Category: rust

Posted on

Part 4: Welding Patches in the Rear Wheel Well (Post #640) January 28, 2024

This was the first weekend in a while that we were healthy. My son brought home Flu A from a basketball tournament at the school and then Mrs. Okierover brought home Covid. I tried to avoid both of them while still making them food and making sure they were taking their medicines. I also tried sleeping in the living room all weekend to minimize contact. It was all for naught. I got Covid on MLK Jr. Day. I missed a week of work too.

In this episode I tackle some of the rust holes in the passenger side wheel well. Turned out it was too cold to paint so I couldn’t get any primer on them.

I put a patch over the bad spot in the front side of the wheel well. This spot is where three panels come together. It was “protected” from the factory with hope and a lot of seam sealer. My original goal was to just fill the split but the steel was too thin and the MIG welds just blew through.

I got the patch welded in place without too much trouble. I think I did a decent job with this patch. I mean, I don’t have that much experience welding so every time weld I’m trying to get better. If I’m getting better, it would be considered “slowly getting better”.

While cutting out a bad seam I inadvertently sliced the wheel well in two places. These needed filling. They went as I would have expected.

Finally, I fixed the cut I made in the rear support beam. If you remember I cut through this while attempting to remove the rear floor pan. This was dumb. Thankfully it wasn’t damaged too much. I welded the entire cut closed. I think this went well too.

I had some trouble with being able to see through my hood towards the end. I adjusted the settings on my helmet and realize I need to replace my batteries. I need a few more hours under the helmet. I wish I could have tried out several helmets to see how they work. I limited myself to American Made welding helmets so there weren’t a lot of affordable options.

That’s all for this week. If you enjoy the videos Like and Subscribe.

patreon.com/okierover

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/dvfHz-CrfTo

https://youtu.be/dvfHz-CrfTo
Posted on

Prep for Welding, Part 2(Post #637) 1/1/2024

B pillar rust

Happy New Year everyone!!!

The plan this weekend was to do some welding. Unfortunately the welding supply store was closed. So I was unable to source the shielding gas I needed. That…was frustrating. I instead knocked out a project my wife has asked for “she claims” for 18 months. I’ll admit it was a while…but maybe only a year. In any event, the pantry portion of the former laundry room now has fancy shelves.

So today I did some more investigating of the rust, primarily on the A and B pillars at the sill. The B pillar is mostly rusted out. It is as bad as it looks and I’ll need to source the ready made B pillar lower portion. I’ve seen them online…but don’t remember if they are available in the US of A. I’ve found at least three businesses in the UK. Part is only about $33.00(US) the shipping to the US is the same amount. More research is needed, or I weld up my own version.

YRM B Pillar Replacement Part
YRM B Pillar for Range Rover Classics and Disco 1

The A pillar has a hole next to it in the sill. I think it would be an easy patch to fix.

So this week I’ll get some more shielding gas and I’ll be ready to do some repairing next weekend.

Once again thanks for stopping by and for watching the videos.

Like and subscribe… Patreon if you like this content and want to help me keep this site up.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering….

https://youtu.be/WX3yTOSc6zo
Posted on

Prep for Welding (Post #636) 12/23/2023

Filler hose

In this post I explore the rust under the passenger side fender well. It was my intension to WELD this weekend. Unfortunately I absent-mindedly did not turn off the shielding gas and the tank was empty. Major bummer.

So I took time to get the fender ready. I also cut my patches. I also installed the new gas tank filler hoses and my new gas cap. How exciting! It wasn’t.

I cut the fender rust out of the part where the body mount is. Turned out it was just the outer skin that had rust. I cleaned up the rusty metal underneath and will paint it with the magic rust-encapsulating-paint before I weld the patch for the fender back in place. Why Land Rover didn’t bother to try and keep rust out of there is still a mystery to me. It’s like they WANT their vehicles to rust out. What kind of a sales strategy is that?

I’ll need to get more shielding gas this week. However there is really NO RUSH because Christmas is this week and the house will be filled with people and very little in the way of rust repair will get done.

Like and subscribe to this blog and the videos. It really does help and it is much appreciated.

Okierover.com\Patreon

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering and Merry Christmas from the Okierover family.

https://youtu.be/M5tumlZPZls
Posted on

Surface Rust Under the Passenger Side Fender (Post #635) 12/18/2023

Thumbnail

In this short video I take care of the surface rust I found under the passenger side fender. There were some unpainted surfaces notably under the rubber washers at the top of the quarter panel. There were also some pin hole spots of rust.

They look like dirty spots until you put the wire wheel on them. Is that primer? this stuff Land Rover used under the panel just flaked off in spots. In the video there is a segment that has some leopard spots…that’s where the paint just came off.

The two rust spots in the arch will be ground down again. I don’t think I need to fix them, just stop the rust. The holes are on the outside of the vehicle so water getting in won’t be from these two spots.

I wire wheel all the rust I could see. Then I washed the panel with acetone. This was to remove any lingering dust, dirt, oil, whatever.

I then coated the panel with primer in a green color I really like. I could see myself driving a vehicle painted like that. I’ll watch the weather and give it all a second coat when it warms up a bit. The temp in the shoppe was 54F when I started the work and 52F when I started painting. That’s just barely above the paint range listed on the side of the can.

A big shout out to my fans in Norway. 31 views from that country on 12/12! Tusen takk!

If you are enjoying the content, like and subscribe. Okierover Patreon.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Posted on

Fixing the D Pillar Rust (Post #634) 12/11/2023

I can see my breath!

If you follow the blog you have seen the rust damage from open cell foam in the upper D Pillar. The foam got wet and over time ate through the pillar and caused a hole that allowed water into the rear. It wasn’t likely a “stream” of water as the pillar had a cover and the foam also blocked the hole.

In any event, it had to be repaired. I went to some effort to research the removal of the rear quarter panel windows. Damaging the seal is a non-starter. Replacement seals cost in the neighborhood of $500.00(US). And there is also a chance of breaking a window.

I had the Evil German Dude over for Thanksgiving and showed him the damage. He was pretty certain that I could weld a patch there WITHOUT removing the seal and window. Using caution and allowing time for the welds to cool, he was sure that the welding would not be a problem.

Trusting he was right, I proceeded to build a patch and weld it in. The patch was pretty easy to make. You’ll need a bench vise or a metal brake to bend the steel. Well…if you have to bend steel for your patch. I got the patch in place, wire wheeled the paint and primer away and started welding.

My first welds didn’t stick. I had to work through that. Some of the issue was a crappy ground point. The other could be paint I hadn’t removed. I finally sorted that out and made the weld around the piece. I will come back with some seam sealer and make sure there are no holes by sealing them with a bead of sealant.

I was a bit surprised at how well this went. I was expecting a much more complicated repair. I’m not in love with the welds. But such is the way you have to weld thin steel. They also are not in sight so they didn’t have to be pretty…and they aren’t pretty.

The temp cooled off this week. It was 40F degrees when I finished up. Funny how two and a half months ago the temp was three times that in the shop. We got a little reprieve on Sunday and it got above 50F degrees.

I’ve been kicking around an idea if the window had broken. Building in wing window storage boxes. I could use them to pass through power to solar panels, shore power, a heating tube for a propane heater, and the most exciting, water for showers and cooking/washing hands and such. I’ve got the bug so I may build a mockup with cardboard to see if it would work the way I’m thinking. It’s maybe a project for another day. You can check out this video which served as a good portion of the inspiration. Dirt Lifestyle has two videos on gullwing windows for his Discovery II. This is the latest [YouTube], and is an improvement of the original, enjoy.

I hope you enjoy the video of my work. Like and subscribe and if you want to help through a recurring contribution, Patreon is helpful way to do that.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Posted on

Passenger Side Rear Wheel Well Rust – Part 2: Investigation (Post #632) 11/20/2023

thumbnail

I have official started the rust abatement on the passenger side rear wheel well. I’ve looked at it and took the stone chip back and overall, it’s not nearly as bad as the driver’s side.

I think it will not take too much to get this side repaired. Just 8 small spots of rust that will require patches.

I should have done more research. I didn’t account for the fuel filling hoses when I took the fender off. I didn’t need to remove the hoses. The top of the filler was only in place by a rather badly deteriorating rubber gasket. Which, as of this post, I have not found a replacement for. Also in doing this, I’ve decided it would be easier to replace the filler hoses than reinstall. They are 30+ years old and quite hard.

I found one hose on Rover’s North but the second smaller one I did not find. I may just take a sample of each and go down to O’Reilly’s and find the equivalent size hose from the “WALL OF HOSES”. They are usually pretty good about letting me go back there and matching up. If I secure hoses with this method I’ll put the part numbers in this post.

Next up will be cutting and welding the bits. I took the subwoofer out as it was in the way. The speaker inside was perished. I looked on line and found some comparable speakers. They look to be 6.5 inches in diameter and 3.5 inches in depth. I think I can replace it for as low as $90.00(US). I could spend WAY more, but I don’t see the point. I mostly listen to books on tape, books on CD, audiobooks when I drive. When I overland, more often than not, I just listen to the wind and the engine while I’m bopping down the backroads.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

okierover.com/patreon

Like and subscribe if you find this content entertaining and informative.

Proudly powered by WordPress