Tip on how to fix rusted through body mounts?

Hi Kenndo,

That project of yours bring back some memories  .  I started by lifting the car and put axle stands under the frame rails in each corner.
I then removed everything from the back before I started, axle, tank, filler neck, exhaust, handbrake cables, etc. I also took of the shift boot for the gear shifter. Then I removed the rubber body mounts, i.e. the lower ones, except for the two in the front, there I only loosened off the nut, but I did not take it off. I put a sizeable block of wood under the rear. This piece from jimnybits is called "genuine floor member tail outer no 21", so basically the rear of the body. I then lifted the body up enough to wedge a piece of 4x4 in between the frame and the body. There is a picture of this in the earlier posts. Then I drilled and grinded out the spotwelds. That was in my opinion the hard part about this, as some of them were difficult to see due to the corrosion, and some were ackward to get too. The replacement panels I got from jimnybits fit very well. Didn't have to do any adjustments of sorts. I left the door on while I did this as I figured I could be ok to check for fit before welding all together. Later I found out that there are meaurements for all this in the service manual, but I didn't know that at the time. After welding I removed the door and did the hinges, i.e removed them, took care of the corrosion and painted the body and the hinges. One thing I overlooked and that became a problem later was the connector inside that rear pillar with the flap, the one that connects to the bumper, it was quite corroded and left me without a couple of the rear lights, last year. I suggest you replace that one, and the ones on the bumper with deutsch connectors. I also refurbished just about everything else when I was at it. It was fun.
I don't drive the car, I just like to tinker with it now and then. Since then I've got a front protection bar on it, and even managed to get it approved. Quite happy with that.  Also larger tyres. I still got the front slam panel laying here, so if time allows I'll get to that in the near future. And of course, I need a snorkel!


 

Thanks for all the responses and particularly @TrondK for all of the info. 

Certainly it's a pretty big project and as you experienced there are always hidden surprises that need to be addressed. I didn't remove quite as much as you did but I removed the tank, propshaft, electrical cables and the rear door. Have already done some welding repairs to the exhaust system, tank cover, boot panel and the sills. 

Hadn't thought about loosening most of the other body mounts but that makes sense. Have done so now and there was certainly some tension that had built up from already having lifted the rear but nothing to worry about. 

Interesting about the measurement in the hand book. I assume you mean the workshop repair manual rather then the little handbook in the car? Do you mean the measurements for gaps between rear tail member and door for example?

See how I get on with removing the all the spotwelds, one of the corner pieces is already free and wasn't too difficult but it will be the rusted areas that will be the buggers. I am actually based on the continent so ended up picking up my replacement panels from a vendor in Slovakia turned out to have the best prices too.

Anyway thanks again for your input on this. Much appreciated. 

Cheers, Ollie 

Yes, if you look in chapter 9 you will see there are a lot of body measurements, e.g this one: 99500_81A02_01E. I don't know if it's necessary for a job like this though.