Land Rover Defender Rusted Out Footwell Repair

When I took my Land Rover for an MOT they advised me that there was a hole in the drivers foot well from rust and it was another failure so I set about fixing the footwell by hand forming some stainless steel plate. As I was about to rebuild the floor I noticed a hole in the passenger footwell that the MOT tester had missed completely.

[@chriswalker4272]

thank you for an interesting take on what must be a common repair, one which I found needing with my pre-*MOT. But my approach is a little more traditional than yours. I have bought lightly galv YRM double skinned footwell repair panels. they will be cut to what is removed with a lip and Mig welded in, some spot weld and some butt weld. This will be painted with Raptor U-Pol anti corrosive paint and finished with body paint, an some underbody paint or wax for the exposed paert. So the finished repair will be like factory.

[@mattluszczak8095]

Thank goodness these bulkheads were not galvanised! Its fun to repair and paint up again. So satisfying

[@roberttown2816]

Nice, done it all from inside the cab 💪

[@oldbritishmetal]

Nice one! I like the use of a shoe fitted to your press to form the metal sheet. I will be trying that. Thanks for posting your vids- always interesting.

[@millin2222]

I want to be your neighbour, I have a defender 90, needs working on. Liking the knowledge thanks for the share

[@JoshsLandyLife]

Great video bud 👍 going to be doing the same to my 110 but think of buying pre made galv foot wells and riveting them in

[@kennethburke8722]

Another great video! Need to do this job on a LR 90.

[@rogerwileman9965]

Has anyone ever made a bulkhead out of 3-4mm steel???

[@andyclements6875]

Great insight mate . Keep it up

[@Mids1970]

Cheers Andy :)

[@pauldent3059]

Just done the same job on my 130

[@rayrooney1]

Make me some please 🙏 😊

[@Roobarb_Defender]

I am just about to do similar in my passenger footwell and hadn’t considered the stainless route. What thickness of stainless sheet was it please? Certainly looks a nice job. Ironically I too am from Derbyshire and the 1970s. 😂 Cheers, Roo

[@Mids1970]

Pleased to meet another mids1970 Roo ;) Brushed Stainless Steel Sheet Metal - 1.5mm Thickness: 1.5mm Plate Size: 600mm x 300mm Material Grade: 304 £23.45 delivered

[@stevewilliamson9664]

how long did it take to do ?

[@Mids1970]

The drivers side I could do in a weekend but then I found the passenger floor no good so I had to order more plate so that slowed me down to a week. Plus filming always makes jobs twice as long moving the camera about.

[@qaiserk7305]

Hi mate where are you located ?

[@yonmusak]

That's a driver's side MOT fail technically.

[@Mids1970]

@@yonmusak it has passed every MOT since and is far stronger than the Allmakes biscuit tin alternative.

[@yonmusak]

@@Mids1970 No disputing its strength mate - it is a technical fail, so other MOT test centres might fail it in the future.

[@JonDingle]

A rather wasteful and pointless repair unfortunately. Stainless steel won't corrode but the rest of the mild steel bulkhead will continue to decay so nothing gained in the long run so it's a waste when you could have used mild steel. It shouldn't pass an MOT with those stainless steel panels because they are not seam welded onto the structural bulkhead. Sealant, rivets,nuts and bolts are not the specification for an MOT, seam welds are so that makes the repair pointless because it isn't to standard. Mild steel welded in and then treated with red oxide and waxoyl is far better All that time and effort removing the floor plates and making templates too. In the next video, would you mind using less music please? Top regards, Jon.

[@Mids1970]

Thank you for taking the time to post Jon. The original footwells aren't seam welded but are spot welded. I bought a full footwell to do the repair with., and the foot well in that replacement unit was made out of 0.8mm galv mild steel pop rivetted in place and sealed with sealer a Britpart that is obviously industry standard repair part and not as strong as a biscuit tin. Rotting of the bulkhead is a concern. Its taken 27 years to get to this point so if it lasts another 27 years it will be someone else's problem after I'm dead. The comment from MOT tester "you've made a bloody good job of that" and now I have a shiny 12 month new MOT ticket

[@Viccruiserer]

The whole truck is revitted ,so wat is the big deal. Good job man.