The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Firewall replacement

I have my 53 chevy 6400 cab gutted out and ready to remove some panels for replacement(i.e. floor board with seat riser, firewall, inner and out cowl panels, etc). The spot welding on the top edge of the firewall looks so perfect, it almost looks like it was glued on! I know it's not glued, but when I say perfect, there's no bumps, weld beads, nothing. How difficult would it be to remove without disfiguring the good panels. I could cut them but I afraid it'll mess up the edges of the good panels when I'm ready to reattach. Any suggestions?

Why go that high with the panel replacement? Can you not splice in the patch panel lower? You do not need to use the entire panel in all cases.

It is really best to cut the patch to fit the body, not the other way around. Its kind of like trimming your sideburns, if you mess up you have to cut higher and you run out.

I would try to make the seam someplace where it either wont be noticed or looks like it was done that way at the factory. On the firewall, the spot where the bend is for the floorboards seems like a logical place. The higher up it is, the more likely you will see it.

You will have a hard time duplicating factory spot welds, and you will definately warp the body out of alignment if you remove the whole firewall unless you take very careful measures to brace it. This is major surgery.

IF....YOU HAVE TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE PANEL YOU CAN PURCHASE A SPOT WELD REMOVER BIT THAT WILL DRILL THE SPOT WELD OUT AND NOT HARM THE PANEL BELOW IT. (* IF YOU DONT MONGO THE DRILL) IF YOU BUY THE TOOL WHICH FITS IN YOUR DRILL, FIRST REVEAL THE FACTORY SPOT WELDS, A 90 DEGREE AIR GRINDER WITH COURSE OR MED ROLOC WHEELS WORK GREAT FOR THIS. SECOND WITH A SMALL DRILL BIT DRILL THE CENTER OF THE WELD JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP THE SPOT WELD REMOVER CENTERED.BEGIN DRILLING IT WITH THE SPOT WELD CUTTER AND WHEN YOU'VE CUT THROUGH THE TOP PIECE YOU'LL KNOW AND FEEL IT. IF YOU APPLY TOO MUCH DRILL PRESSURE AND DON'T PAY ATTENTION YOU WILL GO ALL THE WAY THROUGH. AFTER YOUVE DONE THAT YOU WILL NEED TO GRIND THE SPOTS THAT ARE LEFT. THE NEW PIECE CAN BE PREFIT. WHEN YOU'RE HAPPY WITH THE FIT,AND YOU HAVE A PUNCH/ FLANGER TOOL,PUNCH THE NEW HOLES WHERE YOU NEED THEM, CLAMP THE PARTS TOGETHER AND WELD THE HOLES CLOSED. GRIND THEM AND YOU WILL NEVER KNOW YOU WERE THERE.SOUNDS DEEP BUT IT WORKS GOOD AND LOOKS GOOD. HOPE I DIDNT SCARE YOU.