How hard is it to replace the inner wings/rear arches?

Mine are looking a bit tatty and on the way out, how hard and expensive are they to replace?

I thankyou

anyone?

How long is a piece of string?
It depends on your financial position, your free time and competence level.
YRM do complete inner wings for about £70 a side. Normally yu will find that battery trays, headlight boxes and bulkhead/ floor may well have gone as well.
I have done one side, no problem, but time constraints and lack of experience have meant two years later, I haven't done the other side.

But then others have "done" both inner wings in a weekend.

I have done both inner wings on my old disco, just by welding strips of metal... takes time but i think its easier than replacing the whole lot.

thanks, mine just have started to get a few little holes in them, as thier not load bearing do you think could i just bridge them with fibre glass and then paint them and underseal them?, i'll try and get some pics up soon.

you'll curse this next mot time when you have to sort out the new holes mixed with fibreglass.(or your welder will....)

I've replaced both inner wings on mine using YRM panels.
I can definitely recommend the panels, they are a good fit, and probably less hassle than plating up.
I can post pics of the job if it would help ?
It just takes a bit of time.

Rob

anything within 12" of the brake servo is an MOT fail.

The Mad Hat Man said:

anything within 12" of the brake servo is an MOT fail.

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Only if it impinges on the structural integrity of the servo. if it's a seperate panel then it can be 12mm away and they can't fail it.

Inner wings tend to get a fail because they have brake lines attached to them.

I did both sides ( and the necessary repairs to the bulkhead footwell) last year, dont bother bodging it'll only come back to haunt you. the YRM panels are top quality and a real easy fit, i did the whole job plus all the rebuilding after the car was written off in 3 weekends. there are some pics on here somewhere.

ok i am interested and my inner wings are sad.could someone let me in on this secret YRM lot who have the mendit bits and where they hang out .
much apreciated WODGE

wodge said:

ok i am interested and my inner wings are sad.could someone let me in on this secret YRM lot who have the mendit bits and where they hang out .
much apreciated WODGE

Click to expand...

try this

Discovery

Looks like the way to go for me but how do I do the job? Do I have to cut the old ones out with an angle grinder? And how do I attach the replacement panels? And what about the rears? Thanks .

cant say about the rear panels but the inner wings are a piece of ****, you unbolt everything that looks attached to it, then drill out the spot welds - opinion is divided over the merits of carbide spot weld drill bits or not, me I use good quality hss drill bits and beauty of this is you can sharpen em when they get a bit blunt. after drilling out all of the spot welds go back round and check cos the jolly japsters on the production line always seem to find new places to stick an extra weld. once your sure you've got em the old wing parts should drop out, if not go round the seams with a cold chisel and seperate them. At this point there will probably be some repair work on the footwells so do that first.
repair is just a case of assembling the new wing on the bench (some say build in situ but i like to do assembly on the bench), plug weld them together using the same number of welds as the original no scrap wing, then clamp in place and plug weld each of the drilled out spot welds following up with a good dollop of seam sealant then prime and paint before reassembly.

it is important that you use the same number of welds for your replacement as LR did originally as they give the wing its strength/rigidity.

somewhere on here is a nice tutorial, I have some pics as well but they dont show much detail - never remember to take photos when im working on mine.

as for good welding advice go to this link - MIG Welding - The DIY Guide

thanks fellas, looks like im gonna have to learn to use the welder thats been sitting around then or find someone who can and give them some beer tokens.

I made new inner wings to a better standard than the flimsy pattern part ****e.
Made new battery boxes and basically fabbed up a whole new front end!
The only parts I bought were rear arches and boot floor.
I made heavy duty sills, rear inner arches, seatbelt mounts, rear cross members etc...
Some of the stuff you are just as well making if you have time/tools/space and experience...if not get someone to lend a hand.