Advice for fitting modern parts to series L Rovers please.

[Petesrover]

I know very little about series L Rovers & even less about modern ones & I have some strange questions & sorry if they have been asked before but I can't see it on here.

I want to quickly build up an old series 3 that has completly rotted out body wise, including dash, I have a good chasis & want to fit a galvanised bulkhead but can't go to the expense of a new one on a 2nd old L Rover that will have very little use & will not be sold, my main problem is sourcing doors & bulkhead, the rest of the pannels are good, series bulkheads are realy expensive, but the landrovers after the series are much lower priced with less rust & damage than the series I have seen, would it be much trouble & look out of place to fit a 90 or 110 bulkhead on a series 3 chasis with original series wings, floor, windscreen ect?

would it be the same to fit a defender bulkhead?

Not botherd about what dash but do need to fit original clutch brakes & door hinges, dont mind a little welding as am expecting to have to repair a bulkhead anyway & was then going to try to get it galvanised.

Many thanks, Pete.

[FridgeFreezer]

Defenders have different footwells (the slope is different, pedals mount differently) and transmission tunnel plus a lot of the little dash fastenings are different - it can be made to work as it's obviously not a million miles off in the big scheme of things, but I'd either look at decent correct repair panels for yours or just look out for the right bulkhead at the right price - shiny new galv ones are expensive no matter what but if it's going to be kept forever it's something of an investment, much like a galv chassis.

[secondjeremy]

As well as the things Fridge has pointed out I think the screen mounts are different - which does matter as the defender screen is taller.   Fit the wrong one and you'll be forever chasing things that don't fit or can't be fastened in the right place.

 

Most of its the same - I measure off one when repairing Series pillars and they all fit!

 

Some were made for aircon vehicles which don't have the dashboard vents.

[Peaklander]

I adapted a new TD5 bulkhead to a Series as the original was toast. I salvaged just a single panel. It was cheap to do it then (2007) as the new bulkhead was <£200 I think. The spot welds needed to be cut out, then I used Series footwells and some custom made panels at the side of the tunnel. Fitted it to the vehicle and spot welded back together. the wiper motor panel and a few other bits had to be removed but it pretty much turned into a Series bulkhead.

I knew nothing at all about Land Rovers or repairing them so my starting point was zero.

Edit: The idea came from the guy at Glencoyne. It's on his website.

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Peaklander
Credit Glencoyne

[Petesrover]

Thanks for all the advice, more to making another bulkhead fit than I recond on, will keep looking for a series one.

That is a lovely job you did on yours Peaklander, very impressed.

[Landrover17H]

The time and effort to do any decent job will be considerable, and even if it's a keeper and you're not of the rivet-counting persuasion it'll be better to pay thru' the nose for the 'proper' item. Because of course, anything can be done, but unless you truly enjoy doing this stuff, there's no good reason.  Mine's a rolling collection of S2 and S3 parts, a proper Heinz 57, and it won't be sold. It's got galved everything. Nonetheless I regard it as prudent to have one eye on resale, just because. 

It's a difficult call to make. I often look at the work and often misdirected hours put into some classic cars, only to be left wondering? "Yes, but why?" It's never the owner that truly sees the fruits. But the flipside shows cars that are a wonder, hence my adage is to do what I want to, but it pays not to get too carried away.

 

Edited September 27, 2020 by Landrover17H

[FridgeFreezer]

As LR17H says, sometimes people will pour huge amounts of time into patching something up to "save" a chunk of cash when actually, unless you're really skint, it would be far better to just buy the right thing and fit it and have a load of free time to do something more useful / fun - assuming the bank balance agrees of course.

[missingsid]

As  S1 bulkheads weren't available I made mine from 2" box, folded steel, an old S1 dash and cut the footwell out of a scrap 90.

I now have a S1 with rust proof bulkhead (3mm steel) which is strong enough to add a front roll cage and late brake master cyl.

OK parts of it are easier to make than S2/3 but it did not take much time.