bulkhead rot

[eds]

Ive got a 3 inch hole in the bulkhead beside the brake pedal box where vertical bulkhead meets slope of foot well and it is wetting the drivers floor.

The problem I have is that if the hole is to be welded I need to stop the blower trough melting on the other side.

I was wondering if this trough can easily be moved or does the entire dash have to come out first.

The other option I am considering is to glue a patch of metal on using aruldite.

Obviously welding would be best but money is tight so stripping the entire dash may not make financial sense.

What would anyone else do, how does the heater trough get removed.

Thanks peeps :-)

[Snagger]

You won't hurt the heater system by welding from within the foot well.

Don't glue the repair in - the foot well needs proper support, especially on the driver's side, as it supports the pedal boxes, which take a lot of force - a botched repair could lead to the pedal boxes coming away and a complete brake failure as a result. The "blower trough" is normally on the passenger side, though, and well away from the foot well. Are you talking about the plastic engine air intake in the wing panel? Jut remove it for the work to be done, as you'll need access to paint and protect that side of the repair once the welding is done.

Cut as much of the rot out as possible, and use plenty of wax on the overlaps afterwards to hold its return at bay.

[eds]

The heater trough is the thing that gets the heater air to the drivers footwell. It attaches to the bulkhead right above the footwell. Hence where I need to weld. It's all plastic vinyl trim.

I can't see how to get it out of the way.

:-(

[Snagger]

It's held in by self tapping screws along its bottom and over ends (exposed) and two bolts on the top into the bulkhead, for which you have to remove the grey plastic trim and the parcel shelf trim. The grab handle and lower fascia edge trim are just screwed in place (one screw or bolt behind the oval badge in the upper part of the grab handle). You'd also need to disconnect the Bowden cable operating the vents in the fascia from the lever, which is simple once you detach the lever panel from the upper fascia.

The lower fascia is steel, it's only wrapped in vinyl. depending on how far the rot extends, you might be able to just unscrew its bottom and side edges and wedge it away from the bulkhead with the top still bolted up.