That first go wasn't a mistake, it was just a practice go to get your eye in.

Last night I did a test and stuck some of my new foam together with the puraflex to see how it would behave. Just had a look and all seems good. Stuck solidly together and hasn't eaten into the foam or anything. Onwards.

Thanks. I did a bit more on it at the weekend. I was in a rush and i've hurt my back so I wasn't really in the mood. It's bodgery now alright! 😆

You're right about it sinking in where it gets knocked. For an experiment i've been pressing on where those two big holes were and it has sunk right in. It's as if all the tiny bubbles and air pockets in it collapse and don't bounce back. I've stretched a piece of the old vinyl over those big...

Experiment time. I had a look at the Youtube tutorials again and got stuck in. Spray the foam over the damaged areas and right into any holes. It's hard to spray it slowly enough and you tend to get huge amounts if you're not careful. Then wrap it in clingfilm to keep it pressed onto the...

This damage is more of a problem.

Back to the dash top. It cleaned up well overall.

Warning! The following post contains scenes of bodgery that some viewers might find upsetting. Nearly there with the repairs on the main section of the dash. (We'll overlook the bit that goes over the wiper motor for now). I had visions of making a lovely curved piece to fit in here but it's a...

Hopefully a straight forward bit without nasty surprises. As it was before taking it to bits. I want a nice finish on this side as it's so visible in the cab. This side is worse but I can afford to lather on the rustproofing this side as it will never be seen. After attacking it with every...

Finally get the hang of the technique for welding the thin stuff now that i'm almost finished. Strike the arc on the new, thicker steel. Get a pool starting and then give it a quick push over to tag in the thin stuff. No weld through primer to ruin the job and it's all good.

Little bits of progress to report. Just had a week off work but family stuff was the priority. Will try to crack on with the landy but have now bought the tiles for the kitchen so don't hold your breath. Messrs Bilt and Hamber save the day again.

I bought a pre made kit. Was actually very good but there were two of the pipes that were too long. Luckily our local garage are brilliant and shortened them a few inches while I waited and didn’t even charge.

I'm glad it's helping. I'm really pleased to have you along for the ride. I also appreciate your advice when I start dithering over decisions. I think warmer, dryer, brighter longer days are going to help.

Great info as always. Thank you. I'm definitely going to note my most commonly used settings so I can replicate them any time. I think I can be guilty of rushing a bit. I'm getting so little time to work on it that I start to feel i'll nip out and do bit quickly then maybe forget to take care...

Most of the foam is sound and will be ok. I worry that the rest of the metal in there that I can't see is just as bad a the little bit that I can see, and that's pretty bad. I'm going to clean up what I can see and let the Bilt Hamber work it's magic.

Trial and error really. I was getting fed up with it going wrong when I know i've done better in the past. I've got this piece of steel that I always have a go on before I start whatever the proper job for the day is. I wasn't getting that nice sound like bacon frying so I started fiddling...

Well that one looks great.

So in my usual, bewildered way I thought that rather than keep going with the dash and just get a job finished I would start something else. The top padded part of the dash seemed like a good idea to tackle. That won't be any problem will it? It's been re-covered in the past and it's clearly a...

Now where were we with that dash? Here's the finished and primed repair section. The dash cleaned up ok. Then it's on with the Bilt Hamber. I don't know if this stuff really does what it claims but it certainly gives the impression of sorting everything. It's like smothering something with...

Not much progress lately. I'm spending so much time lately homework with my lad that I think i'll probably end up with a couple of honorary GCSE's. I gave the bonnet a wash after it's little adventure. Doesn't look too bad but none of the parts ever do until you look closely. We'll see later.