firewall work

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May 24, 2013 | 12:48 PM

jniolon

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From: Lovely Hueytown Alabama

firewall work

finally got a day to work on the truck with my body man. We started smoothing the firewall... cut and welded in filler panels.. and the first wipe of kittyhair... to be followed by fiberglass... then grind,grind,grind... sand,sand,sand ...then all purdy I hope.... end of the first session (2 hours)

j

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May 24, 2013 | 01:20 PM

ALBUQ F-1

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From: NM

Why / where are you going to fiberglass? Looks very clean now!

May 24, 2013 | 04:17 PM

bobbytnm

Roast em' if you got 'em

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From: Rio Rancho, NM

Nice to see some progress! thats gonna look pretty danged good.

Keep at it
Bobby

May 24, 2013 | 04:39 PM

52 Merc

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From: Burbank, WA

I'm with ross. What/why are you going to use fiberglass over the metal? It certainly isn't SOP for bodywork. Even kitty hair is a bit overkill, imho. What are you looking to gain? I'm assuming you're welding your patches in solid?

May 24, 2013 | 04:48 PM

jniolon

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old and in the way

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From: Lovely Hueytown Alabama

there were a bunch of holes in the firewall..... I tried filling them but ended up blowing more in than I fixed... even with a low amp welder. I got them all filled and could have wiped over them to cover but I decided I wanted it smooth without the ridges and bumps... the only indent will be the transmission tunnel when it's complete

Patches are tacked in every inch or so, then ground smooth, then covered.. kitty hair holds up better than glass for the base then very light coat of glass for finish...

Bobby understands, don't you Bob... you're my kind of crazy

j

May 24, 2013 | 05:35 PM

AXracer

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From: Durham NC

Why did you not weld them in solid? No kitty hair needed and no later cracking.
Would have taken maybe another hour of welding (mostly waiting for tacks to cool), bet you spent a lot longer than that covering the unwelded edges. Also paint should have been ground back before welding. Yes, it is possible to MIG weld thru paint, but never a good idea (unless it is weld thru primer). Judging from this, I'd have to guess blow thru issues were more improper technique than amperage. Anyone contemplating similar, please read my MIG welding tutorial first.

May 24, 2013 | 08:42 PM

bobbytnm

Roast em' if you got 'em

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From: Rio Rancho, NM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jniolon

Bobby understands, don't you Bob... you're my kind of crazy

j

LOL...I've chased my share of holes around. After I was done patching my firewall it looked lilke a porcupine blew up on the inside of my truck.

Recently I was helpping my buddy, we were cutting down a 56 Packard dash to fit into a 58 Packard. I was filling in some patch panels on the edges, things were going great when all of a sudden.....whoosh I had a blowout which grew, and grew, and grew (I sure could have used a chunk of copper that night)

A frosty beverage or two and quite a bit of teasing from my buddy and I got it looking good

Bobby