Technical Firewall For A 31 Coupe

Did you put a 32 in an earlier coupe?..or was it a 32?

 

Maybe Titus can chime in he may have some good pics , it looks really complicated but it's not, he was done with that in an evening and it was just as simple as welding a square box on it, but I think the out come speaks for itself,
personally I like flat firewalls also because traditionally speaking most the nice cars from the 60s had those too .. And a flat pice of aluminum looks high end 60s to me...

But when you see a bitchin firewall in a car I just think 80s streetrod... Nothing wrong with that either... But I like traditional and this is a traditional site... And that's why your pulling off the mustang 2 right?

I can't tell from your pic but it looks like you have enough there to do what Titus did or similiar , this might be on the thread of the hamber "bull" it's his sedan

 

Yes..I'm trying to get away from a street rod look, and go back to hotrod/traditional...I know these are crappy pics, and I'll get better ones tomorrow...but I blew them up so you can kinda see what I'm dealing with

 

Thats a brace running from side to side to support the inner firewall/floor...dont look stock to me...course the coupe has been hacked on pretty good over the years

 

I prefer the 32 firewall in a 30/31. I've got one in a 30 sedan and another one in a 30 roadster.

 

Here's the one in my roadster

 

If you can find one.....a 1936 Mercedes-Benz fits perfectly, just trim about an inch off the sides...fits the contour of the cowl like it was made for it......

 

Really,
When you find that 36 Mercedes, go ahead & take the whole " parts car "
U-235 are you being sarcastic? But if you're serious, I'd love to hear that story

 

I put it in a 30 coupe like the guy below did, actually looked at some of his stuff to figure it out, pretty simple and looks great and makes tons of motor room!

 

I meant guy above! Mo Rust. I read somewhere on here his process, the out side of the firewalls are sooooo close to the same

 

Just about anything would be better than what is there, do what works best for you. I had to do a small set back for an 8BA flathead in my 30 Sport Coupe. A lot depends on where the motor was set and why. Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink.

 

Just for some ideas, Drd57's build using a wheelbarrow bolted in:
http://www.donshotrodpage.net/Project-30/Firewall/Page01.html
A search should bring up better pictures,

This is my 30 with a reversed firewall with a recess (long engine):



The hardest part was recreating the foot area that bolts to the frame.

 

Nice that you are taking that garbage ass front end out.

 

Is the one in the roadster stock ail the way?...It looks like your running SBC in there with plenty of room, and it looks great!!!..I took a couple more pics of mine to show u guys the condition

 

Thanks......should be soon I'll post pics of the progress...the deeper I dig into this car, the more I find to fix!

 

This is as far as I have gotten on the front

 

Looks like a 32's sits in deeper on the cowl?

 

Yes a 32 can sit about 5-6 inches ish further in with the stock gas tank still in, that's a rough guess

 

To put a 32 firewall in a 30/31, you have to take a few inches off of the bottom by cutting the bottom of the feet. On both of mine, I trimmed the front edge off the model A cowl and used the front edge of the 32 firewall instead. I also flatten the middle of the firewall by welding in a flat bottom to get some extra room. With all the reproduction firewalls available for under $500, old original firewalls with the bottoms butchered out of them are easy to find and cheap. I've bought several of them in the $50 to $150 range.

 

ok...so i'm a bit confused here and please excuse my lack of knowledge on these early fords...is the firewall just an outer shell, cause heres what I found when I gutted the interior today on the "inner firewall"?

 

Looks like you need to remove all that stuff along with the remains of the original firewall and then figure where to go from there.

 

Yeah,it all needs to go. HRP

 

wow!!...thats a sh%*t load of work!!

 

so is all that inner part, attached to , welded to the firewall?

 

good lord, that's going to be fun to get out

 

Like a friggen armoured car!!!...bullet proof!!..it will take ayear of cutting n grinding!!

 

Many builders agree that before you hot rod an old ford you should take the metal back to stock and straight. If it were mine, I would cut across the floor just ahead the door opening and remove everything from the subrails up and start over,(it looks like heavy gauge material)flip a stock unit over,if you can find a good one. I had planned to do that with the '31 closed cab that I'm doing,but the one I had was too rough, so i bought a 5" recessed from Howell's as the truck will get an Olds eng. Very nice piece,Minimum masaging to fit

 

I will probably just buy a new 31 firewall, unless I can find a decent orig...then modify as needed....it really sucks when you gotta cut up half the car just to get it decent..but I'm determined to make it a positive experience, and I plan on learning alot through this ...the entire car needs a makeover including the roof panel...to flat, and the roof lines are ruined...

 

Deja vue

They built a hollow fire wall for some reason. Maybe the engine was set further back at one time gasser style, maybe a bigger engine? Then the outer skin was added back in?

I'd start by removing the outer piece and you might be able to sneak a stock fire wall back in there.

Redoing all that will be a bitch and you just want/need the firewall to look nice. If that were mine and I was dead set on fixing it Id defiantly get another cowl.