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MussEd

Member Since: 20 Feb 2013
Location: East Lothian
Posts: 361

2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Baltic Blue

Grill surround trim - screw holes?

My project to give my front end a face lift continues at almost glacial pace. Various bits wending their way slowly to my door and as I wait patiently for every courier van to gingerly inch up my frozen street I got to thinking about the six screw holes on either side of the front surround panel.

I’ve seen people spray the fir tree clips that are used to fill in the screw holes and others mention filling them and painting over. Was just wondering what I would use to fill these in? My bodywork prep skills/knowledge aren’t at the level of others on here so please forgive me if it’s an obvious question...search function hasn’t help me in this regard may I add...

12th Feb 2021 1:12am

Sulisuli

Member Since: 30 Oct 2016
Location: South west
Posts: 4807

2015 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Corris Grey

following with interest

2015 HT XS 90
2008 SVX 90
2000 XS TD5 90

12th Feb 2021 9:22am

L90Andy

Member Since: 29 May 2014
Location: Stratford-Upon-Avon
Posts: 728

I've recently filled old light guard holes by bonding on small patched of aluminium (old sill panel!) behind the hole with JB Weld. Then with a wet finger I smooth over the bit that squeezes through, sand down once dry and jobs a good'un. Can post pics if needed. Instagram: L90andy

My 1984 Ninety: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic56071.html - SOLD!
My 2015 Defender: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic39625.html - SOLD!

12th Feb 2021 9:39am

dorsetsmith

Member Since: 30 Oct 2011
Location: South West
Posts: 4554

wrong post

Last edited by dorsetsmith on 12th Feb 2021 12:45pm. Edited 1 time in total

12th Feb 2021 9:56am

hank

Member Since: 12 Sep 2016
Location: South Wales
Posts: 2341

2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey

The bodyshop who did mine look to have splodged some filler through the hole. Has held up fine for 18 months now

Click image to enlarge > 110 XS Double Cab

12th Feb 2021 9:59am

blackwolf

Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17823

L90Andy wrote:
I've recently filled old light guard holes by bonding on small patched of aluminium (old sill panel!) behind the hole with JB Weld. Then with a wet finger I smooth over the bit that squeezes through, sand down once dry and jobs a good'un. Can post pics if needed.

This ^^.

I have patched many unwanted holes of various sizes in LR bodywork over the years by the following method:

Roughen the back surface slightly with some medium emery or wet and dry
Feather the edges of the hole on the face of the panel so that they are not sharp
Cut a patch of thin aluminium (or piece of a scrap panel if you have one) to fit comfortably over the hole on the rear and roughen the patch in the same way as step 1.
Bond the patch over the hole. Traditionally I have used a well-known two-part epoxy for this, using moderate heat from a hot-air gun to make the epoxy runny and to make it cure to touch in a matter of minutes.
Once the epoxy has fully cured, sand the surface and fill with filler as required.
Finally sand smooth and paint just as you would for any body repair.

This method is quicker than it sounds and has served me well, and there are places on my S1s where I can remember filling holes but can only see them from the back now. There may be better adhesives now of course, possibly a bespoke panel adhesive (although I suspect that these remain slightly flexible which you wouldn't want), although some of my repairs are over 40 years old and the Araldite is still as good as new.

I have exactly the same job to do as the OP on a grille panel, I want to fill the holes so that I can fit a genuine SIII V8 grille to it, it's been on the "to do" list for at least 5 years now!

Last edited by blackwolf on 12th Feb 2021 1:32pm. Edited 1 time in total

12th Feb 2021 10:32am

MussEd

Member Since: 20 Feb 2013
Location: East Lothian
Posts: 361

^^^That sounds just the job. Thanks

12th Feb 2021 12:06pm

Oldowner

Member Since: 26 Dec 2018
Location: South west
Posts: 670

2007 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 HT Aintree Green

The proper way to fix holes - this one was bimetallic rot from the inside from the tub stay. Five minute job if you have the know how.

Click image to enlarge

14th Feb 2021 1:49am

nitram17

Member Since: 09 Jun 2014
Location: newcastle
Posts: 2261

?????

14th Feb 2021 2:25am

Co1

Member Since: 19 Aug 2018
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 3718

Oldowner wrote:
The proper way to fix holes - this one was bimetallic rot from the inside from the tub stay. Five minute job if you have the know how.

Click image to enlarge

Pretty sure the holes in question are on a plastic panel aren’t they?

14th Feb 2021 9:11am

gcc130

Member Since: 05 Jun 2015
Location: Wiltshire
Posts: 779

Yes, genuine panel is fibreglass I think.

14th Feb 2021 9:37am

blackwolf

Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17823

Not sure about the bulbous a/c panel (polymer, I think), but the non-a/c panel is alloy.

^^^ Not everyone has a TIG welder!

14th Feb 2021 10:20am

90 Dreamer

Member Since: 13 Jul 2019
Location: Oop North
Posts: 2252

2016 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Corris Grey

Puma AC surround is plastic and I simply got the bodyshop to fill and colour match mine.....

Click image to enlarge

14th Feb 2021 11:28am

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