The Bulkhead Returns
Saving a Part Without Exterminating Your Marriage
On both of my Rovers, I have filled the bulkhead voids with expanding foam insulation. My foam of choice is called "Great Stuff". There are other brands on the market that may work as well. Always wear gloves when applying expanding foam. It stays on your skin for a week afterwards. Nothing disolves it. I once got it in my hair working underneath the house. By the time I emerged, it had dirt, sticks and God knows what attached to my head. I was to attend a social engagement with my wife in one hour. But that is another story.........Fill the voids approximately 33% and let the foam expand to fill the rest. The foam is closed cell. The idea is to prevent moisture from collecting in the voids. Whether by fording water, or through condensation, the voids are a magnet for moisture. The foam prevents it from entering.
So, I foamed the bulkhead in the garage, and then, after allowing an hour to cure, when everyone was asleep..............I brought it into the den to be worked on in the morning, where it was warm. Then, tired, I went to sleep myself.
When I awoke the next morning.......
My little girl found me first.
I was in trouble............
Bad trouble.........
My wife had just bought that rug........
I suggested that it would make a terrific dropcloth now......
Terrible trouble...........
I was banished to the outdoors. I began to fill the ground down welds with body filler. If you are going to use filler, get the best that you can afford. It really does make a difference. Keep it as thin and as small an area as you can. Remember that the body, especially the bulkhead and breakfast, flexes offroad. Most of the blue filler you see here will be sanded away.
I sealed the bulkhead seams with "Liquid Nails" construction adhesive. It remains pliable, and is the most tenacious sealant I have found.
By far the easiest way to deal with the bulkhead is by suspending it. I used bicycle hooks and some rope. Once I had the body filler sanded down smooth, I coated the parts that will comprise the wheelwells and behind the engine with pick-up truck bed liner. Then I primed and painted the bulkhead. I used Rustoleum spray paint.
A Land Rover Doghouse
They are not a how to guide on vehicle maintenance or restoration. I do not advocate that you prepare your bulkhead as I have. There is no guarantee that foam will keep rust away. It may be a fire risk. Your significant other may take your life. If you an easily influenced sniveler, who has a hard time accepting personal responsibility, please follow standard procedure and paint and use Waxoyl. For more of this legal CYA stuff, click here. |
[ Rover Assessment ] [ Steering Straight ]
[ Minimal Wiring ] [ Worth $500? ] [ Fuel Supply ]
[ Idle Thoughts ] [ Tough Decisions ] [ Spinning Wheels ]
[ Stripping Down ] [ The Bulkhead ] [ The Bulkhead 2 ]
[ Maggie's Motor ] [ Chassis Prep ] [ POR15 & Parabolics ]
[ Synergy ] [ The Breakfast ] [ Waking the Neighbors ]
[ A New Look ] [ Test Drive! ] [ Designing Woman ]
[ Mystery Solved ] [ More Juju ] [ Whoa Maggie! ]
[ Finish Line! ] [ Epilogue ]
[ Due Thank Yous ]
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