Defender Source Forum banner

Bulkhead problems ...

Tags
problems
1K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  ne4x4 
#1 ·
Since I bought the Defender 2 months ago, I have been having door problems (front door not closing properly) and I recently realised that the bulkhead is leaning towards the front of the truck, making the doors crooked and so on. The windshield top has come off the the top leaving a gap at both sides. And also the gap where the front wings meet the bulkhead is also off.

My question is how would I go about bringing it back, just take the doors off, hood off, top off, pull it back in place and put everything back in place or is there something else involved that I should now about.

Always appreciate all your inputs.

Thanks

Pat
 
#3 ·
KevinNY said:
I'd start by getting underneath and checking for a buckled frame. Possibly a front end collision before you owned it?
It has a brand new galvanized chassi and shows no sign of any work done to it at all. The whole truck was rebuilt a couple of month before I bought it.

Pat
 
#4 ·
The chassis swap is the reason for the bad gaps. Its easy as hell to put the truck back together so that the stuff doesnt fit.

There may very well be fine adjustments that could be made to your truck now to get it all lined up, but I think you're better off disassembling the truck forward of the firewall.

The back body and roof can be bolted into place, and then ID everything forward from that. Bolt the roof to the windshield and adjust the bulkhead to get the door fit correct. The bulkhead moves fore and aft depending on the number of washers used on the mounting outrigger. It can be leaned fore and aft and tightened down at a bracket that connects the footwell to the frame rails. Make sure you get your door gaps right with your weather stripping installed, and also adjust for shuttabilty at this time. You will have some play by moving the hinges around when everything is together, but not much. The hood and fenders just drop into place when the bulkhead is correct.

Someone mght have some better tricks than me, but thats the basic outline of what I had to when I reassembled my truck.
 
#5 ·
Thanks Jim,

Looks like it is what I will be doing next month. I will follow your advice, I think the people that put the truck back together were doing it very fast and skiped a couple of steps.

Thanks again.

Pat
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top