Has it got a tow bar, may have been a salt water dipper with a previous owner.

merlinj79 wrote:

dazs wrote:

you cant fibreglass that , it needs welding as its close to seatbelt mounts , should be a fairly straightforward panel replacement , most bodyshops should be able to do that

Yup, too much rust. Fiberglass would only work if you're unscrupulous and plan to sell the vehicle immediately... it would definitely come back soon, to say nothing of structural integrity. Needs to be cut out and panel welded in.

Thanks for that info. I did think about MOT rules and discussed it with the garage (the boss is a MOT tester ), its not on a supporting structure even though its near to the seatbelt.

My car is now with them to do the necessary works and i've instructed them to weld and not use fibreglass at my expense obviously. They have removed the bottom side sill panels to see how far its spread, informed me it was not to drastic but there was a spot/patch at the other end hidden by the panel that is going to get done at the same time.

Now Ive just got to sit and wait, should be done by next week so in the meantime I'm off to rob a bank

Yeah, needed sorting, good your garage didn’t think it was MOT fail.

Be nice to know what your final bill is for this - mine is on its way out as well - bubbling on the paintwork that will turn into a hole if I press too hard I guess!

Seems that muck gets trapped behind that area from the wheel arches, and holds moisture against the metal for a prolonged period and causes it to rust from the inside out… Current: FL2 TD4 2008 HSE

Previous: FL1 TD4 2002 // FL2 TD4 2008 // FL1 TD4 2003 // TD5 Disco 2003 // 300TDi Disco 1994

CED wrote:

Has it got a tow bar, may have been a salt water dipper with a previous owner.

Only Chicken George would dip a caravan in the sea

When the rear doors are open the rubber seal part that goes to the bottom of the door is prone to getting blocked with rubbish I put the hose down it when washing. If you’ve not done it before you maybe surprised at what comes out. Never seen rust as bad as the one on the OP’s car glad he’s getting it sorted.

The rear doors on a FL2 are double sealed for both inner and outer door shuts.

The Discovery 3 had a problem with only a single inner seal and after pre-prod changed it to double seal, which later followed on in the first FL2s.

Landy64 wrote:

Thanks for that info. I did think about MOT rules and discussed it with the garage (the boss is a MOT tester ), its not on a supporting structure even though its near to the seatbelt.

My car is now with them to do the necessary works and i've instructed them to weld and not use fibreglass at my expense obviously. They have removed the bottom side sill panels to see how far its spread, informed me it was not to drastic but there was a spot/patch at the other end hidden by the panel that is going to get done at the same time.

Now Ive just got to sit and wait, should be done by next week so in the meantime I'm off to rob a bank

I find a few threads on here that do not have a final ending, it would be great if the OP of such threads could update them

OP got this passed so dumped the Freelander!

Click image to enlarge

Arctic wrote:

I find a few threads on here that do not have a final ending, it would be great if the OP of such threads could update them

Old unfinished thread, I have three of these rust buckets, so, rear outer wing finisher repair. local garage, doesn't want to do it, around £1500 for both sides. Its not structural according to the repair section of the workshop manual, its soft steel. The seatbelt mounting panels and sill are high strength steel. None of the panels internally and under the wing are visible without taking the plastic panels out, carpet and boot panels. So MOT failure is a speculative exercise, as they do not dismantle the car. Only the outer wheel arch part is available easily. The rear Quarter panel is around £1080 alone for the panel, and takes 46 hours to disassemble and reweld. I used to work on Aircraft, and car structures are pretty strong these days, compared to older aircraft riveted panels. I used to race a Jaguar XJ-S, and a shunt at a closing speed of around 170mph, only moved the front end over around a quarter of an inch, and broke a headlight. A front to rear on the start line buckled the floor of the front car all the way up to the front seat, with nearly two tons of car at full acceleration mode impacting. Unfortunately, most MOT inspectors, and bureaucrats in government offices have little, or no technical skills whatsoever. The Public bears the cost of their ineptitude, unfortunately. Modern electric cars are, looking at Chinese car repair films, very prone to fold big time, and manufacturers do not supply repair parts. It is a contested area, that the motoring press tdo not seem to want to enter. I am now getting too old to attempt some car repairs as I get towards eighty, my wife tells me, so where do we go from here if we all run older cars, potentially with a lot of life, and money, in them?

Post deleted Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)