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Rusted BULKHEAD REPLACEMENT for our Land Rover Defender | South Africa

overlandy_ | Ken & Rose

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Our Land Rover Defender needs a major repair: a complete bulkhead replacement in South Africa.

Rust in the original bulkhead was beginning to cause structural problems, affecting the doors and allowing water into our home on wheels. We had been aiming for Gateway Offroad Centre for major repairs—and, luckily, our new galvanised bulkhead was already waiting for us.

But once the front end came off, the true scale of the job became very real.

Handing over your vehicle for major work is daunting at the best of times. Handing over your vehicle and your home, thousands of miles from home, brings a whole new set of curveballs.

In this episode we watch the Defender come apart, meet the team taking on one of the biggest repairs of our journey so far and navigate the uncertainty of putting our home back together again.
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Arriving at Gateway Offroad Centre, South Africa
01:23 We’re Ken & Rose
02:05 Day 1: Dismantling the Land Rover Defender
02:57 Removing the rusted bulkhead
04:57 Our new galvanised bulkhead arrives
06:17 The most shocking sight so far
07:00 Preparing the chassis for sanding and paint
07:59 Installing the new bulkhead
09:20 Our surrogate Landy breaks down
12:22 Week 2: Reassembly, wiring & electrics
14:46 Rubberising the footwells for extra insulation
18:06 Mechanical work begins
20:58 The Defender’s first test drive
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Follow our journey as we travel overland from Scotland through Africa in our Land Rover Defender camper - one border crossing, breakdown, wild camp and unexpected repair at a time.
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Instagram: www.instagram.com/overlandy_
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Music from Epidemic Sound
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#LandRoverDefender #BulkheadReplacement #OverlandAfrica #SouthAfricaOverland #LandRoverRepair

8 Comments

@grahames9228 1 hour ago

Wow, what a truckload of work. That will have put a bit of a dent in the travel expenses.

@joannagregory7591 4 hours ago

Goodness - left dangling! Love the facial expressions which say so much 🥰 xxxx

@elizabethlumsden6017 19 hours ago

You've certainly given the ole girl plenty TLC! ❤

@dennisandrews711 20 hours ago

Love your videos, you deserve more subscribers.

@bencooper6616 15 hours ago

Galvanised chassis and galvanised bulkhead; ready for another 30+ years of round the world trips! Smart idea getting it done in SA: I imagine that was an excellent saving on the labour costs if you were to get it done in the UK…

@MaurichKotze 16 hours ago

As I said just over a week ago, I can't believe I haven't come across your content before, but absolutely love it, pitty there's no hype but, lots of love 😂😂😂

@BrianAllison-k5k 19 hours ago (edited)

That's a boat-load of work done at one time. There will, undoubtedly, be issues involved. But, that's what shakedown runs are for. I'd not stray to far from that garage...for at least a month. See you went with the AirlLift system, hope it solves sagging issue and offers you the drive ability improvements you're after. The mechanic there, sure made the job more than it had to be (but, if this was his first time installing, understandable). But, there's no need to remove coil spring. Remove shock, support frame and lower axle. Pull coil out of upper perch and install air bag and plastic rest from topside, reinstall coil in perch and then install air hoses. Hope they did each bag independently, air fittings, so you can regulate each side. Anyhow, hope they get her straighten out, whatever it was that fail...after 30 seconds...into test drive.