When the good folks at 3 Brothers Classic Rovers (Peter, Dave and Rich) offered to restore my original bulkhead, in exchange for some things I had here (including the Ashtree bulkhead), I leapt at the offer. This would mean that that an important original part of the vehicle would be able to stay with the vehicle, plus all the mounting holes, etc., would fit exactly and be right where they should be. Nice!
It should be mentioned that Rich is a professional welder (and blacksmith), Dave has a very long history with paint and coatings, and Peter, who wears many hats including webmaster, store manager, and parts finder, is otherwise a project manager.
Peter indicated today that the bulkhead should be here in the first week of July.
The bulkhead will not be galvanized, as the non-electro-plate variety tends to leave a coating that is rough in places, plus warps many of the panels. Instead, the bulkhead will be done as follows (in their words):
After Rich has performed his miracles with the welding repairs on the bulkhead, we will have it chemically stripped to remove all traces of paint and old sealant / goo / caulking and then acid dipped to remove all rust inside and out.
This will leave the steel with a black oxide layer which is slightly corrosion resistant on it's own. After that it will go intoa dip tank just wider than the top of the bulkhead and about 12", which we will then fill with between 5 and 8 gallons of really good red oxide primer. Then we will dip the upside down top into this vat as well as the door posts and allow the excess to drain out. The exterior parts will be wiped down to leave it bare metal, but we'll allow the primer to flow into all the welded seams first where spray paint won't penetrate. After drying, we'll spray apply 2 coats of 2 pack epoxy automotive primer with an HVLP sprayer. After that we can apply 2-part seam sealer to all exposed seams. Then the topcoat can be applied anytime after that by first solvent wiping with MEK solvent and allowing it to "flash off" before painting.
This results in a very long term bulkhead that is much better than original, as they tend to rust from the inside - out.
This also means the surface will be smooth, as per the original, without the sometimes unpleasant roughness that galvanizing can bring. Rich is also making sure the Series 2 door hinge mounting holes, with nutplates, are retained in the new pillars, which is something I really wanted to keep. Here are some photos, provided by 3 Bros., of the bulkhead in its initial stages of restoration:
In the custom jig.
All those holes for the bulkhead-mounted parts, right where they should be (obviously).
New footwell and pillar being test fitted.
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