Smoothing Firewall

[cornerstone]

Hey guys... I've done enough searching today so that I'm running out of time to actually get some work done on this truck. You know how it is, "I'll just take a quick peek at the forum....". So I'll just ask the question, when smoothing the firewall and using the Vintage Air kit, should I remove the section of the factory firewall that the V/A panel will cover, or just leave it and cover up the old firewall?
Brian

[OARNGESI]

Most smooth it and not use the panel

[Getter-Done]

Last year I went to the Rod run in Pigeon Forge.
The trucks parked on the strip with the smooth firewalls
looked so much better.
I will put an Old air system in mine.
Before seeing the difference in person (and not just pictures)
I would not have distorted my new toe panel.
Now I will make it smooth. Just my 2 cents.

[lks dcvn]

smooth it!

[cornerstone]

Thanks ORANGESI...

How about you Getter-Done, would you leave the original or cut out or cover original?

And how about you, lks dcvn? did you cut out, or just cover the original?
Brian

[lks dcvn]

the old firewall holes were filled with new metal.

[cornerstone]

Thanks. That makes 2 consistent answers....

[Getter-Done]

As of right now I plan to cut it out and fill with new metal also.
Here is my new toe panel.

Here is a picture from a member (Rod Run)
This is what I want it to look like.

The main truck that changed my mind was
meeting Member jhrusk and seeing his truck
in person changed my mind.
Here's a pic of his firewall.

Hope they don't mind me
copying there pics.

[cornerstone]

Oooo I can see why! Both of those are niiiiice.......I've spent some more time looking around and have seen them done both ways, on very nice builds. It seems easier to me to just cover up the stock wall with the supplied V/A plate, but I was concerned with the firewall being to thick and causing AC install problems. Plus, usually the easier path is not the best path from what I've learned.

[Grumpy old man]

I'm finishing mine this weekend , I smoothed and shaved the complete gutter rail off also removed the hump on the pass side .

[cornerstone]

Hey Grumpy.... what you mentioned (completely shave the gutter rail off) actually seems like a faster way than adding a strip of metal to close in the gutter channel. They both look clean to me so I may do that.
Also, was the hump that you removed where the black circle is on the picture?
Finally, The red circle seems to be where you have the holes for the AC lines, which would give an even cleaner look. 😋

[Grumpy old man]

Yes , Remove the hump in the black circle it serves no purpose and you get a cleaner line to match the drivers side . I cut the complete gutter rail off using a cut off wheel taking 3" sections and welding the panels back together as I went across and added a heavy bead of panel adhesive inside the cab at the joint just because , made a template of the rounded section on the drivers side and fabed a new panel to weld in on the pass side to match . the windshield washer hoses will run from inside the cab into the cowl so they still work but won't be seen , dist and starter wires will run down from fuse block and across toe panel seam . I'll post a couple more pics in a few minutes .

[gphillips72wagon]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

I'm finishing mine this weekend , I smoothed and shaved the complete gutter rail off also removed the hump on the pass side .

Please post pics after removal of the windshield/door rain gutters!

[Andyking1203]

I completely smoothed mine, using metal. It's not close to being done yet.. I also got rid of the wireing gutter

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by gphillips72wagon

Please post pics after removal of the windshield/door rain gutters!

I removed the gutter under the hood used to run wires look at the pictures there is a big difference between smoothing (Filling holes ) and shaving (removing metal off) .. I'm not removing the roof line gutter. I'm considering installing a vinyl top on this truck using the stainless roof line trim .

[derotoreut]

Smooth it out. Still planning to install VAir.

[cornerstone]

Looks like you guys have been busy! I decided to use the Grumpy method for the channel. First section I cut was about 4 inches and I removed pretty much the whole “lip” of the outer channel. I took too much metal off which made welding a real pain. I kept blowing out holes. I had to put a welding rod on the upper inside of the firewall in the cab in order have enough metal for me to tie it back together to get out of that dilemma. Not wanting to go through that again, I then I sliced the top 3/16 off of the “lip” and tipped it over, laying it down to match the profile. That went well and gave it more strength, since it would now be a few layers of metal. After tacking about 250 small spots it was all together, so then it was time to grind it down smooth and get the first layer of duraglass on. Anyways, here’s how it went....
Thank y’all for the input!!

[derotoreut]

I didn't cut the lip of the gutter off. Instead I formed metal and closed it in. Made a thicker piece at the center hump, which personally I liked better.

[Grumpy old man]

Well ...This is what I ended up with this weekend , A few more hours of finish work and I'll call this piece of the elephant done .

[cornerstone]

Looks great Grumpy. Please post more pics when you get this thing completed or maybe a build thread? By looking at your parts list I’ll bet it will be one tough truck.

[cornerstone]

This is as far as I was able to get til now.

[62bagger]

Really nice work. the firewalls look like what I hope to end up with. I have a couple of questions. I have 2 access panels on my 62 and none of the trucks in this thread have them. Did you remove them or is it just the 62 that has them.
I also noticed that almost all the holes were filled. how will you run your wires? Do you plan to drill new holes as needed?

[derotoreut]

Originally Posted by 62bagger

Really nice work. the firewalls look like what I hope to end up with. I have a couple of questions. I have 2 access panels on my 62 and none of the trucks in this thread have them. Did you remove them or is it just the 62 that has them.
I also noticed that almost all the holes were filled. how will you run your wires? Do you plan to drill new holes as needed?

May want to search the 60-66 section instead of the 67-72 section for similar firewalls and answers to your questions. Yes all my holes were filled, so I will have to come up with some wiring access. I plan to use the fresh air vent areas for AC on passenger side and wiring on driver side.

[cornerstone]

Sheesh. That was probably 12-15 different layers of filler. I was afraid of laying in on to thick so I crept up to level with many thin skim coats. It’s still not perfect but what is....

[Grumpy old man]

Looks familiar , They look better without the hump on the pass side