More Corrosion Patching

It was decided ( by the MOT Test Centre ) that some more work should be done on the Defender !

First I attacked the outrigger on the drivers side. This was sound at the top so the new one was modified to slot in and then welded in place.

Rip off old one, prep the obligatory hole in chassis where outrigger was.

Cut template and test fit.

Cut new steel to shape.

Weld in place.

Then add the new outrigger and weld in place.

Paint it up then get it really dirty from grinding and it looks like its been there for years !

Oh, we didn't stop there, oh no. The lovely man at the MOT Centre chalked all the nasty bits with yellow crayon ( they are only allowed crayons ) and even numbered some of them. One of my favourites was an innocuous couple of holes near the front radius arm mounting point. We cut it all off and re-fabbed it.

Here it is hammerited ( is that a word ? ) and painted. I like to use silver Hammerite so that I can then over spray black or red or whatever. Having the refabbed/welded sections silver helps me to see them ! There's four different pieces welded together here. Sorry its muddy, I had to move the Defender to get a trailer out.

There are some minor holes in the bulkhead too which are tricky to and will be addressed after this jigsaw of a section on the chassis at the back. I have cut out the bad stuff which included a section where the rear electrics pass through. I used the circumference of a coke can rolled up to protect the wiring.
I only have one piece tacked in place at the moment and need to get magnets to start fitting up the other sections.

All of the above is very time consuming as I do the work in my driveway so need good weather, this doesn't bother me. What bother me is that all this work is for the MOT so I cant drive the Defender until its done :(

In the left of the above picture you can see that the bump stops are missing. I have new ones to go on but since they were only noted on the MOT test and not fails I may put them on after the test, whenever that may be !