Freelander 1 Rust...

Hello guys. If somebody remember, i have two low mileage Freelanders, V6 with 110.000km and td4 with 120.000km, in miles it would be 68.000 and 74.000.



Now i decised to make rust service on td4. I bought good Permatex rust treatment, planning to coat with Dinitrol. But what i found under body- really unplanned. I removed rear splash shields. Light rust everywhere, in one place- couple of small holes. I brushed all rust on the body under shields, brushed frame where covered with rust as well. Then covered with couple of layers with Permatex rust treatment. Rear subframe needs replacement. Question is: should i keep this car and rescue it or no. I did mass of work on this car like new front discs and pads, injectors, filters ect ect ect. And now is hardest moment, when i saw condition of rear subframe and body under it.
Some photos after covering with Permatex rust treatment:

Jaguars rust worse, just look. Does not look that bad to me.
Rusted but not rotten. Surprisingly good considering how these cars were designed and made.

Thanks My family love these freelanders, so i really want to keep it.

The fuel cradle need changing. Not that expensive but depends on shipping.

It looks a lot less rusty than my 75000 mileage fl1. Treat what you can and hope for the best. If you can keep it off salty roads it'll last ages.

Col

And do not park it on grass.

Thanks guys!

websun said:

Jaguars rust worse, just look. Does not look that bad to me.
Rusted but not rotten. Surprisingly good considering how these cars were designed and made.

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Aye if they're twice the age!!

Mine ain't rusty.

Typical salt on a LR body.

Just paint it and hope for the best.

Colthebrummie said:

It looks a lot less rusty than my 75000 mileage fl1. Treat what you can and hope for the best. If you can keep it off salty roads it'll last ages.

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Where the car is driven and when makes a huge difference to the speed rust sets in. Unfortunately this obsession with applying huge amounts of salt to the roads is the cause of such rust. If the vehicle has spent lots of it's life on salted roads, then the body and its bolted on components will be much more rusty, than those vehicles that don't see much salt.

My 2005 TD4 SE has a lot more surface corrosion than my recently acquired 2004 1.8 Freestyle L.E.
The TD4 SE spent a large proportion of its early life on the M6 and surrounding areas of Birmingham, whereas the 1.8 Freestyle L.E. has been a local Cornish car all it's life. I suspect it's not ventured out much in the winter, as the surface corrosion is minimal.

Keep getting jealous on your 1.8 find Nodge. Around here unfortunately they are either silver or untouchable.
To get on topic there are very few freelanders scrapped due to rust like jaguars of that time. The only bits to look after are rear subframe including fuel cradle. Those can be quite hard to replace if need be.
A general recommendation is to replace the bolts if subframe is removed. Bit expensive since some are part threaded or hard to find dimensions on proper tensile until removal.

It is interesting. Subframe bolts must be replaced?

websun said:

A general recommendation is to replace the bolts if subframe is removed. Bit expensive since some are part threaded or hard to find dimensions on proper tensile until removal.

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Henry_b said:

Aye if they're twice the age!!

Mine ain't rusty.

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We won't be seeing many x-types or s-types on the roads let's say 5 years from now.
My s-type from 2005 and 70k miles could not even be jacked up anymore. Welding that car was beyond economical, ended up scrapped. So as my cousin x-type which was very bad to the point of being afraid it would rip in half.
My other cousin 200k miles seat from 03 which cost him 300 quid with full tank on hads zero rust. None, I would expect British cars to not rust do bad due to the weather here. Ironic

oxygen said:

It is interesting. Subframe bolts must be replaced?

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Of course they don't must. Is just a recommendation depending on your interest. That is something that I do but might be wrong... because if one of those heads snap due to rust...

websun said:

We won't be seeing many x-types or s-types on the roads let's say 5 years from now.
My s-type from 2005 and 70k miles could not even be jacked up anymore. Welding that car was beyond economical, ended up scrapped. So as my cousin x-type which was very bad to the point of being afraid it would rip in half.
My other cousin 200k miles seat from 03 which cost him 300 quid with full tank on hads zero rust. None, I would expect British cars to not rust do bad due to the weather here. Ironic

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My 131k S type has no rust in it, Swansea car too.

If you're handy with a welder anything is possible, and if you can't weld, learn..

It's hard to say with that photo resolution. Certainly, you need a new rear subframe (or you need to do a fair bit of welding on the top right hand rear corner of it in the last two photos. There is also a patch on the left hand front sill in your 11th underbody photo, just to the left of the cat. You need to poke that with a screwdriver and see if it goes through. I am surprised at the amount of corrosion, I have a 2001 car in the UK with 150,000 miles on it and there is less rust than that. Do they use a lot of salt on the roads in Winter in your country?

Also, check the chassis where the right hand front subframe bolt goes. They usually form fatigue cracks there.

I have bought my first Land Rover early this year a 1997 Defender and have a question - What is the best paint underseal coating for rustproofing the chassis area? I've been recommended Waxoyl by a few people, however my local garage mentioned that POR 15 is an incredible product for rust prevention. I've just been browsing online and found the product here https://www.frost.co.uk/black-por15-rust-prevention-paint-946ml/

I am interested in any feedback from fellow Landy owners who have used the product before I commit and purchase and start my first rustproofing project.

Welcome

TrevorLandyMan said:

I have bought my first Land Rover early this year a 1997 Defender and have a question - What is the best paint underseal coating for rustproofing the chassis area? I've been recommended Waxoyl by a few people, however my local garage mentioned that POR 15 is an incredible product for rust prevention. I've just been browsing online and found the product here https://www.frost.co.uk/black-por15-rust-prevention-paint-946ml/

I am interested in any feedback from fellow Landy owners who have used the product before I commit and purchase and start my first rustproofing project.

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Yes, I've used it (though not on a Landy). To be honest, I don't like it that much. If you prepare the surface EXACTLY as they specify, it can stick pretty well. However, that really means steam cleaning and plenty of high strength detergent. on bare metal. Then you need to abrade or etch the surface. The problem is that it doesn't actually chemically bond to steel, so it relies on surface roughness and any oil or grease whatsoever (even from fingers) spoils the adhesion. The other problem is that it tends to run away from sharp edges, so if there's a sheet metal edge, it doesn't coat it very well. Once anything gets under an edge, it just peels off. It sticks FAR better to fingers than it does to steel, IMO! The other problem is that you'll never get the lid back off the tin once you've taken it off the first time. Best thing, is to trap a layer of cling film under the lid when you replace the lid. I used to buy the smallest pots of it so I could use a whole pot without putting the lid back on. It covers pretty well. Don't get me wrong, it's not "awful", but it's not brilliant either.

My current preferred potion for rust is this stuff:

https://www.rust.co.uk/product/cat/em-121-epoxy-rust-proofing-chassis-paint-7

I have an old Alfa and I tried POR 15 on it. Some has stuck pretty well, other areas have flaked off. This epoxy mastic, however, DOES actually chemically bond to steel (even slightly rusty steel). It's also much less permeable by oxygen than anything else I've tried. It goes on very thick and doesn't flow away from edges. I've had that on for three years so far and it hasn't come off any of the areas where I've applied it. However, it takes a long time to dry in cold weather.

Thanks for the advice I will take a look