To remove or not to remove the dashboard - this is the question....

Hey guys,

As many of you know by now I am currently doing a restoration on my fireservice-yard-find 6-wheeler defender.

I surprisingly found very little rust so far (despite it being 22 years 5 of which stalled) - as you can see from the pics of the footwell on engine bay side these are solid.

I was wondering whether it makes sense to disassemble the complete dashboard (not just where the instruments are but the whole black and grey part) to see whether there is any rust that needs to be treated.

Without taking it off I noticed that there is some surface rust on top of the footwell of the passenger. It's not going through and by removing one part of it I can see grey underneath (you can see from the pic) what do you think it's the best way to treat?

If ultimately I remove the dashboard - would it make sense to put some insulation material (like dynamat) to protect from some of the heat coming from the engine ?

thanks so much!

I've removed the complete dash from mine several times. It's an easy job so you might as well.
First removal was to sound proof the bulkhead - made a huge difference to the comfort of the car. I can now hear my stereo at 70mph or have a conversation with my passengers.
Second time was to wire up the stereo, speakers, tweeters and crossovers.
Then took parts of it off again to install a relay and run wires to the roof spotlights.
Then yesterday had it all off again whilst fitting "covert" security products.
As I say, it's such an easy job there's no real reason not to. The only difficulty I had was finding all of the screw holes in the bulk head the very first time I came to refit the dash; the insulation I put in is 10mm thick so I had to really press the dash into it for things to line up again. Once the screws were tightened up, the insulation has adopted the imprint of the dash so subsequent refitting has been much easier.

Not difficult as said above, just make sure you label all the wires etc and take photos as you go to help putting it back together, especially if it’s going to be a while before it’s all back in!

Great - glad to hear - thanks for the tips - is it common to find rusted parts underneath the complete dash ? is it the surface rust I noticed in the uppser side of the passenger an early warning on what I may find ? :S

They rust like buggery.

Hey guys - complete dash removed and to my pleasure there was very little sign of rust - very glad on how Wheely is keeping on!

1- on the seam between the dash and the footwell you could see some rust. So I have enlarged a bit the seam and applied inside some waxoyl - once dries I seam-sealed the whole bulkhead (dash space, footwells, etc...)
2- After having removed the complete dash and the door holder and sanded the bit of the previous picture it actually passed through to the other side - so I got it welded and then I applied seam seal on both sides.

Thanks once again for your recommendations - always super helpful!