With the roof now bolted on (temporarily) I could fit and the rear door and drill the new holes for the middle and lower hinge for the bolts.

After some more check measurements, the door was fixed using new stainless steel hinge bolts. The only original holes are for the top hinge, so I hung the door on these first and with the door pressed shut, was able to centre punch where to drill the 4 new holes for the middle and lower hinges.

Once done, the top seal was fitted along with the top seals on the passenger and drivers door and for the pure ascetics, pop the new spare wheel on… just to see what it looks like 🙂

nHlgevyWQG+SUwFvn2m0ww
Rear door ready for fitment

 

 

Qub5SnSaTH+QUVNHq0bgRg
Top hinge bolts inserted and with the door pressed shut and square in the opening, I could centre punch the location for the 4 remaining bolts.

 

aoqW63FQTzqaEuu2+JLWZg
Lower hinge

 

QLa+D676QzeJl3UIdJf8sA
Middle hinge is fixed though the galvanised cappings transferring some of the additional load of the spare wheel to the rear tub directly
HY36J6iTRmijpANXS9gTGQ
Middle and lower door hinges securely fixed
9RQT5P3xR06hFgnFctpOMg
Rear door fitted 🙂 (Lock and keep yet to be fixed)

 

5HlkQjWfTpWrpfKnP8ovIw
Eventually there will be an elephant hide door trim to match those of the front doors

 

pztpVeHkQUaNETG6pUud6Q
The door strike (right), dovetail (middle) and spacer (left) need to be fitted to secure the door shut but…

… The original door had a bracket to carry the bronze dovetail. The new door which is based large on the Defender design does not have this bracket. The dovetail and spacer act a load carrier on the lock side of the door, otherwise, it is likely the rear door would pop open if the body twisted. Bit disconcerting for potential passengers.

The Defender (and some Series 3s) uses a different type of lock commonly known as “anti burst”. When the door is closed, the lock clasp engages around a pin in the keep, thus always keeping the door closed and can only be opened when the handle is lifted. It also acts as the load carrying component for the lock side of the door. Anti burst locks were an optional extra on the Series 3 and standard on all military variants and the Defender.

Fortunately, Series 3 anti burst locks are readily available…

After collecting the spare wheel, now adorned with a new Micheline XZL, I popped this onto the door… nothing fell off 🙂

oFU90hW0R0i2N3dr35T6OA