Steve's unexpected Series 3 rebuild.

Here's an interesting story from my latest episode of Carry On Land Rovering. On Friday I was off work and started a bit of a clean up round the house and garage. I went to the tip, moved a lot of stuff to better storage places including bits of the landy. I found quite a bit of old steel that I wanted rid of so rather than lug it to the tip I thought about contacting our local scrap fella. He does everything via Facebook and as I don't use it I got my wife to message asking when he was going to be in the area so I could put the scrap out the front. I carried on with my chores and sorted out the shed. When finished I checked with her indoors and still no word from scrap man so thought that it was a job for another day. Went to the garage to discover that the landy's bonnet that had been at the garage door was missing. The buggers had got the message and thought that they would come round straight away. Didn't knock or say hi, just nabbed the bonnet. Some panicky calls later and the lads arrived back. I was sure it would be dented and battered but I got away with it. Some scratches on the paint but that's all coming off anyway. I was in the back of the van quickly though as when he started to retrieve it there was a lot of scary banging about. It's just another bit of scrap to them after all.

Not much progress lately. I'm spending so much time lately homework with my lad that I think i'll probably end up with a couple of honorary GCSE's. I gave the bonnet a wash after it's little adventure. Doesn't look too bad but none of the parts ever do until you look closely. We'll see later.

Now where were we with that dash? Here's the finished and primed repair section.

The dash cleaned up ok.

Then it's on with the Bilt Hamber. I don't know if this stuff really does what it claims but it certainly gives the impression of sorting everything. It's like smothering something with underseal. Just cover it up and pretend it's ok.

Then it's on with welding it in. Not finished here but you get the idea.


Now it's confession time. I was still having problems welding this thin stuff but then I realised that i've been setting the gas flow too high for the low setting on the welder. How stupid can you get? So i've learned my lesson until I forget it again.

Still looks good, what was the effect of the high gas flow on the welding, and how did you know gas flow was to blame I’m a bit of a welding newbie so keen to learn

So in my usual, bewildered way I thought that rather than keep going with the dash and just get a job finished I would start something else. The top padded part of the dash seemed like a good idea to tackle. That won't be any problem will it?

It's been re-covered in the past and it's clearly a quality job.

Seems they have glued foam and vinyl over the old dash without removing anything. Alarm bells ringing yet?


Seems like they even included a bit of Santa's beard in there for good measure.

And here it is in all it's glory.

It's always a bit worrying when even duct tape can't fix it.

And what the bloody hell happened here?

Overall it's in a bad way. As usual.


So i'm going to have a go at the expanding foam repairs so I needed the vinyl off the foam.


So it seems that some time in the past a knob head with the initials TB thought it would be funny to leave his mark. I wonder if he did the rest of the damage.

These are the worst of the damage. Don't know what must have caused them. Best guess is something hot.

I felt like Dr Pimple Popper getting a big black head out as I cut the manky bits out. It's really rusty under there and I imagine it's like that all over. I think the best I can do is treat what I can see and repair the foam. On the other bits of the dash i've been able to remove the foam and the plan is to repair it and then stick it back on. With this bit it goes right round the front edge and it's inside a hollow area in the middle. If I try to remove it i'll destroy it and I won't be able to make the profile again.

I'm going to clean all the cracks and holes up like this and then get stuck into it with the expanding foam.

steve2286w said:

Still looks good, what was the effect of the high gas flow on the welding, and how did you know gas flow was to blame I’m a bit of a welding newbie so keen to learn

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Trial and error really. I was getting fed up with it going wrong when I know i've done better in the past. I've got this piece of steel that I always have a go on before I start whatever the proper job for the day is. I wasn't getting that nice sound like bacon frying so I started fiddling about. My welder is basic. 5 power settings, wire speed dial, and the gas flow. That's it. Experience told me that setting 1 wasn't going to penetrate and setting 3 and above blows through completely on thin stuff. The wire speed is supposed to alter automatically with changes to the power setting only leaving gas flow as the one to try. Turned it down a bit and wallop. Much better welds. Wish I had a more scientific method for you. Just wish i'd sussed it out sooner.

Thanks that gives an extra tweak when I’m welding which is rarely, I have power switches for welding current and a wire speed dial on mine but wouldn’t have guessed changing air flow,
Is the metal dash top ok the foam bonded to, if the foam not crumbly probably best to leave although I have seen before peeps change the foam too. I wonder if some of them marks were done originally in the factory

LincolnSteve said:

How stupid can you get? So i've learned my lesson until I forget it again.

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Pretty sure we've all been there - barely a day goes by without me hot gluing something back together - and I still make mistakes - I made some notes of settings which work for various materials - keep them in/on the welder - where the wire lives on the MIG - stuck to the door... modify as necessary

steve2286w said:

how did you know gas flow was to blame I’m a bit of a welding newbie so keen to learn

Click to expand...

Most MIG "gas" isn't quite inert - it has about 1% oxy in to aid cleaning - so too much "gas" will mean too much oxy, which won't help at all... Plus, the gas is rather cold, so too much can take too much heat out of the puddle, and spoil your day that way.. BUT - altering gas flow can thus be used as a way of fine tuning the process..

In a research environment, with gas mixing facilities, high current full penetration welds are practical on thin material using high gas flow to stabilise the workpiece temperature, but keep proportions correct....

steve2286w said:

Thanks that gives an extra tweak when I’m welding which is rarely, I have power switches for welding current and a wire speed dial on mine but wouldn’t have guessed changing air flow,
Is the metal dash top ok the foam bonded to, if the foam not crumbly probably best to leave although I have seen before peeps change the foam too. I wonder if some of them marks were done originally in the factory

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Most of the foam is sound and will be ok. I worry that the rest of the metal in there that I can't see is just as bad a the little bit that I can see, and that's pretty bad. I'm going to clean up what I can see and let the Bilt Hamber work it's magic.

Disco1BFG said:

Pretty sure we've all been there - barely a day goes by without me hot gluing something back together - and I still make mistakes - I made some notes of settings which work for various materials - keep them in/on the welder - where the wire lives on the MIG - stuck to the door... modify as necessary



Most MIG "gas" isn't quite inert - it has about 1% oxy in to aid cleaning - so too much "gas" will mean too much oxy, which won't help at all... Plus, the gas is rather cold, so too much can take too much heat out of the puddle, and spoil your day that way.. BUT - altering gas flow can thus be used as a way of fine tuning the process..

In a research environment, with gas mixing facilities, high current full penetration welds are practical on thin material using high gas flow to stabilise the workpiece temperature, but keep proportions correct....

Click to expand...

Great info as always. Thank you. I'm definitely going to note my most commonly used settings so I can replicate them any time. I think I can be guilty of rushing a bit. I'm getting so little time to work on it that I start to feel i'll nip out and do bit quickly then maybe forget to take care. I've been working on it for such an embarrassingly long time as well that i'm pressuring myself to do more.

LincolnSteve said:

Great info as always. Thank you. I'm definitely going to note my most commonly used settings so I can replicate them any time. I think I can be guilty of rushing a bit. I'm getting so little time to work on it that I start to feel i'll nip out and do bit quickly then maybe forget to take care. I've been working on it for such an embarrassingly long time as well that i'm pressuring myself to do more.

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I find gaining enough bothered to do anything recently is a bonus. Still haven’t replaced my rear crossmember yet and it’s been sat in the lockup for weeks. Once that is done I’ve promised myself to get the camper trailer back out for a big push over summer.
Your thread seems to be improving my mojo a tad, I’m finding it quite inspiring. I even got the stick welder out today and dusted it off.

Bobsticle said:

I find gaining enough bothered to do anything recently is a bonus. Still haven’t replaced my rear crossmember yet and it’s been sat in the lockup for weeks. Once that is done I’ve promised myself to get the camper trailer back out for a big push over summer.
Your thread seems to be improving my mojo a tad, I’m finding it quite inspiring. I even got the stick welder out today and dusted it off.

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I'm glad it's helping. I'm really pleased to have you along for the ride. I also appreciate your advice when I start dithering over decisions. I think warmer, dryer, brighter longer days are going to help.

Little bits of progress to report. Just had a week off work but family stuff was the priority. Will try to crack on with the landy but have now bought the tiles for the kitchen so don't hold your breath.



Messrs Bilt and Hamber save the day again.

Finally get the hang of the technique for welding the thin stuff now that i'm almost finished.

Strike the arc on the new, thicker steel. Get a pool starting and then give it a quick push over to tag in the thin stuff. No weld through primer to ruin the job and it's all good.

Hopefully a straight forward bit without nasty surprises.

As it was before taking it to bits. I want a nice finish on this side as it's so visible in the cab.

This side is worse but I can afford to lather on the rustproofing this side as it will never be seen.

After attacking it with every abrasive and scratchy thing i've got.

The Bilt Hamber is on this side but I didn't get a photo of it.

Warning! The following post contains scenes of bodgery that some viewers might find upsetting.

Nearly there with the repairs on the main section of the dash. (We'll overlook the bit that goes over the wiper motor for now). I had visions of making a lovely curved piece to fit in here but it's a bit more difficult than that.

I've decided to make it in two pieces. I haven't got an intact curve to copy so it's art more than science. A lot of cardboard templates and offering up went on before deciding on this and even then it changed slightly in the end.


I changed my mind a bit as you can see with it not lining up on the right. Next we'll get rid of the rest of the rust.

I decided to remove as little as possible but it did leave a very odd shape. Maybe I should have cut more out and made a simpler shape but then i've got less to help me line up the new bit. Too late to worry now.

So here it is. I did warn you there was bodgery afoot. The only way I could get the curves to be somewhere near was to cut those slots. It's not quite as bad as it looks as most of the slotted bit will be cut off in the end.


So not what you would call elegant but it is an approximation of the right shape. I think if I start from the plug weld holes and work my way round clamping in place and welding as I go it should be ok.

Back to the dash top.


It cleaned up well overall.

This damage is more of a problem.

Experiment time.

I had a look at the Youtube tutorials again and got stuck in. Spray the foam over the damaged areas and right into any holes. It's hard to spray it slowly enough and you tend to get huge amounts if you're not careful. Then wrap it in clingfilm to keep it pressed onto the surface.


Open up after 24 hours.


Then it was into the kitchen to get the carving knife and sharpen it until it was like a razor. The long blade can be laid right across the surface to stop it digging in too deep. You can slice the set foam off in thin slivers until it's quite close and then sand it.




It's worked extremely well in the cracks and small holes but you can see that the big holes have sunk a little so i've got another plan for them. There a some areas that need another go but I think it will be ok.

LincolnSteve said:

Experiment time.
View attachment 286323
I had a look at the Youtube tutorials again and got stuck in. Spray the foam over the damaged areas and right into any holes. It's hard to spray it slowly enough and you tend to get huge amounts if you're not careful. Then wrap it in clingfilm to keep it pressed onto the surface.
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Open up after 24 hours.
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Then it was into the kitchen to get the carving knife and sharpen it until it was like a razor. The long blade can be laid right across the surface to stop it digging in too deep. You can slice the set foam off in thin slivers until it's quite close and then sand it.
View attachment 286329
View attachment 286330
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It's worked extremely well in the cracks and small holes but you can see that the big holes have sunk a little so i've got another plan for them. There a some areas that need another go but I think it will be ok.

Click to expand...

The only issue I can think of is that expanding foam is quite brittle when cured. In other words it won’t bounce back if clonked with anything. Not that one goes out of one’s way to clonk a new dash of course.
I watch a few model makers on utube and they have all manner of special jollop for building dioramas and the like. Soft stuff, ard stuff, bouncy stuff. Often wondered if they, along with the costume builders had something that might fit the bill.