after about 6 months post application.

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