Best source of footwell panels

Hey all,

I have some 1inch holes in my footwells that need repaired. I was going to just get some new metal welded in but I see you can buy the whole footwells for around £30 a side.
Any recommendations on the best supply source or do they all actually come from the same production source anyway?
Also, is there still welding required for these new footwells or do they just bolt in? If welding is required I'll probably stick with good quality butt welded patches.

Cheers,

Al.

YRM Solutions or Britpart sell footwells and the bolts and screws. They do need to be welded in. Just doing the patches is likely to be delaying the inevitable need to renew the whole footwell. I’d have a good poke around cos you could also need door pillars and bottom bolts etc. YRM sells fixing sets. Do you have mud shields fitted? If not you’ll have holes in the new footwells for them to mount. Recommend you definitely fit these as it’ll protect the bulkhead, wings and engine bay from road crud. Best get hold of a parts manual to help. If you let the bulkhead rot above the pedals it’ll have to be replaced so worthwhile doing properly. If you’re getting it welded with the new footwells recommend you use a good independent landy garage. If it’s bodged it’ll mess up the vehicle. Fit rubber grommets or bolts as spacers between the footwells and the mud shields to create an air space that can be cleaned if not it’s a terrible place for rust to develop. Lastly treat with body under seal regularly.

Britpart ones are poor quality so stay away from them pedal holes where in wrong position on ones I bought.
This guy on ebay has good reputation all the correct strengthening fitted.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-rov...888078?hash=item23a24e2e8e:g:ve0AAMXQBuNQ5oRT

Some of the cheaper ones don't have the pressed in grooves so they are not "original" in apprearance. Not an issue for us but matters to some so if you are restoring you may want to check how they look.

Hi all,

Great advice thanks! I'm new to Landies but not to restoration.

In terms of the amount of welding, will these need to be welded in all the way along their edges or is it just here and there? I am a reasonable welder but I tend to give bigger jobs to a pro.

You can tell I haven't started started stripping down yet otherwise I'd probably know the answer! There is a little work needed on my bulkhead as well - quite high up below and to the o/s of the coil. Seems a strange place for a bulkhead to rot - presumably there is some sort of trap on the inner side of this area that causes it to rust through? I intend to strip out the dashboard etc so that I can get a good look from the inside.

Overall, pleased with the Landie though. I bought it in Dec 16 and drove it often before the MOT ran out. Didn't get the chance to get at it over the winter due to a 911 project but can now devote some time to it. The PO had spent £2k on the underside and mechanicals just before I bought it so it is actually in pretty good shape underneath. Just needs those small welding jobs, some seat repairs and a repaint!

I am also thinking of changing to the elliptical springs which apparently make the ride a bit less rocky? Is that worth doing? It is a bit of a pig on rough country roads and I have a bust disk in my back that takes a hell of a pounding...

Anyway, thanks for all you're help and look forward to becoming a regular contributor.

Al.

For elliptical springs read parabolic springs...I'll get there...A.

Footwells need weld all the way round, the only bit that doesn't is where the floor plate sits cos that's in fresh air.
I fitted paras to my 109 many years ago and remember being impressed by the comfort.

Parabolics are a marmite issue - love or hate. I would not change yet but thoroughly oil the std springs first. A lot depends on how you use it. If its a light SWB they seem to work, on a heavy LWB they are not so good. Remember you have no anti-roll bars so soft comes with body roll. Paras seem to vary in quality more that they should and some don't seem to cope well with heavy loads. We did 200 miles over the weekend on std springs and my aches and pains are mostly from the seat, clutch (we got stuck traffic) and the brake pedal pressure. We were mostly on motorway and A roads at 50-55 with the roof rack loaded and I would not have wanted any more roll than we had.

The rot high up is very common. You can get various lengths of replacement from the corners right in to include the whole vent. Water gathers as it runs off the corner of the windscreen and down through the window hinges. Make sure they are clear of crud. I'd give your bulkhead a good inspection if you've got rot at the top and the footwells.

You can plug weld the footwells in as you have to drill the old spot welds out.

One of mine was solid rivetted in, probably from its Army days

Ah, OK so the panels are overlapped. That makes it a much easier job.

I do so enjoy drilling out spot welds...

I'm taking tomorrow off work to get stuck in. Footwells will be first job. I'm guessing the spots to be drilled are on the inside. How easy it it to remove the steering wheel - presumably the cap in the centre just pops off? It is also easy to remove the seat platform? My welding improves with ease of access and lack of annoyance at having to lie upside down with my feet in the air welding upwards...

So much to learn...

Parabolic can wait. I quite enjoy the way the Landie drives when on good surface but man it's rough on fields, bad roads or speed bumps.

Al.

I find speed bumps are the worst, we just about stop for each one (much to the annoyance of other drivers). I think its becuase they make the whole axle move up with no articulation. Oiling the springs helped a lot.

Flat 6 said:

Ah, OK so the panels are overlapped. That makes it a much easier job.

I do so enjoy drilling out spot welds...

I'm taking tomorrow off work to get stuck in. Footwells will be first job. I'm guessing the spots to be drilled are on the inside. How easy it it to remove the steering wheel - presumably the cap in the centre just pops off? It is also easy to remove the seat platform? My welding improves with ease of access and lack of annoyance at having to lie upside down with my feet in the air welding upwards...

So much to learn...

Parabolic can wait. I quite enjoy the way the Landie drives when on good surface but man it's rough on fields, bad roads or speed bumps.

Al.

Click to expand...

Get yourself a spot weld drill bit thing, mkes it way easier.

Also - cool name

pics of bulkhead here

These are of one I refurbished you will find a lot of the spot wells need drilling from engine side.

Many thanks to you all!

I took a half-day today and removed to FR wing to get a good look. On inspection I took the view that the rot wasn't actually bad enough to warrant full replacement of footwells.



So, I set to cutting out the upper rust and fabricating a section to be butt welded in. This included a small rib to match up with the existing metalwork...



I haven't used the welder for a while so this is a long way off my best work...but I'm happy enough and it will get me through the N.Ireland MOT.



I will be taking these panels all back to bare metal at some point so the anti-rust paint is just slapped on for the moment...looks like they have been done with something similar before - probably red lead...

I still have to do the bottom outer corners of both footwell and the bottom inner corner of the rhs which I will do when I remove the engine.

Good to get going with this project and learn more about how these things are put together. I loved the quick thread wing bolts! The ones at the front were a lot less obliging.

More to come.

Al,

John S - you mentioned Mud Shields. The repair above was needed because the rust had developed between the footwell panel and another removable panel that is there to close the space above that area. Is that the mud shield you refer to? It comes up and forward from its fixing point (4 bolts) just where that rust hole was? I can see the sense in putting spacers in there anyway but is there another additional shield or do I already have it?
Cheers,
Al.

I’ve seen footwells riveted in that have gone through an mot.
I’ve also seen an accident repaired puma with the drivers footwell bonded in! Not sure how I’d feel about that!

MOT's in England do seem to be pretty variable (I lived in Greater Manchester for 15 years). I bought this Landie with an MOT and the holes in both footwells were clearly visible.

In N.Ireland MOTs are done by government run centres and there is a lot less room for manoeuvre. I took mine last week but it wasn't running very well and the tester stalled it at which point it wouldn't restart. Turned out to be the coil. They pushed me out and the tester said it wouldn't have passed anyway due to the holes in the footwells...

Used to be that it was OK as long as holes weren't near anything structural but maybe that's changed.

Al.

Flat 6 said:

John S - you mentioned Mud Shields. The repair above was needed because the rust had developed between the footwell panel and another removable panel that is there to close the space above that area. Is that the mud shield you refer to? It comes up and forward from its fixing point (4 bolts) just where that rust hole was? I can see the sense in putting spacers in there anyway but is there another additional shield or do I already have it?
Cheers,
Al.

Click to expand...

Correct that's the mud shield.