Quote:
Originally Posted by Thursday7
Whitehall White Castle represent!
Loved the transformation. Just read this in one sitting
Also, that's my bud's white 200sx in the pic of the 1st gen RX7 at cars and coffee. I'm in the Lehigh Valley but I frequent drift events much more than shows. I remember your car from Carlisle 2017 as well. Good stuff.
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Yeah!!! now every time we go that way we plan a stop to grab food!!! I did talk to him briefly about that car! Its a European imported car. Pretty sweet looking and in really nice shape to boot!!
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I've been working on this a couple hours a day on the weekends, cutting the car apart, since the clip is all done.
After trimming, grinding, flap disc, and cleaning it. I sprayed it with some weld-through primer to aid in prolonging the life of the metal as i re-assemble the new firewall to the car.
After that, I had to cut the lower section of the new firewall in half as it wouldn't slip in on the edges under the top frame sections. *i saw this method in another thread and it seemed to work out just fine* i chose this way as i didnt notice any movement in the frame from measuring it before/after. I also flap disc'd the edges for welding.
I was not doing this job with a TIG welder, so I treated myself to an early B-day/Christmas gift...
Eastwood MIG 135
After fitting it in, trimming little by little till it fit, i held it in place with some sheet metal self tappers to hold the metal clamped together. There were sections that didn't clean up too well and it shows in the areas where i spot welded it. Although, having the gas this time around helped ALOT with less spatter and somewhat cleaner welds and whatnot, More so than that Lincoln flux core i used when building my tubs and tube front.
next was the lower rain pan/cowl pan. when fitting it so the rest of the car will bolt up, you'll need to install the dash bar to the mount and the side plates.
After the lower section is bolted to the dash bar, I put the top cowl piece on, bolting it down where the hood hinges are installed *holes line up* and since I drilled through a couple spots on the seam when it was dissassembled i used a few punches in them and vice grips to clamp it all together at the windshield areas.
Once its all welded all that was left was the seam in the middle of the firewall.
I made a backing plate to reinforce the seam on the sides and welded it in place.
Last thing i did was start grinding all the welds and will be prepping for rust/rot protection. I will be sealing around all the welds, where any pieces meet ect ect. i really wont skimp on that part and want to try and get into the smallest of spaces.
Once it was all together i fitted the heater-core box and it still fit on the mounting brackets despite the small gap after cutting/welding the firewall back together.
-Jimmy