Bulkhead Vent replacement

Hi Everyone

I'm building up courage to repair the top of my bulkhead in my 2000 TD5. Its not too bad but it is rusting and has had some pretty ropy repairs to the passenger side where a patch panel was welding over the existing metal - it came from a quarry so it was probably just a working fix. I've got some repair panels from YRM which are brilliant, although they dont have holes for the bolts for the window frame/bulkhead pre drilled. The worst of the rust is right on the edge where the panel folds under the window frame - otherwise I would have just welded the new panel minus the lip.

Anyway my mate is a fantastic welder and has given me a day of his time a week on Saturday to weld in the repair.

My plan is to remove the 3 bolts holding the bulkhead to window frame and I would like to be able to raise up the window frame enough to remove the old seal and gain access to that area. I really dont want to remove the complete window frame as this doesnt leak and will probably cause more issues?

I believe there are some locating pins in the bulkhead so I wont be able to just cut out the old metal as I need to keep them in place??

The top of the repair panel has a lip, and the easiest solution would be just to weld in this to the back of the bulkhead, however the locating pins?

Do I remove the top door hinge and keep the door in place so that I can then ensure that the repair panel is in the correct place to ensure a good door fit, or remove completely. I'm concerned that things wont line up when its done. I said this to my mate and he told me to wind my neck in!

Any suggestions appreciated. Im dreading it but know that at some point it needs to be done. I used dum dum putty along the window/bulkhead and to be fair have never had a leak. I presume I can re-suse the fly screen behind the existing vents as they are abit pricey to replace.

I've done most of the renovation myself and tbh every time someone has said "thats easy" its turned out to be an absolute nightmare- A Frame Ball Joint, Core plug replacement..

I know I should have done this when I was renovating her last year, but I just concentrated on the mechanicals and chassis - that was more than enough hahaha.

Or - do I just live with it!

Thanks

Stumpy

I've done this. How do you weld the top with the windscreen surround in?
Removing all the spot welds is a nightmare. Check to see what is behind the corroded bits you're taking out. Things can escalate quickly![GALLERY=] [/GALLERY]

Oh no!

Having done this last year I would say, assume it is going to be a major job. That way you won't be disappointed. Mine was a 1984 so little things are different from yours, but my humble advice is...

Remove the windscreen frame, it's not that hard and will mean a much easier job. The top seals easily to the roof when you are putting it back on.
Repair all the rust you can find, don't plan to come back to it later
Just because you have a replacement panel that size, doesn't mean you have to use it. Cut the panel to fit the repair, not the other way round. The less you cut from the bulkhead the better the chances are of keeping the right shape / position of everything.
Take some time to get the top of the bulkhead square when all welded back up.
Spray in some anti-rust treatment when you have access to the inside

Doing it again, I would use a 'jottler' and lap joint the repair in. But then if you've got someone who knows what they are doing. You'll be fine on that front.

what are the bottom of the door post like? Mine were shot as was nearly everything else when I started. If you are striping the bulkhead you need to do as much as possible that needs it. You don't want to be going back in 18 months to do another bit.
Let me know if you need any information and photos

The bottom of the doors are all good so hopefully wont need much attention if any. I might rethink when I'm going to do this, I suppose Im getting cold feet!

My mate is keen to help, but I think having a Friday evening and a Saturday would be wishful thinking to do the job.

Thanks for the advice and you are absolutely right I wont use the all of the repair panel.

Really appreciate the help

Regards

Stumpy

stumpyj said:

The bottom of the doors are all good so hopefully wont need much attention if any. I might rethink when I'm going to do this, I suppose Im getting cold feet!

My mate is keen to help, but I think having a Friday evening and a Saturday would be wishful thinking to do the job.

Thanks for the advice and you are absolutely right I wont use the all of the repair panel.

Really appreciate the help

Regards

Stumpy

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Don't get cold feet! Do it, it's very satisfying and really good to know that it's done and all good for the next decade. Just don't cut corners and give yourself some time. Whatever you do, just start it. then don't rush it.

Hi Everyone - I just wanted to feed back on my bulkhead repair to my 2000 TD5 Defender.

I started on Friday night and did about 3 hours of stripping everything out. This included taking the windscreen frame out, which wasnt too bad due to the corrosion on the bulkhead, all the various sundries such as dash (I must have had that off and on 20 times), doors and the vent flaps. I have to say that after I removed the roof lining I was gobsmacked at how immaculate the roof was - literally like new. Even though Im tempted to keep it like that I am going to recover the existing headlining in the next week or so.

Saturday started at 0730 and it was already warm. Everything was off and we could start to fabricate straight away. I was really worried about the wiring behind the bulkhead and kept telling my mate who was doing the welding for me. He just kept laughing. I do a bit MIG welding and so imagined sparks everywhere - that was until he got the TIG welder out. Wow is all I can say. Controlled and accurate welding. Not a spark to be seen. The corrosion behind the bulkhead was pretty bad - where the two (of the three) bolts that hold the bulkhead and windscreen frame together. He welded plates either side and this gave a load more strength to the bulkhead. From there it was just a case of cutting out the rotten metal and welding in the new material from the repair panels I got from YRM. Whilst Andy was welding I doing the less glamorous stuff like replacing the seals on the vent flats and replacing all the hinge captive nuts, copper greasing everything and basically getting ready for the rebuild.

Welding was all done by about 1400. To be fair to Andy, "we" replaced the rear cross member in a morning so I shouldn't have been his surprised at the progress. However I under estimated the amount of time it would take to put back together. I skimmed both sides with some metal filler just to get a smooth finish over the grounded welds and painted all the areas behind the bulkhead with corrosion inhibitor.

The Window frame went in without any hassle, we just took our time, and then we bolted it all down, first from the top and then the 3 bolts either side. By now it was about 1730 and we were both exhausted. We decided to call it a day.

This morning I tiger sealed around the join at the top of the window frame and also around the fly mesh things before I refitted the vents (I left them open).

So, what advice can I give. Obviously having a mate that is a welder/fabricator is a no brainer but I think doing it with a mate is not only physical but actually mental as well. I looked at Landy on Friday night when she had no doors and no windscreen and could have been sick! It was the same feeling when I took everything off 18 months earlier ( I know I should have done the bulkhead then!), and she went back together ok. Andy just kept saying we do a piece at a time.

My tips would be;

• Get good quality repairs panels ( I used YRM) if nothing else for the reason they will be of decent quality metal
• TIG welding doesn't spark or create too much heat
• I bought an EZ dremel pack for my dremel - it was a godsend for the really fiddly bits and cut through stuff really easily
• Go to www.lrworkshop.com/diagrams and get all the necessary bolts, clips and gaskets - we had to call it a day when I didnt have enough captive nuts for the hinges - a simple thing to order an extra couple for £2
• Get the correct bulkhead to windscreen seal - there are two - buy them both as they are fairly cheap, this saved me all kinds of grief.

Niall posted above not to rush it and he was absolutely right. The best thing we did last night was to call it a day when we did. The major surgery was done in the morning when we were fresh and the quality was really good. Later in the afternoon we faded badly. When I did some of the finishing this morning I was able to do it methodically and really enjoyed it. We were really lucky with the weather. We did the job outside so being able to leave the landy with no doors and windows in and have no fear of rain was a weight off my shoulders

Thanks again for the advice

Regards

Stumpy

Did you do any photos?

Sorry its taken so long to post some pics - I've since replaced the hinges, stainless bolts, captive nuts and door mirrors.
Seems every weekend is taken up with changing something - this weekend is a full service - Mahle filters all round.

Wow, some work gone into that Stumpy - Well done to you and the guy helping you.

Thanks for posting the photos.

M

Hardest bit was getting the bolts into the vents - need to have the hands of an infant!

Which vent seals did you go for?

stumpyj said:

Hardest bit was getting the bolts into the vents - need to have the hands of an infant!

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Bolts into the flaps first then the pin hinge.

Hicap phill said:

Which vent seals did you go for?

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I went for the foam ones - I just made sure that they were fitted to the edge of the vent. Seems to be ok for now and to be honest I wont be opening the vents in a hurry - I live in Perth!

Flossie said:

Bolts into the flaps first then the pin hinge.

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Tried both ways. The way that worked for me was to dab a wee bit of grease on the socket and pop the bolt in, then I just carefully offered the bolt up onto the thread slowly turning the socket with my fingers. I also clamped the bit that the handle joined onto with my fingers. Basically I used up every swear word in my vast vocabulary and just kept going. It was either 15 seconds or 15 minutes. Once one is in the other is easy. The pin through the hinge helped a wee bit on one side then didnt on the other. Typical Landy.