Firewall Paint and Bracket Installation
After painting the undercarriage, I had went ahead and painted the firewall since I had all the equipment out. Once dry, I was able to reinstall the brackets. I used the soft body rivets where called for.
I had sandblasted the hood catches and painted them with black ceramic engine paint, which gives a smooth, even coating. I was pleased with the results but am interested in how long it will last. Clearly the firewall will fill out as more components are installed. Also, I have not yet cut the hole for the air conditioning box. That is planned for this winter and will be added to the walk through.
Fender Seals
The next step involved installing the fender seals. I bought the upper seal as a single strip and just measured the length I needed for each end. I used stainless staples to make indentations on the seal and a small drill bit to make a hole through the seal and fender. Then I pushed the staple through and pressed it against the seal while a helper bend the tangs over. I still need to install the front fork seal, a-arm dust cover, and the side seal, but these require the fork and radiator support to be in place for proper placement. I plan to use the same method for these as well (except for the a-arm seal), so likely won't post pictures.
Headlight Header Bar Installation
After the long time between the headlight header bar and installaion, some moisture had penetrated the masking tape I placed over the mating surface, and there was minor rust. I used sand paper to remove the rust and prep the surface for the SEM 39747 Panel Adhesive. I had used that for the front bar and it seemed very well set. SEM 39747 has a 90 min work time.
I covered the metal with ample adhesive and used a rubber gloved finger to smear it over the entire bonded surface. I placed small washers into it and added a couple more strips of adhesive. The washers provide a spacer to keep the adhesive from getting squeezed out during clamping.
I sanded the area under the surround with 150 grit to provide a good bonding surface for the header bar. I put the bar in position by hand, then held it in place with two clamps near the center. Then I installed the headlight buckets on the front support and header bar, and fender brackets at the outside to make sure that the holes would all line up. I had to place a could clamps in the center to adequately seat the surround against the bar, but everything else seemed a good fit. After checking the everything was lined up, I let the adhesive cure for a couple days.
That's it for now. I know it's not a lot but as the projects become dependent on each other, there will be incremental updates to each project.
For this project, there is mainly the seals and the cowl to finish this. The cowl will be stripped and cleaned as part of the body work being done in preparation for paint. However, the resealing and restoration is covered here.
Engine Bay & Firewall Cont.
I had intended to pick this back up in the spring of 2016, but made the decision to finish the rear body mount and structural repairs first. That way, I could mix enough grey paint to cover the firewall and underneath the rear end. Cleaning up the rear undercarriage and performing the repair work took the better part of two summers and I actually didn't get the engine bay and fire wall painted until late summer of 2017. Even then, there are a few other minor things that I did in 2018, and a couple things that still need accomplished. I'll pick up where I left off
Modifications:
- Firewall hole enlarged to accommodate addition of air conditioning.
- Aftermarket wiring harness
Upgrades:
- Hy-tech Metal Shield #1267 insulating paint