Trying to find solid metal

When confronted with a terminally rusty section of car, you can take one of several routes. Carefully unpick the multiple original panels by drilling out and splitting with a chisel all the original spot welds – in the case of the Land Rover’s bulkhead you will need to add several layers of badly welded and pop riveted repairs. Or if you’re confronted with a rusty, bodged up mess you can just hope that the repair sections you’re bought will tell their own story and fit logically together.

With the Land Rover I desperately wanted to take the first tack. Yes, it was ugly and rough, but I wanted to learn enough from the remnants of the original panels to be sure it could look at least half original when it was finished. The trouble was I hadn’t counted on just how rotten the whole lot was. Locating and drilling out the spot welds was one thing, but as soon as the hammer was brought into play, the whole thing started to disintegrate very quickly.

One blow saw the bottom of the offside A-post fall apart in a shower of rust and filler – terrifying considering the structural implications. The footwell on the same side was a mish-mash of three or four layers of rusty repairs, which looked set to go the same way. Time to employ method two – cut around the edges of the footwell and go straight up the centre of the A-post with an angle grinder and pull the whole lot out in one rusty clump.

The junction between the top of the post and the end of the dashboard had suffered the same fate over the years and it was impossible to tell what might be Land Rover factory, and what was a farmyard bodge-up. So like some auto archaeologist, it was necessary to cut back layer after layer until all the bits started to make sense. Underneath several sheets of very rusty metal – the topmost of which had been pop riveted in place – I finally got to the internal bracket that

As soon as the hammer was brought into play, the Landie’s rusty A-post started to disintegrate very quickly

anchors the door check mechanism. Even this was rusty and fatigued and came away in two parts.

Once all the old metal had been cut away and the remnants carefully drilled out and ground away, there was surprisingly little left. Thankfully, I decided to do one side at a time. The thought being that at least there would be something to reference when the rebuilding started, after all bodged up and rusty is better than nothing at all…

I’d bought a pair of new footwell sections manufactured in heavy gauge zinc plated steel along with a pair of new A-posts complete with separate bottom mounting brackets. I’m not sure why these don’t come ready attached to the post, as to my eyes, there’s only one place they can fit anyway.

For the driver’s side, the top of the post required some ‘fettling’ to make it fit within the existing panels. But once this was done, it slotted into place and lined up with all of the remaining factory features on the bulkhead, which I took as a very positive sign. With everything tacked into place and the bottom mount clamped on and lined up with the chassis mounting point, the footwell section slotted into place and again, looked right at home.

There appeared to be a snug fit against both the remnants of the original bulkhead and the new doorpost. Is it just me or does all this work seem a little too straightforward? With the ‘weldathon’ about to begin, we shall see if it all continues to go quite so swimmingly.

The Land Rover gets more naked after every working day. Wings and bonnet have now been removed for better access.

It looks quite terrifying with the old footwell cut away, but all the original flanges were preserved, so the finished job will look as close to original as possible.

Test fitting the new panels showed that everything slotted together quite nicely. We’ll see if that continues once the welding starts.

The bottom A-post bracket proved only to be held on with rust and luck. Terrifying to think what might have happened in a collision.

A gentle approach was soon replaced by bringing out the angle grinder. The freshly removed driver‘s footwell sits alongside the heavy new panel that will replace it.

The top of the A-pillar and dash consisted of multiple layers of rust and old repairs, with the top one only pop riveted into place. A good whack with a hammer soon had this lot on the floor.