NADA 6 cylinder bulkhead

[superstator]

Got mine back from the hot tank finally, and it's a bit of a horror show. The central section is actually not too bad, but the door posts and footwells are toast, and the parcel shelf is completely rotten. I know Pegasus offers repair panels specific to this truck, but they're out of stock and seem to have a pretty long lead time. I'm wondering how hard it would be to bodge it with the regular 4 cylinder sections RN offers, but I don't exactly have a 4 cylinder truck lying around to compare to... Anybody have experience?

[o2batsea]

With all due respect to RN, they offer repair quality and not restoration quality bulkhead parts. If that's what you are after then yes you can use the 4 cyl footwells and cut them up. For the remaining bits, like the dash, you will have to repair or find a donor bulkhead.
Since you are putting a Tdi in, you can actually go with the 4 cyl parts. A Tdi will fit in a regular bulkhead.
If I were you I'd give Paul @ Pegasus a call and see what he can do for you. It's just him working by himself, so if you nudge, maybe he can dig something up.

[superstator]

OK, I'll see what he has to say. When you say "not restoration quality", is it cosmetics, or dimensionality, or something else?

[o2batsea]

They are literally blob welded together. I also had a major dimensional flaw with one of the LH footwell assemblies (off by 1/4 at the top), but I welded it in anyway. Since my truck is a wagon with full footwell trim, I figured I would hide it under the hardura trim. Also I'm not doing a restoration but rather a resto-mod. I needed the parts to be OK, not like original. I also galv'd the bulkhead, so in that regard it isn't original anymore.

[superstator]

Thanks, that's good to know. This is definitely in the resto-mod category too, so if Paul is truly swamped it sounds like these will be an OK backup plan. Anything will be a radical improvement over what the PO did with his angle grinder.

[superstator]

Dumb question. This is what the top shelf looks like now:



I plan to weld a full width section of 18ga in to replace the entire shelf - should I just weld it in over the top of the old swiss cheesed section, or should I cut and grind it out as best I can first? There's no way it's going to fool any rivet counters either way, I just wonder if leaving the jagged bits under there is asking for trouble.

Also, what was the standard demister hose routing like in these trucks? When I got it, it had both hoses coming up on the right and then running across the top, with the left hole blanked off. But it looks to me like the right hole was enlarged at some point, and it does have the holes to pass a hose through the instrument cluster.

[o2batsea]

Um, since you are putting in a Tdi, there's no compelling reason to keep the NADA bulkhead is there? I would try to find one that is in better shape than that one.

[superstator]

Hindsight is 20/20. I've already got the footwells and posts replaced, so for the cost of some sheetmetal & tungsten it seems easier to just see this one through. Besides, I kind of like an excuse to burn some rod. What I should have done is just order a new reproduction 18 months ago, but... Lets just say this project has been a learning experience.