TROUBLE ON THE INSIDE

What began as a visit to the scrapyard ended in complete interior devastation

It’s funny how things escalate. A visit to a local scrapyard yielded a better centre console top, gear lever gaiter and surround, rear ash tray and console switch panel for the P38, along with original Range Rover rubber mats and boot liner. £20 for the lot.

So, one Saturday afternoon I dismantled the centre console for a quick improvement to the interior. But with the console in bits, I began to think about the spare dashboard that had come with the vehicle, to replace the warped original.

Then there were the Britpart replacement HVAC air con motors lying around in the garage. Maybe I should take the dash out, replace the motors, and finish the interior resto for good.

Two hours or so later, total devastation! Interior parts everywhere, and fingers cut to shreds from squeezing them into inaccessible places under the dash. I’d enjoyed it though. It’s not as difficult as you might think, though there are plenty of fiddly parts to the process.

First up, the panel under the steering wheel has to come out, along with the glove box, which also needs part-dismantling to detach the glove box lid release cable. Then the centre console sides, the HVAC control unit and the front panel, including stereo. One slight fail: I’d disconnected the battery before starting all this, but left the seats too far forward to easily access the fixing screws on the lower sides of the centre console. Oh, and those sides need a hefty tug to remove.

Next up, the instrument surround. Mine was only loosely held in, and in a bit of a state. I might need to return to the scrapyard for a replacement. Seems someone had already had the clocks out; they unscrew and lift out once two multiplugs and four screws are undone.

Then the passenger airbag unit. I’m still more familiar with working on earlier vehicles, so airbags unnerve me, but the unit unscrews with, I think, a Torx T10 socket. I don’t know for certain because an 8 mm conventional socket fitted fine. Really the veneer dashboard trim should be removed before takiång out the airbag unit, but it’s difficult to unclip, so I’ve left it for now. The airbag unit just squeezes past it, though it’s a tight fit.

A few vent pipes need to be removed, and the two main ones are screwed into place. The driver’s side fixing in particular is impossible to get to, so I cut off the plastic fixing bracket. Looking at various forums, I’m certainly not the only one to have done so.

Four nuts under the dash and a load of screws around the side and lower edges hold in the dashboard. To give a bit more wiggle room I unclipped the windscreen pillar interior trims, and dropped the steering wheel as low as it would go. I lifted the dash out, realising that there are two wires from an alarm sensor and the sun sensor at the middle of the front edge of the dash – the easiest way to access the connectors was to lift out the middle windscreen vent. And then it’s out. I protected the steering wheel but the metal cage for the stereo caught on the gear lever top and scraped it slightly.

Is the new dashboard back in yet? Of course not! I’ve yet to change the HVAC motors, though it looks as though they’ve already been changed once. I wonder if the heater distribution flaps are too stiff for the motors to operate them?

There was one more P38 fault to check before going any further: leaking heater pipes. There’s moisture around the joints of the metal heater pipes with the heater unit itself, so I ordered replacement O-rings. Once they’ve arrived I’ll start the rebuild. Wish me luck!