is this ANOTHER common fault with hippos

Hi all AGAIN

yep ive found another f...ing problem ,but this one has really me!!!

went to check the rear number plate light today as thought it had blowen

but as it happens its fine but while looking i found this



for some reason this has really gripped me ! prob not even a hard job to repair (apart from ive never sprayed as such,got the gear but as they say no idea lol)

so to repair it do i cut it out ,make a plate out of steel and weld it in,grind back then paint some how
or
do i fibreglass and then use filler???

but i want it to be fixed once im done not a half hearted attemp as once the car is 100% (if thats poss) i will be keepng car for years

Mine is the same.

Will follow this thread with interest, although I have no immediate plans to fix it.

never seen one like that!
better to do in steel,
if you do it in fiberglass someday you'll end up with the handle in your hand while trying to open the tailgate.

very very true ,steel it will be

i dont think it will be a hard fix to be honest ,will rub down till i reach good steel again,make a temp out of cardboard to ensure i get the bends etc spot on ,turn welder down seeing the metal gauge is thin and stich it in a small area at a time to ensure no warping , as for paint ,i have some zinc prima and to be honest seeing most of the repair will be under the handle and other half behind number plate i will prob end up just brushing some black hammer right on it lol

when i do the repair i will take pics and post how i did it ,just incase it helps someone else out

griff

Mine in 2000 looks like this.



after clean all dirt



Right top bolt hole


Middle holes


RT hole was the worst. So i Remove the paint


and remove rust by hand as much as i can

Rest of job is chemical rust remove,

This is that purple thing. When it's dry I painted it, and fill doors with body wax.

Just wondering that later FL have thinner sheets ? . Doors around lower bolt (where griff2 have a hole) is quite a thick. So why it corrodes so badly ?

Hi
Mine was like that when the handle came off in my hand so I cleaned it all up then put rust remover on then painted with black hamerite then put new handle on.
I think it rusts because the water is constantly thrown up on the back from below as the holes at the top for the handle are ok.

I discovered a large hole in mine (Same place).
Rather than p**s about I bought a bare tailgate from a breakers and it was the same colour as the original and had no damage or rust at all. Just stripped the guts etc. out of the old one and swapped them over. Bit of a fiddle adjusting the hinges on refit but turned out fine.
Gave it a good dose of Waxoyl before the bits went in.

Exactly the same thing on mine, even to the point where I discovered it when checking number plate light. I was planning a soft repair and think im going to stick with that. If necessary add strength with a plate behind, hopefully accessible with inner lining removed, held on by the handle bolts somehow....Reason being I feel like welding might do more harm than good...its only the size of a 50p so dont want to end up warping the tailgate or burning the paint or some other disaster.

yup mines bad as well. probably worse than yours. what makes it do this does anyone know? collection of water behind the lock assembly and then rots its way from inside out?

probably something to do with negative temperatures, water getting under paint, freezing and expanding
never seen that happen on a "Portuguese Hippo"

well today was the day to fix this f...ing hole
first to take the door card off

next unbolt the 3 bolts that hold the door latch on ,But the bolt that is where the hole is was so rusty its even rusted out of the handle mounting and is totaly usless
and now the hole


def quite a big hole ,must def be one hell of a water trap
next the old dirty finger on paper trick ,to get the shape needed for the plate

sod it ,much easier to just cut it all out to ensure good steel


sanded and rust treated the inside panel
new plate all welded in ,not to bothered about grinding it to far back as will not even see it

(as you can see will only be held on with 2 bolts now as the one that was in rust stop has also rusted out of door handle
wires all pulled throw and gromet nice and tight , quick zinc prim then coat with hammerright (put on thick with a brush as you ill never see it )

all done ,jobs a fish lol ,never even tell i just spent 1hr of my life doing it pmsl

Nicely.

I need to do mine too - its probably about as rotten as yours was.

good job

Just checked mine, just the same as OP, must be common fault no matter what age.

That was bad had to replace the full handle unit last year when the wife pulled it off ! cause of that was plastic fatigue , from memory there was a touch of rust round the same hole that was made good and coppersliped looks a sound repair you have done there will keep an eye on mine!

just noticed you drive a UK plated car in Germany, how does that RH drive car on a LH road work for you?
just asking cause a guy here from a Portuguese forum was given a good deal on a Defender and wasn't sure on buying it cause it was RH drive.

baptista said:

just noticed you drive a UK plated car in Germany, how does that RH drive car on a LH road work for you?
just asking cause a guy here from a Portuguese forum was given a good deal on a Defender and wasn't sure on buying it cause it was RH drive.

Click to expand...

I use my RHD P38 every day here in PT, only time it causes a problem is if I am alone in car on autoroute to collect ticket and pay at booth

same here only problem you get is paying for parking on a machine on exit car park and of course mc donalds drive throw lol

seriesly i have no probs with driving on wrong side of car lol even on the auto ban good thing with the hippo is its good on all round view

bmp42 said:

I use my RHD P38 every day here in PT, only time it causes a problem is if I am alone in car on autoroute to collect ticket and pay at booth

Click to expand...

I told the guy it wouldn't that bad, except when passing a "slower running" car on the road, but on a defender what where the chances of that happening, right?

mines the same its just hanging in there, dont know how, but it is.

Freelander have may faults mine keeps me very busy indeed.