Bodywork repair quote – realistic?? (Land Rover content)

I know nowt about bodywork and the costs for repairing it. I’ve a rusty edge right along the bottom of the passenger door (crap LR paint job) and the pillar that the rear door hinge bolts to is rusty and bubbling paintwork.

I’ve been quoted £295 to strip and respray the door, remove the hinge and repair the pillar, respray and put it all back together.

Question is – is this a reasonable price or is the bodyshop man having a laugh?

Sounds like a bargain to me.

massive bargain verging on too cheap.

Too cheap. Get 2 or 3 quotes and tell the garages your going to others for prices.

Too cheap? Serious answers?

Too cheap by far, the work you have described is simply cosmetic.

The rust on the Bulkhead (no it’s not a pillar that’s the bulkhead) needs nipped in the bud rapido like. The repair needs to be made (panels available) ALL the crap need to be got out of the voids and spray all the internals very generously with waxoyl making sure the drain holes are clear.

Once the door skins really start to go there is not a lot you can do to bring them back, basically you are looking at electro-catalytic corrosion (ally skin over steel door frame) the curse of landys.

The key to salvaging the the door is to get at the bit of the steel frame that is causing the rot in the ally door skin. That’s why it’s important to clean the bottom of the doors and make sure the drain holes are clear.

But £265 is just going to make it look good for about 3-6 months, you need to tackle the root causes.

Waxoyl and washing are your friend no matter what the macho idiots say about filthy landys looking the best.

Find somewhere where you can “gently”* steam clean the underside at least once a month in winter

*gently as in not to strip the sealant off

If you think the price is good go or it. Good luck with having patched un colour matched panels. I’m sure it will look lovely

The rear door hinge job is the B pillar’s not the bulkhead (but that’ll need waxoyling anyway).

As per above the door issues are caused by aly to steel galvanic corrosion. Once it starts its either new door time or reskin the existing. Common Deafener problem. i reskinned mine.

If your wanting to bodge&sell then spend £300 on it, if its a keeper (and all Defenders should be) then do it properly.

Oh and the chequerplate and the side steps will bring you a LOT of misery in the future … the chequerplate hides a myriad of sins and those tubular side steps accumulate crap like nobodys business so give rust a home on the chassis, and are a liability when off road (as in they wont bend when you hit something but your landy will)

Invest in some decent rubbing bars, these are steel, weld to the chassis and replace those trim panels with something that is actually of some use that offers a heck of a lot more protection against a bit more than doors in a car park. You can also jack the vehicle ANYWHERE on them for starters with a hi-lift.

The rear door hinge job is the B pillar’s not the bulkhead

*has himself taken out and shot for not spotting that*

Ah, so what we’re saying is £295 is an amazing price if the work is done correctly. However there is scepticism if the work can be done correctly at that kind of price?

Yes I know those tubular steps are a pain – might remove them as they’re starting to rust a bit.

This work is being done as part of a repair as someone drove into me parked on the road and they’re paying. Bodyshop man said he’d basically up their price and reduce mine so I’m slightly tied to him.

Next question – underbody sealing in Edinburgh? Vehicle is 6 years old and showing that classic landy slightly rusty chassis – just surface as above I’d like to nip it in the bud. Any ideas where to go – I’ve tried a bunch of places but no-one does it – any suggestions? I know there’s someone in Alloa or somewhere but must be somewhere closer to home?

Just go thorough insurance and get it done properly then.

Wow 6 years and the bulk heads gone like that. Mines 26 and looks like that.

Your door really wants the door skin pealing back – cleaned up and some kind of barrier layer – its steel- alu oxidisation where the frame contact the skin.

For 295 quid your getting a grind / filler / spray job. Wont last 20 minutes.

Ask them what they are doing for your money.

Oh its the bpiller – be scared- be very scared. Its the lower portion usually goes quicker than the vertical.

Did landrover not change the door skin to steel at some point ?

and if it’s going there on the B pillar, think what state the C pillar might be in! 😯

Remind me again why we all buy defenders lol

Remind me again why we all buy defenders lol

Because it is slightly less painful than repeatedly hitting yourself in the knackers with a baseball bat…

Less painful than repairing electrical faults in a eurobox.

Nice and easy to trace the wiring and repair the enevitable earth fault.

And welding holes is easier than tracing a busted sensor via computer ime.

Yes doors are steel now afaik. Will check what I’m getting for my money as you say.

Just go thorough insurance and get it done properly then.

Yes other driver’s insurance is fixing the rear panel which was driven into. This rust is not an insurance issue – I’m paying for this extra myself.

To be fair, I’ve spent hardly a penny on it from new apart from annual servicing and a £25 MOT, so I reckon a bill is coming.

What should I be asking for underbody sealant – what do I want done? Waxoyl type job or something different?

Thanks for all the help – as you can tell I’m much happier building bikes than landies!

Something like Gravitex for the underside. That’s a brand name for one of the many rubbery underseal products around.

Waxes (ie waxoyl, dinitrol 3125) are for cavities – ie, injected during production or by drilling holes and spraying in after, and should never really set. If you wax the underside of a car, particularly something like a landy, it’ll get abraded away pretty quickly.

sounds about right we would do it for about that price

Por15 for chassis

Fill inside of doors with waxoylq but make sure drain plugs free

Cheap waxoyl job probably worse than none. Needs injected into all pillars doors bulk head etc remember doing mine and taking hinges off to get probe inside bolt holes

Ditch the steps and chequer plate. Tree sliders better and give some side impAct protection.

Keith Elgin in Morningside is good with landys

http://www.before-n-after.co.uk/

Keith Elgin could be the man – thanks.

Google ORRP (off readers rant page) for an interesting review on before-n-after

I was looking for Edinburgh based. Before n after hardly qualifies….. good or bad………..

Lived in Edinburgh for 8 years and Keith looked after my Landys. Very knowledgeable and good service. Would def recommend for work on ur car. He maybe doesn’t do waxoyl but may be able to recommend someone. Otherwise ask on sorc or slroc websites.
Only added beforenafter for some rust proofing info.
Miss my defenderhttp://www.macmillan4x4.co.uk/vehicle.html

Not eddy based but closish – my mates all swear by strathearn. One had a chassis swap done on his 110 csw , another a heap of welding to the body work on his disco.

Neither had any related issues since

Not personally used them though.

http://www.strathearnengineering.com/

Yes they are very well respected