Body work ideas needed

I've finish my double cab to station wagon conversion and have one last little issue to figure out.

When it was a double cab it had a canvas back, and there were holes drilled into the body to hold the canvas. It also had a roll cage frame bolted to it. I have another (now longer) roll cage which will go on in the spring.



The question is what to do about the holes in the body work, just along the 'curve'... I could do body filer and then paint? OR I was thinking about using a strip of curved chequer plate (painted black) and fix it over them. The trouble is getting it curved. I've seen things like this for the doors...

https://www.racpartsltd.co.uk/product-page/land-rover-defender-chequer-door-protector-plate

But the length isn't right. Anyone got any tips.?

Me personally I would probably put blind pop rivets in it and paint over them to fill the small holes.

Those bigger holes I would put something behind to reinforce them (alloy sheeting or glass fibre etc(m) then fill them

flat said:

Me personally I would probably put blind pop rivets in it and paint over them to fill the small holes.

Those bigger holes I would put something behind to reinforce them (alloy sheeting or glass fibre etc(m) then fill them

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even the smallest one is probably 8mm in diameter. I don't think filling rivets would do it.

The roll cage I have might need to be raised a little anyway to fit over a few little bits on the roof so I was thinking about shims, and just extending them to do the whole side.

Ally brazing rods I've heard do the job.

doriz said:

Ally brazing rods I've heard do the job.

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hmmmm. that looks interesting. Just did a little youtube watching on that.


So I guess sand it back to bare metal, fill it, and then prime / paint it back. I will have a look at this although I've gotta say having stripped and painted to van sides and roof, I'm not enthusiastic to do more body prep and painting.

Put some Rivnuts in and screw in some nice shiny bolts.

If you just use filler in the holes without extending the filler beyond the holes it's very likely that over time the filler will shrink slightly & you'll see a circular crack where the edge of the hole is.
It may help to use a ball pein hammer to dish the holes inward very slightly & then fill the whole dished area

Ratae said:

If you just use filler in the holes without extending the filler beyond the holes it's very likely that over time the filler will shrink slightly & you'll see a circular crack where the edge of the hole is.
It may help to use a ball pein hammer to dish the holes inward very slightly & then fill the whole dished area

Click to expand...

Good tip.

I have to say that the thought of doing all that painting work is still making me think of covering the holes instead. I'm working out how easy it would be to bend some cheq plate to the curve.

Wimblowdriver said:

Put some Rivnuts in and screw in some nice shiny bolts.

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I like that idea.
Alloy rivnuts with dome head stainless bolts in.
Rubber washer or thread sealent to stop water ingress.
Lush.

Flossie said:

Alloy rivnuts with dome head stainless bolts in.

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Would look good, but you would have to put a neoprene washer under the bolt head to prevent corrosion of the body panel. (Ally and stainless don't like each other).

The bolt wouldn't touch the ally, the rivnut flange would stop it.

That is true, problem sorted. Just add a slather of grease to the bolt threads to keep corrosion at bay.