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Help!! Bulkhead water leak (hole in bulkhead)


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So with all this rain i thought it would be a good time to look for the water leak that seems to be puddling in the passenger footwell.

i removed the lower part of the dash where the wiper motor is to find this.. :unsure:

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Wish i hadn't now!

You can see it goes through to under the bonnet.. also looks like the previous owner has tried to repair it

Whats the best way of repairing this? Im i best getting a welder out to patch this?

Thanks

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I can see why that would cause a bit of a leak.... - best way to repair like you said is to insert a new piece of steel and weld it in, all other options would be a bit bodge/temporary. Quite a wee fundimetal problem you got there...

Mav

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Seen, and fixed this before - do you have a leak between the windscreen and the bulkhead? The one I repaired had the top of the bulkhead gone as well - I had to lift the windscreen + roof to repair. What's the outside like?

G.

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This is a photo from under the bonnet next to the heater box, can't really see it here though

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and then this is just the outside

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There is a crack running just under the gutter piece, it could do with the repair sections on these, how much would a garage charge for that?

Ive just been quoted £150 to patch the hole, does this sound reasonable? Sorry, its the first time ill have had welding done on it!

Ive also tightened the top bolt of the fake hinge as there was a gap behind it and sealed it, hope fully this will also reduce the leaks

Thanks

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Difficult to see with just a photo but it looks like there could be allsorts going on there, in-board of the vent hinge looks too good. Of course it could just be a wet bulkhead.

At best it's just the fold of the bulkhead, so strip heater away, ditto wiper motor and patch.

At worst the bulkhead is quite rotten around the vent and under the screen, so the screen will have to be removed (implying the roof comes of), and a new corner welded in.

It could be anything in between those extremes, though for the bulkhead to rot where it has would lead me to think it's going to be worse, rather than better.

Again, from a photo it is difficult to say 100%.

Oh, and I don't think that the hinge is fake, the screen really CAN hinge forward! And the crack between screen and bulkhead is most likely a deteriorated seal, a bodge repair would be to use a gutter sealant on there - ensuring, of course, that you don't use silicone.

G.

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Getting garage quotes for welding will cost a lot of cash, just make sure it is lump sum (if they'll even do that! - I would think not...) welding is very time consuming the cash is all man hours as apposed to actual materials. - the problem with the tin worm as its always a little worse than you think, until you have the whole area stripped and checked. its very difficult to weld to a thin rusty surface so you have to cut back to good steel to effectivly make a good repair... costs will rack up if you;re not carefull... in the mean time it could be cheaper to put another bulkhead in it...

I'd take this as a perfect excuse to learn how to weld ;)

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Stripped the rest of the dash of now, the other side isn't as bad but has already been plated by someone else

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Been to the where i normally get stuff done for my car and he reckons you wouldn't be able to plate it and it needs a new bulkhead, or he said he could bodge it using fiberfill i think it was called.

Thanks

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It is repairable, but you will have to remove all the bits on eaither side of the bulkhead and surrounding area's... might just be better to get a replacment bulkhead/get that one fixed and sell it on to get some of your money back. I've still got my old bulkhead in "storage" need to get around to fixing it and I'll proabbly sell it on for that same reason.

Either way its going to be an expensive job for a garage me think - especially if they aren;t a land rover specialist.

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Well the rest of its in pretty good condition! Been resprayed at some point and the chassis and cross members are all good. It is a land rover specialist but i know a garage would charge a fortune and i know its a major job but how hard is it actually to do myself?

Trouble is that in september i will hopefully be going to uni so its not going to be driven very much until I'm back home so doesn't seem much point in replacing it now.

I was thinking instead of paying someone to weld it i may try "bodging" it for now (I know a lot of you wont be pleased!) and try plating it myself and then if i don't get in to uni or after it i'll then think about replacing it.

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Hmm i see what you're saying, do you know anyone that can weld? - tbh bodging it would probably just as tricky... you;re still going to have to strip a fair amount off, if its already stripped can you find someone to weld it for you, I would!!! but I;m a little far away.

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just a little bit too far! yeah i have a friend who's building a steel tube framed off road buggy so he's going to have a go at welding it for me.

Stripping it isn't really a problem, i have plenty of time on my hands now I'm on summer holiday! :i-m_so_happy:Its giving me something to do for the next couple of weeks before i start working!

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Well the whole dash is already stripped, and looking very dirty behind there... Whilst its all off I thought it might be a good idea to sound proof behind the dash as its much louder with no dash! ( I suppose the hole isn't really helping!) has anyone done this? I problem I can see of it needs to be very thin so the dash still fits properly.

Going to attempt to weld on Monday now I think

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just soundproofed mine with rattlemat, id say its 2 - 3 mm thick and the dash still fits great, looking at it, it could probably have been thicker, just make sure to leave the areas where the dash bolts/screws up flush to the bulkhead and you will be ok.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290722494595?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

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just soundproofed mine with rattlemat, id say its 2 - 3 mm thick and the dash still fits great, looking at it, it could probably have been thicker, just make sure to leave the areas where the dash bolts/screws up flush to the bulkhead and you will be ok.

http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1439.l2649

Bit out my price range that! :blink: Although looking at it in different sizes its much more reasonable so I'm guessing thats just an error.

Did it make much of a difference? And is that how much you needed to do it all?

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£500 a roll!!!! What is it? Gold leaf? :blink:

wow, i must of got discount :hysterical:

its £22.99 for the 300mm x 5m roll, if you look further down the page its in the description, obviously theres some problem with the buy it now price listed now.

Not sure if its made a difference yet as iv not finished rebuilding the 90 but im gone do the doors, roof, and front of the rear bulkhead too, i may need one more pack to finish it but will probably end up with loads spare,

i reckon if you could get a 300mm x 1.5m roll that would be more than sufficient for your bulkhead.

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I've coated the bulkhead both sides in rattle trap and then put eva rubber matting down over the top. I can happily say it was worth every penny (although to do the rear tub, seatbox, bulkhead - both sides except for the sides of the footwells it came to £250 I think). I've only gotten as far as the MOT centre and back (bloody axles.... claiming to be refurbished) but you can hold a conversation in there without shouting. It's still not a modern car quiet but you can hear the engine in the background rather than have it as a primary feature.

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Yep, likewise. I coated the interior of my bulkhead with a layer of RattleTrap and everyone who's been in my 90 since has commented on how quiet it is for a 200Tdi. I also did the floors, tunnel and seatbox and when I get round to it I will do the doors and rear load area. Plus an engine noise blanket at some point. It's worth making sure that all air gaps and holes are sealed up. It's amazing how much noise will get through a very small hole (such as the grommet for the bonnet release cable).

You can't have too much soundproofing!

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Been out today with the gutter sealant trying to reduce the leaks after seeing it was all still coming in but surprisingly not through the big hole! Think most of its coming through the seal between the window mount and the bulkhead, didn't realise there was a seal there as it had been painted over! Also had the hammerite out on the rust to try and stop it spreading.

Sounds like this rattlematt is worth getting then, ill add it to the list!

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