The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Inner Fender to Firewall Filler Panels

Like this:

http://www.classicparts.com/1947-54...-Panels/productinfo/37-791/#.U7BFV8Ig_yM

Can I just weld them in rather than having them cover up just part of the area? I have looked at all my trucks and NONE of them have that area covered very well. Seems to me, just weld them in to totally cover the cowl seams and make sure you don't go below the firewall-toeboard slant, and it should be all good right? Thanks again!

You need to have that removable to access the fasteners when assembling or disassembling .

There are seals for those fender-to-firewall filler plates (these photos show a messy installation).

I think those seals usually come as parts in the inner-fender to outer-fender seal set.

Even with the seals, there are gaps. In my next installation, I'll more carefully fill the gaps with flexible black calk from the wheel-well side of the plates.

I think Denny has photos of a cleaner installation.

What fasteners would be affected? I cant think of any, thus why I am asking. If there is a genuine reason for going to all that trouble, I would like to hear for sure. I don't know about you, but this is one of those things I just don't like how they did it and every truck I have looks terrible in that area.

I put mine in by the book, with the seals and had them on there when I reassembled the truck and I can't think of anything they got in the way of or would have been easier if they weren't there. I assume there is some reason they were installed the way they are but can't think of one other than maybe that area they cover is slightly different on each truck after assembly so the factory put them on later to fit to the truck they were going on.
I guess you could weld them and if you are wrong, then you will have an answer for the next guy that asked. Thats the beauty of this forum.

Looks like you can get to the top bolt head from under the well. I used a wrench from the bay side.

So what do you think of welding these plates so they COMPLETELY cover the front of the cowl and the bottom doesn't protrude past the toeboard slant. Does that seem reasonable?

On the drivers side, it protrudes over the toeboard, I am assuming to cover over the parking brake mechanism for some reason. Not sure why. The nice part of welding them is that its as water proof as everything else that way. Thanks for the help on this guys.. Once everything is painted, it would HURT if I mess this up.

I don't know for sure but something to think about...with the cab mounted with rubber mounts, and the radiator support mounted on rubber pads, is there any chance that the front sheet metal would move around enough that eliminating all of the gap might make a stress point?

...isn't it to "help" keep the mud and dirt from being slung up in the engine area??

I think that was the plan. All my old trucks, no restorations, just as is, have hornets nests, crud of all kinds there since the rubber is long gone. Its a place that rusts easily and the gauge steel of those covers doesn't lead me to believe they would be structurally serving a purpose. I just don't know. Wish I had more insight on why they are there instead of a welded cover. Even if you don't agree with welding it, if you think about the way the whole truck was constructed, wouldn't it have been cheaper to just spot weld those plates in a few places rather then spring for screws? Since the plates and the cabs are all predrilled in the same place, there isn't any way to adjust it. Im confused. When suffering from confusion.. weld something! LOL!

Not really neat Tim. I used the original plates with the same
reproduction rubber that your used. It isn't the same shape
as the original seals, much smaller in cross section so it's
impossible for it to close up the gaps.
When I finally get around to getting the cab off for paint, I
will cut new plates to better match the contour, which will
close the gaps completely.
Weld them in?????? Might as well Deve, you're making enough
other upgrades from the factory stock truck one more shouldn't
hurt. It's a custom so customize it to your own liking.

Denny G

What purpose does the rubber serve other than they didn't make the plates large enough and they didn't secure the plates all around? Is there rubber between the inner fender and the cab in that area? Im reaching here because it looks like just a bad design that wasn't given enough thought. Before I weld it, I am hoping someone will speak for Chevy as to why they did it this way!

I buy Greg's speculation.

Weld them if you want, Deve.

As Denny posted: " . . . you're making enough
other upgrades from the factory stock truck one more shouldn't hurt. It's a custom so customize it to your own liking."

I do not buy the theory that it is " . . .just a bad design that wasn't given enough thought . . "

But, I am not interested in arguing or speculating or trying to convince myself or you or others.

Anyone know when these filler panels first appeared? I have been trying to figure out what their intended purpose was. It seems like a quick fix for an 'oh crap' moment after designing was completed. Unless you are going mud bogging, as these trucks were often subjected to back in the days of farm work and dirt roads, I would just leave them off. I have seen pictures of your build and read your descriptions of meticulousity (that is a word now, I fixed it), I expect that you will not even pull that truck out of the garage until the driveway had been swept.
Carl

I buy the OH CRAP moment concept myself. But yeah, its not one of those issues that matters much, but part of what I do is honor the original build while paying homage to the different personalities that purchased it and the personal likes/dislikes of this vintage. Since Greg mentioned it, the new plan is to weld just two seams and leave the third floating. I can see a concern for a little flex where the fenders mount. It will still be very tight yet allow for some flex without tearing.

Thanks to everyone for posting. When this truck is finished, since I do all the work myself, I will have many of you to thank for helping unfreeze my brain as I find myself sitting on the fence on a lot of issues.

my guess would be that they needed the flex room as mentioned above and used the rubber seal to give it that flex and still fill the void. Since the rubber seal was stapled on. it would have been hard to do on the truck and hard to weld them on the cab after the rubber was installed so they just screwed them.

They are there to stop water going inside the well and causing more rust than already is happening.

A guy could weld a plate over the top of the inner-to-outer cowl panel to close that up, but there would still be a gap after the inner and outer fenders are bolted on. Like has been said, the rubber is there to fill the gap. The filler plates can't be spot welded on after the kick panel is installed because there wouldn't be a way to get the electrode behind. But they could be plug welded, but the rubber would likely be melted in the process. Thus the screws.

Do you realize that you replied to a 9 year old thread!

So I am not the only one.