help with filling holes in body

i have taken off the snorkel fitted to my defender (the snorkel is for sale if any one is interested) and its left with a couple of holes in the windscreen frame and side panel, never filled holes in the body panels before and looking for some advice on the best way forward. would body filler be ok in a hole like these?

If it were me, I'd weld the top ones in the pillar. Looks like it needs a spray up anyway. The ones in the wing can be filled but I'd put some fibreglass from behind first.

The hole in the wing is the air intake to the air filter and as standard has a plastic grille over it. After market options are available.
Edit: if you mean the two rivnuts above the air intake, just leave a couple of shiny bolts in them.

Wimblowdriver said:

The hole in the wing is the air intake to the air filter and as standard has a plastic grille over it. After market options are available.
Edit: if you mean the two rivnuts above the air intake, just leave a couple of shiny bolts in them.

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Yes I was thinking of the 2 riv nuts, I have a new air intake grille coming. Might pop a couple of bolts in see what it looks like.

Wimblowdriver said:

The hole in the wing is the air intake to the air filter and as standard has a plastic grille over it. After market options are available.
Edit: if you mean the two rivnuts above the air intake, just leave a couple of shiny bolts in them.

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Won’t welding the holes melt the seal for the windscreen, not wanting to have to take it out I hear it’s a pita to get back in on your own

Do you think it would look daft if I put a couple of stainless rivnuts on the windscreen holes with stainless bolts? Would clean up the corrosion and paint first

I would put some epoxy aluminium metal filler in the windscreen holes. Something like this

Quiksteel 16402 Aluminium Reinforced Epoxy Putty, 2 OZ https://amzn.eu/d/51etq7k

tomhop said:

Do you think it would look daft if I put a couple of stainless rivnuts on the windscreen holes with stainless bolts? Would clean up the corrosion and paint first

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That's what I would do. Round, flat head bolts with Torx or Allen key fitting. But I'd use alloy rivnuts, and slather the bolts with copper grease to stop corrosion.

Wimblowdriver said:

That's what I would do. Round, flat head bolts with Torx or Allen key fitting. But I'd use alloy rivnuts, and slather the bolts with copper grease to stop corrosion.

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I would leave the snorkel fitted to cover the holes but that is clearly not the correct answer

Mantec snorkle was it ?
Like this ... ?



They are good, why did you remove it ?

For me it looks a bit OTT, I am never going to drive it through the desert or do any deep wading. I am trying to strip it back a bit (previous owner had put a fair bit of extras on it) to get it looking a bit more original and IMO a bit smarter.
Yes it was a Mantec snorkel

turrican said:

I would put some epoxy aluminium metal filler in the windscreen holes. Something like this

Quiksteel 16402 Aluminium Reinforced Epoxy Putty, 2 OZ https://amzn.eu/d/51etq7k

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Thanks for that, I have ordered a tube of it, if it works well I might try to remove the riv nuts on the wing and fill them too

tomhop said:

For me it looks a bit OTT, I am never going to drive it through the desert or do any deep wading. I am trying to strip it back a bit (previous owner had put a fair bit of extras on it) to get it looking a bit more original and IMO a bit smarter.
Yes it was a Mantec snorkel

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I would refit the snorkel. Most buyers will like it on. They are not inexpensive either, so it’s a good selling point. Failing that I would, as above, fill the frame holes, after you have got rid of the corrosion, with filler suitable for ally. I would leave the rivnuts in as they are an honest retro adaption. They won’t be an issue to a proper LR buyer !!

meego said:

I would refit the snorkel. Most buyers will like it on. They are not inexpensive either, so it’s a good selling point. Failing that I would, as above, fill the frame holes, after you have got rid of the corrosion, with filler suitable for ally. I would leave the rivnuts in as they are an honest retro adaption. They won’t be an issue to a proper LR buyer !!

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i am not doing this to sell it, this is my own vehicle i hope to have for a long time. just want it the way i like it and not have the add on's that someone else put on it.

tomhop said:

i am not doing this to sell it, this is my own vehicle i hope to have for a long time. just want it the way i like it and not have the add on's that someone else put on it.

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Ok. I read your post wrongly and now realise it’s the snorkel that for sale
You have had some good advice from various members, so it’s your choice now.

In terms of returning your 90 to a more standard look, personally I would refit the snorkel and sell the winch and bumper. The snorkel is a less obvious modification that would also avoid the need to reveal holes. The winch and bumper can be removed and replaced with a standard bumper with virtually no sign that it was ever fitted. Perhaps remove the chequerplate sills too, which stand out.

tomhop said:

For me it looks a bit OTT

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They are definitely over the top. You should only fit the nice mushroom top metal snorkels, much better than the modern plastic!

Knappster said:

In terms of returning your 90 to a more standard look, personally I would refit the snorkel and sell the winch and bumper. The snorkel is a less obvious modification that would also avoid the need to reveal holes. The winch and bumper can be removed and replaced with a standard bumper with virtually no sign that it was ever fitted. Perhaps remove the chequerplate sills too, which stand out.

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I would complete agree with this, remove the chequer sills and clean and repaint to be original body colour will make a big difference. I would leave the wing top chequer as it allows you to stand on the wings and put tools down etc. without damage. Although I personally dislike silver and would paint them either body coloured or black.
The winch bumper is a personal preference thing, but again if keeping it I would fit an a bar or bull bars (steel not the terrible plastic ones) as without it a winch bumper just looks a little odd. A standard bumper is ok on its own but for me a winch is all or nothing.

Thanks for all the replies, the chequer plate is a contentious issue for me because I don’t like it but I am constantly throwing tools on them and don’t have to worry about scratching the wings, had thought about painting them but then would they look tatty quickly as the paint would get scratched?
Also worried about taking the plate off of the door bottoms as I don’t know if they are hiding anything.
As for the winch I like it and am going to leave it, I am not keen on the lights in the bumper and am going to take them out and weld in plates to cover the holes.
The big spots is another issue as I was going to take them off and fit LED (I know there not original) but I read a lot of bad comments about them so am thinking of keeping the spots, maybe repositioning them on an A frame bar would make them look better?

I don’t am not worried about it being completely stock standard and rivet counting just always had a picture in my head of what my Landy would look like when I could eventually afford one, and I have never liked snorkels don’t know why just always thought they looked naff

meego said:

Ok. I read your post wrongly and now realise it’s the snorkel that for sale
You have had some good advice from various members, so it’s your choice now.

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It does read like I was selling my Landy I hadn’t noticed, have now edited it