|
|
1948 Ford Firewall RepairRust-Repairing a 1948 Chevy Pickup From the February, 2009 issue of Rod & Custom By The Rod & Custom Staff Photography by Shirley Israel, The Rod & Custom Staff
|
|
 Early Chevy trucks, like so...  Early Chevy trucks, like so many other trucks and cars of the era, used rubber floor mats instead of carpet. When it rained, people would get into the truck with wet feet and the moisture would get trapped under the rubber mats. Before long, rust would start forming where you couldn't see it. The result is a Swiss cheese floorboard like this one.  The rust spread to the lower...  The rust spread to the lower side of the cowl and the inner fender braces so they had to be repaired before the new Bitchin' floor could be installed. Here's a hunk of rust that just fell out of the truck when we started working on it.  In order to remedy the situation,...  In order to remedy the situation, we purchased inner panels and body structure pieces from RB's Obsolete Automotive to repair the rusted areas. The patch panels were top-quality pieces and matched the originals perfectly.  We held the patch panel in...  We held the patch panel in place and scribed a line to indicate where the original body panel will have to be cut.  As you can see, the entire...  As you can see, the entire lower section of the cowl is rusty and will need replacement.  Using an air chisel, we separated...  Using an air chisel, we separated the outer skin from the inner structure. Originally, the two pieces were spot-welded to together.  We drilled a 1/4-inch hole...  We drilled a 1/4-inch hole in the front edge of the cowl panel.  We cut the cowl section vertically...  We cut the cowl section vertically from the outer edge to the hole we just drilled.  Using the hole we drilled...  Using the hole we drilled as a pivot point, we turned the saber saw and cut along the scribed line. Notice at this point we're eliminating all of the rusty metal.  The outer skin is spot-welded...  The outer skin is spot-welded to the door edge, so we separated the two sections with an air chisel.  With the panel loose at the...  With the panel loose at the door edge, we pulled the metal back and cut the last few areas that were still secured to the outer cowl section.  Using a 3-inch cut-off wheel,...  Using a 3-inch cut-off wheel, we removed the rusty floorboards leaving about 1/2-inch of metal around the perimeter. The Bitchin' floorboards will be welded to this small lip.  We also had to remove the...  We also had to remove the inner panel which was badly rusted along the bottom edge.  In preparation for welding,...  In preparation for welding, we aligned the panel and fastened it to the door edge with sheetmetal screws. The front was clamped into position, along with the new inner fender brace which we are also installing.  Looking from the inside of...  Looking from the inside of the pickup cab, you can see the inner fender brace that we are installing.  When the outer panel and inner...  When the outer panel and inner fender brace was installed, we were able to install the inner panel. We aligned all of the panels prior to welding them in.  After all of the panels were...  After all of the panels were aligned, we tack-welded the new lower cowl section to the original upper cowl section.  We removed the sheetmetal...  We removed the sheetmetal screws and welded through the holes which effectively spot-welded the sections together. Notice that we also patched the rust at the bottom of the lower door edge.  While we were working on the...  While we were working on the side panels, we were also replacing the firewall. We placed the Bitchin' firewall (backwards) against the existing Chevy firewall and marked the outline. This will give us an indication of where the old firewall will have to be cut out.  Using the outline we marked,...  Using the outline we marked, we scribed another line about 5/8 inch inside of the first line. Following the second line, we cut the original firewall out of the car.  We temporarily fastened the...  We temporarily fastened the firewall to the truck with sheetmetal screws, then we wire-wheeled the paint off the existing firewall at the edge in preparation for welding.  We welded along the edge in...  We welded along the edge in small sections at a time, then removed the sheetmetal screws and welded the holes shut.  When the welding was finished,...  When the welding was finished, we ground all the welds to smooth them off.  When we were finished, the...  When we were finished, the firewall looked terrific and will not only give us plenty of room for the Chevy small-block, but also clean up the inside of the engine compartment. The engine bay should look great when it's painted.  At this point we have the...  At this point we have the firewall installed and the side panels welded in, so we are now ready to install the floorboards.  We trial-fit the Bitchin'...  We trial-fit the Bitchin' Products floorboards into the pickup, and as you can see, they fit perfectly.  The Bitchin' Products floorboards...  The Bitchin' Products floorboards are going to be welded to what's left of the original floor, so the edges that remain were wire-wheeled to bare metal. We wanted to remove any paint or surface rust in preparation for welding.  Using an air punch, we installed...  Using an air punch, we installed holes around the edge of the floorboards. Notice we also screwed the trans tunnel to the floorboards at this point. Drilling all of these holes would take forever--the punch made fast work of it.  We placed the floorboards...  We placed the floorboards back in the car, leveled them off, then rosette-welded the Bitchin' Products floorboards into the truck.  When we were finished, the...  When we were finished, the truck looked better than it did when it rolled out of the factory. The Bitchin' Products firewall and floorboard package works perfectly, and RB's Obsolete Automotive's patch panels saved the day. The rust is gone, and we're ready to proceed on the rest of the bodywork. When we purchased this pickup, it was in excellent running condition with a straight six-cylinder engine and a later-model four-speed transmission. The body was in good condition overall, but we did spot a little rust peeking through in the lower section of the cowl just behind the front fender. It wasn't until we disassembled the truck for a rebuild that we actually saw the extent of the damage. The floorboard and steel side panels were Swiss cheese, and many of the inner fender braces were also badly rusted. We were disassembling the truck because the old six-cylinder was going to be replaced by a much healthier small-block Chevy engine and a 700-R4 transmission. We wanted to have plenty of firewall clearance, so we ordered a Bitchin' Products recessed firewall and floorboard kit. After getting into the project, we also realized that we would need some cowl and inner fender brace patch panels from RB's Obsolete Automotive to basically rebuild the lower cowl section of the truck. We've used Bitchin' Products kits on a number of cars and trucks and have always been pleased with the company's top-quality firewalls and floorboards. The patch panels were something we've never used before, but we were impressed with how they fit and matched the shape and strength of the originals. If your vehicle looks like a Swiss cheese factory, maybe the following story will shed some light on how you can fix it the correct way. Although we are performing this task on a '48 Chevy truck, the same methods we used to fix it will work on any early car or truck.
|
Bitchin’ Products
9392 Bond Ave.
El Cajon
CA
92021
|
RB's Obsolete Automotive
7711 Lake Ballinger Way, Dept.CRM
Edmonds
WA
98026
|
|
|