Smooth a firewall WITHOUT welding?

Post up your methods and pics if you've done this. I don't have access to a mig welder anymore, it's not in the budget to buy one, so I'm looking for:

1. Materials used
2. How to attach and/or seal
3. Best way to make a template

Mine has about 100+ holes of verying sizes, but in gerneral the surface is pretty smooth.

 

screw a piece of metal to it?

 

show it to us

 

believe me, I've worked on cars with a budget of ZERO DOLLARS,, but what do you mean,,,, you don't have access to a welder? (enter my usual disclamer,,, I'M NOT BEING AN ASS just asking honest questions)

we live in Iowa??? there are litterally HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of them around, every farmer I know owns one, they are in every barn, farm, shop, and alot of home garages.

before you give up on doing the job the right way, see if you can get someone to loan you a welder and do it right..... if your firewall has over 100 holes in it.. it needs replaced....

I guess you could buy some por 15 and fiber glass cloth and patch them up.... BUT.. the cost of those materials would be enough to rent a welder for a day.....

remember, there are shops that will rent out a welder for a day, our local hardware store has a 110 wire welder that only costs 40 bucks a day plus materials....

I would think it would cost you at least 50 bucks in materials to do the job the wrong way....

honestly wouldn't it make more sense to fix it right the first time?

 

hell... does the car run? if so ask someone on the HAMB for help...

you could get the metal cut out and close to shape, get everything lined up, and drive to iowa falls for a day and we could weld you in a new one....

OR ask one of the other guys in your car club "the outsiders" to lend a welder and a hand...

 

i agree beg , borrow or go to a chineese brand till you can get better, but some stuff just has to be done right or bad things acan happen, and the firewall does provide a lot of strehtgh to the body, so welding is th eonly way to go. or a engine that does not require a firewall change v-6 are cheap to get if you are shortn on$$

 

Why not a wallpaper it with a lovely pattern from Laura Ashley:

 

I did have a friend that had a MIG, but has since moved away. To be honest, my welding skills aren't that great, so for me to rent one and get the job done in a day... probably not going to happen.

I know that guys have done this, was just wondering if someone had done it successfully, without looking like crap.

 

Neither of us has a MIG... we are a small club so far and plan to stay that way .

 

So rent it for two days.

There is one, and only one, way to improve your welding skills, and that is practice. It is not rocket surgery, just an acquired skill.

YOU CAN DO THIS!

Grab some Drake's discs, some 18ga. drop from the local fabricator.

Search "welding sheet metal" here, and get to it. By the time you get done with the 100 holes, you will wonder why you ever doubted yourself!

 

Use fiberglass cloth and resin on the inside of the firewall and then finish off with bondo on the engine compartment side. The trick is to blend the bondo into the surrounding metal so it looks natural and flat - not a bump. There's also this:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5082504_repair-hole-car-bondo.html

 

a harbor frieght flux core mig welder can be bought brand new for under $100 and will work fine for filling in holes

there is no reason you can't screw a piece to metal to the firewall to cover up holes, people often times use aluminum or stainless screwed to a firewall to give it a smooth clean look (their opinion, not mine I don't care for the look) aluminum or stainless will probably be out of your budget and can be difficult to cut without the right tools, so just some thin mild steel like 20 gauge would be easy to work with, make a template out of cardboard

 

Or a checker pattern

 

If you stare at it you see either a man with a handlebar 'stache or spiders.

 

Buy a sheet of flat steel and pop rivet it into place. Paint it. Job done.

 

To avoid possible warpage, sparks, etc. You may want to fasten a firewall cover on with body panel adhesive. Malco makes a good one, I use the fast mix (about $30 a tube, one tube should be plenty). The tube fits in a caulk gun, I always shoot it out of the tube and mix it up and spread it like bondo instead of using the tip. I don't think it would ever fail. Should be able to find it at any decent paint supply store.

 

my firewall was real crappy, plus has the heater motor sticking out and i wont be using a heater, just a fan nicely hidden under the dash to defrost the window.. I made a new firewall with 14gauge, got it bent to my specs, then trimmed it when i cut my old one out.. took a few days to do.. sure helps with a welder.It needs finishing but 100 times better then the old one.

Go to your local heating/furnace place, get a chunk of 20-14 gauge steel (I payed 35. for my piece bent to my specs), make a template of your firewall with cardboard, support your car, cut out old, rent a welder for a weekend, tack it in place, then hire someone to come over and final weld it. a patch job will look like a patch job.

 

Buy some 16, or 18 ga steel, make you panel and take it somewhere to have it welded. most fab shops charge from $40 pr hour and up.

if you did all the grunt-werk, it would only take about an hour to fit and weld.

maybe your small club can pull funds for a club welder, you are paralyzed from the neck down in the custom car world with out this tool. I see small Lincoln's and millers on craigslist all the time for $200-$300

 

All I see is dead bats...pink dead bats.

 

You are a member of a much larger club than you are aware of,all you need to do is...post up where you are an you need some ........HELP! You will be surprised at the responce.Go ahead,give it a try.I do like the "pop rivit" idea,though...

 

JB Weld


(jk)

 

really try and get a welder first, but if you must this works but I would substitute bondo with all-metal.

 

Cut out a cardboard template,& get some mirrored Plexiglas and screw it fast.

 

Where can I get that pattern? That would make a great firewall!!! Especially done in paper-mache'.

 

I agree that it is time to start melting some tin. Firewall is even usually fairly heavy sheet, making the beginning welding easier...
BUT to address the original question...a fairly easy tech is soldering/leading. The task comes down largely to good cleaning of the areas involved on actual firewall and filler pieces. This is serious work, but easy and techless beyond a propane torch.
Small holes can be leaded directly...start the tinning by polishing the hell out of surface, getting hole to shiny with a tapered reamer OR a bigger-than-hole drill to turn it into a dished hole, both ways both cleaning and increasing surface area for grip.
Bigger holes need filling...mount a tinned plate behind hole. Weldlessly?? Affix it with screws, taper the screw holes as above/dent in slightly, tin countersunk screws, attach, lead in the surface. Now make a patch exact shape of hole with tin snips, lead/tin it, lay it onto your backer and lead it in with your propane torch. Crazy impoverished teenager tech, but entirely workable. After becoming expert at cleaning and tinning... you will be putting a cheap welder on your list for Santa!
When tinning sheet metal...I actually used to find that rosin electrical solder worked better for initial surface tinning than anything involving acid flux, tinning compound, etc.
That makes little sense, but it was what I found to work.

 

Years ago I used a piece of cardboard to make a pattern and then transferred it over to a piece of stainless,,trimmed it with tin snips and bolted it to the existing firewall with small carriage bolts.

Looked pretty good on that old 1930 Model A pickup. HRP

 

This one will be rivited in

 

Kinda like takin a dump without droppin your drawers....it can be done but the end result is gonna stink.

 

I think it can be done well with solder and lead...but with ten times the work of welding.

 

Ever hear of the "Horrible Freight rental program" ???? plop down the dough for an el cheapo flux core machine, practice for a few days, do your work, and return for a full refund!!! HAHAHAHAHA