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Moving onto the right hand side, I cut out some more cardboard to make a template. This was a bit more tricky as it curved in two directions with a flange. Nonetheless, it seemed to fit okay. Once welded, I ground the welds down to make it a bit more neat. I gave it a quick coat of primer, as...

After cutting out the left hand corner, I used some CAD (cardboard aided design) to cut and shape a replacement section. Once aligned and welded in it looks much more sound.

Okay, so moving on with the dash, I drilled out the spot welds on the flat section then cut it off past the rust damage to get to sound metal. This allowed me into the two corners which are also missing due to rust…

Looks great in the snow! Hope your heater is working :D

Yes, that’s the same message that I get. Don’t hit the ‘upload a file’ button. All I do is type in the text box as normal, copy the pictures from my photo stream, then paste into the text box. They will go in full size. Hope this works for you.

Thanks, it’s good to make some progress for a change! I now copy and paste the photos now and it seems to work for me.

The next bit of fabricating will be making the repairs to the duct area. You probably noticed that I never cut the hole out for the vent flap. The plan is to do that when it’s all welded up as it will be stronger by then and I can use the other dash as a template. Will get on with that the next...

Now that I was on a roll, I thought I would weld it in which was a bit tricky due to the thin material. I turned the amps down and it came out okay. Not MOT standard but it doesn’t need to be. :D

As it was going relatively good so far, I measured up the repair panel size and cut some steel to make one section of the repair first. I bought a small sheet metal folder at the Sunday market, and this was my first time using it. Don’t know how I managed without it to be honest!:) After folding...

I was really concerned that the vent flaps would be unusable, but amazingly they started moving with a little encouragement. They will clean up just fine but that’s a job for later. I popped them off the retaining clips to see what repairs are needed. Looks quite overwhelming but I think I will...

Next to take off is the closing panel which is held on by small pan head screws. Amazingly, they all unscrewed with not too much hassle. After removing the panel, the full horror of the corrosion was revealed :eek:

I thought I would have a closer inspection of the lower dash to see how bad it really was under the vinyl covering. I wanted to reuse the vinyl so popped off all the retaining clips, heated up the vinyl with a hair dryer to make it pliable and reduce the chance of it cracking. Thankfully it came...

You can actually copy and paste photos or drag and drop them in, rather than selecting the photos the conventional way. It seems to work for me :)

Moving onto the big stuff, I thought I would fit the new steering box, but gave the front crossmember another coat of paint to tidy it up first. I fitted new bolts and locking washers, torqued them up and that’s another job done!

I had some more issues with the Rivnuts which hold the bolt’s securing the windscreen clamps. I eventually gave in and ordered some new ones from P.A Blanchard and fitted them using some nuts, bolts and washers. I really must buy the proper tool at some point :).

I couldn’t help myself and fitted the pedal rubbers, painted the rear crossmember as it had picked up some chips, then fitted the rear grab handles…Keeps me motivated!

At last… I can upload photos! So, the two options I have for the dash is to either use the defender dash and drill out the spot welds on both (pointing finger) and let in the S3 dash section to make it compatible with a S3 bulkhead. The other option is to fix the second series 3 dash and sell...

Thanks….not just me then! Thought I was having a senior moment there :D

I’ve had a look around and it seems that good series lower dash panels are like the proverbial hens teeth! Another option is to modify the defender one to suit a series. Now that the defender one is sound, I could modify the panelwork at the rear where it interfaces with the bulkhead, by using...

After spending all that time on the dash, I thought I’d better fit it and that’s when the problems started! The dash would not fit onto the bulkhead and that’s when it became obvious that it was the wrong one:mad:…. There is a recess on a series lower dash and mine didn’t have that recess...