 | Home > My Defender > DIY Crash repair diary |
 
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| tobias6 Member Since: 17 Jan 2025 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 17   
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Hello all,
I am going to be documenting the process of repairing my Defender after a motorway crash in February that left it looking pretty worse for wear. For context, I was on the motorway in Belgium a few weeks ago on the way to The Netherlands and while cornering on a junction the whole Landy lost grip and span 180 degrees, hit first the front left corner on the concrete barrier and bounced off and hit the back left corner on the same barrier. My options were: -Pay a bodyshop to do the repairs (out of the question due the amount of work needed) -Claim on my insurance (not a good option as my insurance is already through the roof after having a van stolen and my motorbike crashed into while parked.. both my fault according to my insurance!) -Repair it myself.. I have a workshop space for my business, tools, and I know my way around the Landy. And I will secretly enjoy the project. The damage  Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge In a nutshell, At the back end - tub caved in, rear crossmember bent, lights number plate and arch flare need replacing. Tailgate and side panel intact. Chassis not visibly affected forward of crossmember. At the front end. Front looks better at a glance, but this is where the chassis actually did take a lot of impact. Chassis end (where meets bumper) is now 10mm or so closer to its O/S counterpart, will try to bend back but might have to live with it if it doesn't cause any issues. Front bumper ruined, front grille ans N/S light surround cracked, A bar bent, wing panels all damaged. Grille frame, radiator, and all lighting unscathed. Drivetrain, suspension and steering all fine. Thanks for reading so far. I will try to update this in case anyone is interested or in a similar pickle themselves and gets inspired to have a crack at it. Like most of us in the LR community I am a complete DIYer when it comes to cars but I am lucky to have a drive-in workspace and a lot of tools! Tobias 2010 90 HT |
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30th Mar 2025 10:44pm |
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| tobias6 Member Since: 17 Jan 2025 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 17
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Part 1: New Wing
Decided to start with the easier end of the car to fix. A theoretically simple job of replacing the whole wing assembly. The tricky part is that I have to paint it. Click image to enlarge I ordered a full aluminium wing assembly from Stamp Panel for £400. It came in a very sturdy box but still got a couple of dents in transit somehow. So first job was to fix these. My photo journal is off to a bad start as I did not take any photos of this but i just gave them a few taps from behind with a panel hammer until they were flat, and then keyed the surface to 120 grit and added some Dolphin Glaze filler to smooth out the hammer marks: Click image to enlarge Next I sanded the filler and keyed the factory etch primer to 400 grit Click image to enlarge Then I applied three coats of rattlecan high build primer to the two areas where I had done repairs and any areas that were I would be likely to break though when sanding (edges and joins). Everything then sanded to 800 grit: Click image to enlarge Next step - base coat. This is where it becomes new ground for me, I haven't used a HVLP gun in at least 5 years, but thankfully a friend had a good quality one, and a spray booth for me to borrow. The paint was easy to mix, 1:1 ratio with thinners. I did one coat and wet sanded it to 1500 grit: Click image to enlarge And then 2 more coats: Click image to enlarge Following the base coat, I applied 3 coats of 2k clearcoat, again with the HVLP gun. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I didn't get the best finish, but as a complete novice I didn't get any runs and noticeable defects so I'm chuffed, and the finish should be improved with a cut and polish, which I did next. Wet sanded to 1500 and then 3000 grit, thoughtoughly cleaned, and then machine polished with a polishing compound: Click image to enlarge In between coats of paint and lacquer I stripped down the front end and removed the damaged wing. Click image to enlarge Cleaned off all the mud and wrapped some pallet wrap until I get time to install the new wing. Click image to enlarge Thanks for reading --- Part 1 costs: New wing £400 - Stamp Panel Ltd. Primer, paint, clearcoat £118 - Advanced Paints Part 1 total costs: £518 Project total costs: £518 2010 90 HT |
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30th Mar 2025 11:50pm |
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| tobias6 Member Since: 17 Jan 2025 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 17
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Ha! That would be nice, always liked Epsom green… but I’m hoping I can get away with machine polishing the rest of the car. I did a couple of spots and it comes up very close to the new paint 2010 90 HT
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31st Mar 2025 6:52am |
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| mini Anaconda Member Since: 23 Aug 2016 Location: Thames Valley Posts: 808
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Looking forward to seeing more updates, great work so far. BORG - Bucks & Oxon 4x4 Response Group
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31st Mar 2025 2:00pm |
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| Rosco Member Since: 03 Dec 2010 Location: Burntwood Posts: 1866 
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Great effort.
I'll be following with interest 2007 - Stornoway Grey 90 XS SW - Gone 2002 - Black Discovery II - Gone 2014 - Montalcino Red 110 XS SW |
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31st Mar 2025 5:17pm |
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| Procta Member Since: 04 Dec 2016 Location: Sunderland Posts: 5264
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cracking paint job that, shame about the crash, I wonder if the landy hit a patch of oil for it to kick its backend out like that. My old TDi was dodgy in the wet, due the very cheap tyres that was tossed on it from the dealers. Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back
In the words of my Good Friend, Gary Forrest 1980 -2025 " we will work something out" |
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31st Mar 2025 6:18pm |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17705 
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I must admit that I had not heard of Stamp Panel before this thread, but that looks a pretty good part at a sensible price. Do you know if they make the panels themselves?
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31st Mar 2025 6:57pm |
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| L110CDL Member Since: 31 Oct 2015 Location: Devon Posts: 10946 
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Thank you for posting your repair work and costs, i will be following for sure
Clayton.
1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up. Keeper. |
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31st Mar 2025 9:13pm |
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| JPE Member Since: 19 Nov 2018 Location: South West England Posts: 341 
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Nice work, looking forward to the next installment...
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31st Mar 2025 9:39pm |
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| Ianh Member Since: 17 Sep 2018 Location: Essex Posts: 2243
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Stamp panel is the ebay shop for SP-4x4 ( SP Panels ) https://www.sp-4x4.com/ who I expect you have heard of . |
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1st Apr 2025 12:21am |
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| jim4244 Member Since: 13 Apr 2014 Location: Bedfordshire Posts: 922 
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Cracking job!
Jim |
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1st Apr 2025 5:27am |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17705
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Yes indeed, and I think I now realise what the letters "SP" stand for! Thank you for this info, and I now understand the quality of the part. |
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1st Apr 2025 9:08am |
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