Replace rusty body cappings

Corroded rear body cappings may hide corrosion; here’s how to renew them

Corroded rear body cappings are unsightly and may hide serious corrosion concealed beneath. Trevor Cuthbert shows how to renew them

FROM the earliest Series I Land Rovers through the Series II and Series III models, the rear body tubs were finished at the factory with galvanised body cappings and galvanised light cluster corner cappings. When the One Ten and Ninety models were introduced in the first half of the 1980s, the practice of fitting galvanised body cappings continued. These galvanised cappings did not suffer from rust, except in local areas where perhaps a constant drip of water occurred over the years. The nature of galvanised steel meant the rust did not spread through the cappings, remaining localised.

Towards the introduction of the Defender name to utility Land Rovers, the practice of fitting galvanised cappings at the factory ceased in Station Wagon and Hard Top models – the cappings were simply standard steel that was primed and painted in the body colour. This no doubt saved some money, although the factory would probably argue that it was to give the Land Rover a more modern look with more colour coding (galvanised front bumpers became black gloss painted in the same era).

Only pick-up and soft top models continued to be fitted with galvanised body cappings, because they were exposed, and prone to wear and getting scratched, though they were painted in the body colour over the galvanised surface.

The corrosion problem

The effect of switching to painted steel body cappings on Hard Top and Station Wagon models was that the steel would eventually begin to rust – commonly at the welds in the structure, but also where scratches had occurred in the paint or a constant drip of water had fallen on one particular spot. The cappings also frequently rust where there are water traps, which we’ll see in this case where the hard top sides had been fixed to the cappings at their mounting locations. These rust effects are unsightly and, in advanced cases, begin to undermine the structure of the body. Replacing the old rusted cappings is not particularly difficult though, but it is time-consuming. In this example, the hard top had been removed to convert the Land Rover to soft top, and it was at this point that it was discovered the cappings – which had looked cosmetically okay – were in fact in poor condition. They had simply been painted and filled to make them look better.

Sharp tool

Using a 5 mm drill bit, the rivets holding the body cappings to the rear body tub are carefully drilled out across the back and sides.

6 Easy to miss

There are also rivets along the top surface of the cappings, and these are systematically drilled out too, in order to free up the cappings.

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Looks okay

The capping has now been successfully removed from the rear body tub and, other than some areas of powdery corrosion product, the tub is in generally good shape.

14 Remove them

The corner cappings on each side are going to be replaced as well, so the indicator lights and the stop tail light units need to be unscrewed.

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All secured

The replacement body cappings are riveted in place through all of the existing rivet holes in the side of the tub, and the M6 bolts refitted.

25 Final touch

The capping across the top of the middle bulkhead has also been replaced with a galvanised one, to match all of the others.

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