Date:    Tue, 28 Aug 90 14:53:09 PDT
From:    caloccia
To:      lro@stratus.com
cc:      bellas@gamma.tti.com (Bellas)

Subject: Re: 109 restoration


>    o How hard is it to do body work on the aluminum body, there are a couple
>  	of small dents and fair "crunch" in the rear quarter panel.

	the autobook (or was it haynes) seemed to have a good discussion on
	panel beating for the berma-bright alloy used in rovers, I'll
	look it up and tell you more about it, when I've the time.

	Basically, the aluminum work-hardens quickly and then will
	be brittle and tear.

	for the crunched rear quarter, you may be able to replace easier
	than repair

>    o Is it difficult/expensive to paint the aluminum body?

	I have yet to figure out how to strip the paint, but for new or just
	repaints it is pretty straight forward, even if not as simple as
		steel.		

	With Dupont products, there is an aluminum cleaner, and conversion
	coating, then one would used something like Vari-prime, a two-part
	self-etching ZnCr primer, and then finish work... Probably with
	Centuri.  The original land rover colours can be mixed at your
	local autobody supply place, as Dupont has the formulas for all
	the standard colours.

	Be careful to buy what you'll need, as if you have two smaller
	batches mixed, they could differ slightly... (not so much that
	they would mis-match other rovers, but perhaps more noticable
	side-by side).


>    o Have you ever reupholstered the seats, is it the type of job we (my wife
>   	has upholstered furniture/etc.) can do ourselves.

	The rover seats seem rather simple. My understanding is that new
	material cost is greater than the labor for even simple jobs...
	although the fabric for automotive uses is often tougher than
	other fabric, and might require more heavy-duty equipment to sew.
		

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