rust??

hey guys,
just looking for your advice. have a spot of rust on defender. just wondering how is the best way to get rid of it. and is it going to be expensive.
cheers.

that's more than a spot of rust mate, think it's about time to look for a new front bulkhead

Bloody hell, let me guess, is it between 1992 and 1994? The first thing to do is try stabbing a screw driver through it and be quite brutal. If it goes through, keep working your way around the hole until it's solid metal. Then assess whether or not you have enough space to get into the hole to weld it up. You can't really know what kind of attention it is going to need until you really get the holes opened fully out, clean it up and find where the good solid metal starts again. It does look quite bad to be honest. Rip up the carpets / floor mats in the footwells too and have a good look around there. If they're shot too, you've got a big jobby on your hands and there's only so much that you can do when it comes to patching. It will no doubt be cheaper to buy a new bulkhead, but it's a massive, massive job to swap. Perhaps the biggest job there is Land Rover related. It's by all means doable though. A garage will want at least £1500 off you for it, maybe more. Bulkheads sometimes go for around £300 or £400, but they might need some chopping to fit. You'll definitely need a good selection of tools and some confidence in taking it to bits / welding if you want to tackle it for yourself. Otherwise, it's going to be a costly job.

You can get repair panels for the infected area here:
http://www.paddockspares.com/pp/DEFENDER/Chassis/Bulkhead_repair_panel_-_RH.html
http://www.paddockspares.com/pp/DEFENDER/Chassis/Bulkhead_repair_panel_-_LH.html

There are even some companies who make a full length panel but I can't find them!

-Pos

Alternatively, leave it as it is and find another one, sort it out and then find some local help and swap them - but by the look of it I wouldn't hang around.