Old Landys Rule

THE Land Rover newsletter about a geriatric Land Rover Series III called Dorothy and her stablemates

Fill the holes with silicon sealant?

Having sat out in the elements for over 20 years has taken its toll on Dorothy.

Mostly: rust.

The chassis has had it in places.

The bulkhead’s… well, there’s more hole than rust or steel.

Close up of a Land Rover Series 3's bulkhead vent, and the mountains of rust plaguing it.

Brake pipes are unserviceable and are being removed and replaced.

And a heckuva a lot more.

But it’s not all metal related.

Door seals are gone. Window channels are now 97% moss. Dorothy’s seats are beyond salvageable (mouldy, split, cracked) (but this isn’t so bad as they’re Volvo 240 seats, of all things).

Also, the dashboard top’s succumbed to the sun and has more cracks than a suburban housewife’s face who’s in need of a Botox fix.

I’m all for patina, but it’s just unsightly and needs sorting.

Land Rover Series 3 dashboard top, showing the sun damage and cracked black vinyl, with some foam underneath peeking through
Land Rover Series 3 dashboard top repair

A simple bodge just wont do because the dash top is front and centre of everything you see when sat in Dorothy.

A quick check on Fleabay offers up a single dash-top, at £60, but with a massive hole cut in the middle.

There’s also a leather dash top cover (with ‘black stitching’ no less), but at £186 they can f*ck right off.

Dorothy’s dash top needs to come out, to get to the bulkhead for repairs. And I’d rather keep her original one if I can.

(it’s not about returning Dorothy to original form, but about keeping as much of her – as she stands – as possible)

So I whipped it out and had a look.

Turns out it’s not all that bad.

Once the old, hardened, vinyl’s been stripped off most of the foam’s OK. It just has a few places where it’s been exposed to the sun.

(me: what can I use to scrape this vinyl off? Also me: Duh, a scraper)

A wallpaper scraper, inserted under the black vinyl of a Land Rover Series 3 dashboard top, ready to peel the vinyl off
Land Rover Series 3 dashboard top repair

So here’s the plan…

  1. Prepare the damage and fill the holes with silicon sealant. Why? Because it’s sticky AF and also squishy, so will kind of retain the softness of the dash.
  2. Get some PU leather (or actual leather – even black stitched leather) from Fleabay. A quick check reveals you can pick stuff up for less then £30.
  3. Glue using carpet glue, then trim to however you want.
  4. Job done, crack open a beer.
A Land Rover Series 3 dashboard top, stripped of its black vinyl so the foam is showing, leaning up against a brick wall, showing the sun damage cracks.
Land Rover Series 3 dashboard top repair

You’ve saved many beer tokens AND you’ve got the satisfaction of a) having done it yourself, and b) keeping the original dash top.

Watch this space for updates – or shenanigans (we’ll see).

Old Landys Rule!

Cheers, Phil.