The bottom edge of both rear panels was corroded away. I located one pattern and one genuine panel which saved having to repair the old ones. Here, the corner capping and rear panel have been removed from the LH side.
The old and new, non-genuine, panels.
There had been a nudge in the rear which had bent the wheelarch box.
I straightened it as best as possible.
The other side capping rivets being drilled out.
And the top capping is removed.
The rear step was also badly corroded.
The spot welds were located and drilled out.
And the step removed. Obviously, plenty of dimensions were taken first!
Meanwhile, I started removing the gunge from the tub ready for painting. Layers of underseal had to be cleaned off.
There was a difference on the new panels in the inner bracket as shown here despite being the correct part for the age of vehicle. This was the same on both genuine and non-genuine panels.
I got round it by notching out the wheelarch box like this.
The rear panels were originally spot welded, but I borrowed a TIG welder and taught myself to weld aluminium...... not easy and not pretty results, but structurally sound.
There are also rivets retaining the rear panels. Here are some of them inside the tub.
The new rear step was then TIG welded into place.
I am fitting NAS (North American Spec) lights which are larger than the UK ones. Here is my template laid on the capping.
So, I cut out a section.....
...... made a new, larger section........
...... and welded it in.
A comparison between new and old shapes. The lower lamp section has also been made larger.
New nut plates rivetted to the rear step.
The cappings were primed off the tub.......
And the edge of the tub was primed before fitting the cappings. Note the holes have been cut out to allow for the different light positions.
The modified cappings rivetted back on.
The NAS light trial fitted. This shows how the modified capping works with the light.
The lower bulkhead where it fits to the chassis was heavily corroded. Here, a section of aluminium has been cut away.
The new section TIG welded into place. Again, my aluminium welding is not pretty, but it works!
This is what was left of the seat belt mount area! Time for more welding.
Here the corroded section is cut out.
A new section prepared.
Welded, ground down and holes drilled.
The lower section was also badly corroded, so was cut out.
And a new section made.
This side finished.
The same was done to the other side.
The wider arches overlap the filler neck section.
After marking and cutting out the neck, a paper template was made for the new section.
The new section made up and ready for welding into place.
Here, the arch is offered up to the welded section.
Preparing the tub for paint..
In primer.
And top coat.
The tub dropped on the chassis ready for positioning and bolt up.
The rear roll cage lower sections were installed. Seem to line up perfectly with the holes cut in the tub. Measure twice, cut once, as they say! This is a full external cage from Safety Devices.
This is the rear section above the wheel box.
This is the cage cross tube under the front bulkhead.
This section bolts through the bulkhead to the cross tube.
Extended arches were bought to cover the wider tyres. I have fitted them with stainless steel button head screws.
The Wipac NAS lights are not great quality, but I've got them to work.
Because I had repositioned the NAS lights, their 'notch' in the roll cage tube no longer lined up with the light! This meant the wiring plug wouldn't fit on the indicator. I found some small terminals and wired them individually without the plug.
I bought some ribbed rubber matting to use in the rear tub and the front footwells.
The upper sides were in good condition and just needed cleaning and painting. Here is the first one in primer.
And top coated.
Here, the sides are in place on the tub.
I am quite pleased with the door gap. Better than Land Rover achieved maybe!
The roof on, after painting and cutting holes for extra rear lights. Michael is in the process of offering up one of the lights!
I am using stop/tail lights on the roof as well as the standard position.
The Safety Devices cage seems to have been designed for a flat roof and fouled the ribs on mine. We solved it with hack saws, angle grinders and a big hammer to recess the ribs and give clearance for the cage tube.
Once the roof issue was solved, the rear cage lined up with the lower sections well. All the measuring and re-measuring paid off.
We mounted the ARB compressor behind the driver in the rear tub.
I made a cover for the compressor.
This is the rear door lower seal and retainer in place. It also hold the load floor mat in place.
The rear roll cage legs have to pass through the rear wheel boxes. The hole is an egg shape and difficult to seal. My solution was to make a pair of aluminium horse shoe shaped pieces with sponge seals. One fits above and the other below the panel. The lower one is drilled and tapped to fix the top one to it.
I designed some aluminium pods to mount in the rear roof corners for speakers and interior lights. They were made by a local fabricator.
Here's one being trial fitted.
We glued sound deadening material inside the pods.
The pods were anodised and assembled. The switch in the side is for the rear work light which can also be switched on from the cab.
The rear worklight mounted. This a Lucas item I'd had laying around for some time.