Hi all

I don't know why but I am finding it difficult to find a garage/person to sort out an inner rear doors wheel arch rust problem on my car. I am sure that I cannot be the only person to have had rust in this place as it must be common on Freelander 2's surely. I also wonder as some people have said uh oh "needs a new panel welding on" or yes could be fibreglassed but rust would be back in 2 weeks!! I feel I am going round the houses. I also think because its not just a flat area (door pillar) that some are thinking that its more difficult to do etc etc.

Help

Im in South Yorkshire, just outside Donny.

you could try these guys, apparently have a good reputation and do restoration work so can do welding etc


https://www.maltingsoffroad.co.uk/

most 'normal' garages wont touch welding now in my experience

That seems quite a lot of rust, any history of the cause? Al C

I would suggest you try a local classic car restorer. that's the sort of thing they sort out all the time. 2007 TD4 XS The work horse that earns its up keep
2013 SD4 HSE The posh one for towing the caravan
1973 Triumph Stag I bought in 2009 and restored.

Agree with Rog B , Maltings are the sort of people who will not mislead you . To do the job properly won’t be cheap anywhere , but there must be repair panels available as cars do get crashed . You do have to ask though if repairing it will be cost effective In the long run . 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

RogB wrote:

you could try these guys, apparently have a good reputation and do restoration work so can do welding etc


https://www.maltingsoffroad.co.uk/

most 'normal' garages wont touch welding now in my experience

amerclarke wrote:

That seems quite a lot of rust, any history of the cause?

When I bought the car back in 2018 there was only the small ish patch on the 1st pic and did say to myself will get it sorted. However time went on and as don't use the back doors that often and its not the first thing you look at when opening the door (down). I had the car stood for a while during lockdown as we all have and only recently noticed when I was giving it a good clean just recently and wham bam saw the devastation. On the 2nd pic it was not a hole but a patch that i touched with my fingers and went through the patch .

Thinking back over the years I mostly used to get it washed at these hand car wash places and notice that they think that everyone goes off roading and open each door and jet spray the bottoms of the doors?? What I think then happens is water is then on the inside of the bottom of the doors and then is not dried?? so the water just sits till it dries maybe. Ive no other rust patches on the bodywork anywhere apart from the usual underneath the car which I think/hope is common on landrover cars?

MartynB wrote:

Agree with Rog B , Maltings are the sort of people who will not mislead you . To do the job properly won’t be cheap anywhere , but there must be repair panels available as cars do get crashed . You do have to ask though if repairing it will be cost effective In the long run .

That's progress I suppose.
When I was younger I spent every weekend welding new sills or wings on to cars that were only three years old. Changing mini subframes was a well hated but frequent job. Every garage carried out these tasks, bread and butter.

Fast forward 40 years, and bodywork tends to last 10 years +, no longer does mud get compacted behind the headlights and they fall out before the first MOT - every car has plastic wing liners. dipping car bodies in zinc prior to painting really does help. Garages now spend more time fixing sensors, brakes, suspension (pot holes?) and cars get scrapped long before they rot out, so the skills have gone, despite MIG taking over from gas welding it just isn't commercially viable. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

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  dazs
------------------------
2013 FL2 SD4 Dynamic
1969 109 V8 Series 2a

I had rust close to that area, but only visible as
slight blistering once the door was opened,
the panels are available my guy cut out the rot
and then cut the new panel to suit, mines the third
Freelander 2 he's done,
I did make contacted with him through a reputable sprayer that I've used
stands to reason really they would work hand in hand.
Dave DAVE.
I.A.M. F1rst Driver.
Gone 2003 Discovery TD5 Auto,
Gone 1986 Defender 90 Station Wagon
Gone 1984 Range Rover 3.5 Vogue Manual.
Gone 1970 Series 11A/3 SWB 3.5 V8 Hybrid
Gone 1964 Series 11A LWB Van
Gone 1966 Series 11A SWB Van
Gone 1964 Series 11A LWB Station Wagon,

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

Thanks Daz, Dave, Merlin and all for your comments and advice which I have taken on board.

Ive an appointment with a local garage on Monday that after showing them the car today are going to remove the side skirts to see the extent of the rust and go from there. It would be hard to quote without seeing the whole problem first and just doing a patch here and there won't help. Ive then got to decide depending on cost which way to turn?

I wouldnt expect that to be too expensive , but i would ensure that they remove everything with rust on , and that its treated correctly inside and out.

Let us know how you get on dazs
------------------------
2013 FL2 SD4 Dynamic
1969 109 V8 Series 2a

Bloomin’ell......not seen it as bad as that on a FL2 before, ours was a2006 and was spotless (well apart from fretting rust spots where the rear hatch trim rubbed)....that looks more like our full fat was at 6 years old, now they do rust! Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......