The purists will hate this bed repair...

[thixon]

I had the center section bent up, an had some sheet left over. I got out the rivet gun, and sent at it. I can't decide if I'm satisfied or not.

[gudjeon]

Paint it over and who cares or will notice? I have seen new cars comes from factory with "repairs", bondo, etc.:thumb. While the are standing there critiquing your rover in their smoking jacket, slippers, and pipe, you'll be out driving yours.

[martindktm]

You won't see them anyway while driving and enjoying scennery. Paint and forget. Can't be worse than mine....

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_wprKvXHKgAQ/TBVm4ZYChcI/AAAAAAAAEEw/X-r-7NHnV0Y/s800/IMG_0791.JPG

[jac04]

I don't think it looks bad at all. Did you bed it in with something like a seam sealer or epoxy?

[luckyjoe]

Look good and works well. What wrong with it?

I put vinyl floor tiles over my tub floor!

[lrdukdog]

Hey Bro, a few years ago Land Rover World used they same idea with one exception. The exception was to make it into a "U" shape and bed it in with good quality caulk. Oh, and pop rivets of course. It's done alot so "no worries" as Mr. Dundee would say.
Jim Wolf

[bkreutz]

I start listening to "purists" when they start writing the checks. :D

(looks pretty good to me)

[bobzinak]

you could of had a 3/4 inch 90 degree bend put on the side that goes up the inside by the tailgate seals, make it large enough to cover up both rear panels. the galv. trim would hide exposed edges, seals in tailgate hide bent edges. the only way you could tell is if you looked at it from the bottom. you would have to drill holes for you lights etc. but you would have a smooth surface on the back.. I had a piece of aluminum made up so I could put an outside skin on my tail gate..not purest, bit it made the rear of the rover look alot more finished. and I insulated it in the spaces in the tailgate to help keep in the heat in the winter..a little quieter too. just my two cents..rove on..bobzinak

[SafeAirOne]

Be satisfied. You're not restoring, you're repairing. Looks good and functional. :thumb-up: Nothing else really matters unless you're trying to make it to the concours d'elegance.

[Rineheitzgabot]

Travis,

I think you did a great job. Finish the tub up, and move on to the next repair.

-Gary

[BobJones]

Looks great...job done, now if you spend too much on it you miss out on beer time.

[TriedStone]

looks good, i like the fact that it's symmetrical and your rivets are evenly spaced. good job.:thumb-up: you could add it down the sides paint it willow green and call it a LE then it would be worth more... well... seems to have worked for landrover with their LE D-90's.:D

[Terrys]

Travis, I did something similar on a 2A I sold. The tub was perfect except for the corrosion at the 5 tabs, so I used a piece of 1/8" X 1 1/2", and went full width, from the inside edge of the galvy corner pieces. Once it was painted, you would have to look hard to seven notice. It certainly didn't stand out.

[thixon]

Thanks for all the comments guys, I appreciate it.

I did bed it with panel adhesive, so I don't they'll be coming off any time soon. I considered just making new panels, and riveting them over the old ones, but thought this might look interesting. We'll see how it looks when its painted.

My only other issue is the back bottom sections of my bed (the parts that always get smashed. On is okay, but the other is really bad. The flanged part on one side has been bent so many times, its cracking and falling off. I can probably tig it, but ts gonna take a bunch of time to get it near straight and then I'm looking at body filler central. If anyone has any ideas, up to and including just cutting the back corners off flat, I'm up for listening.

[TJR]

Looks good. fits the mark. (sort of boiler plate). at least your lower rivets bite into the thicker inner alum. strip. Jeeps in New england have been covering rust holes w/ diamond plate for years, else where they may say it's for body protection???? If it had been a stop sign or other road sign , you'd loose the bonus points.

[Wander]

Too me coming up with improvised solutions is the a key essence of what and old Land Rover is all about. The people that made them famous traveling to the remote outreaches sure had work with what they could find so why shouldn't we?

[109 Pretender]

Travis,
Like all the others said - you did a very good quality repair and that's a hall mark of being a good wrench!

You deserve a cold beer from whoever you can get it from - 'cause you know it's getting pretty hot this time of year...:D

Cheers!