Working to reassemble a 1950 1/2 ton and have purchased significant amount of parts from Classic Parts which, for the most part, has gone smoothly.
I've searched the forum on the subject of firewall covers and understand there are fiber board repros, molded ABS, and jute backed rubber pad options available - all with their own fitment and installation issues. I get it. But here's an issue I haven't come across yet. Maybe this will serve as a cautionary tale. We'll see how it plays out.
Someone had already installed a Vintage Air HVAC system. No big deal. A cover can be notched to fit around it. I decided to try the rubber pad with jute glued to the back side. Thought it would look decent and provide a small measure of insulation. Classic Parts sells it and comes in a box marked Repops (Repops.com). Repops' part number is CT327 for 1947-1954 Chevy/GMC trucks. They're located in Arkansas and purport to be an actual manufacturer (but who knows how much actually comes from China).
There are pre-punched "knockouts" for the main wiring harness, choke, and sender grommets. There are also some for push pin holes. The larger holes and fastener holes on each end are where they belong but other fastener holes are not - just as others have complained. But here's the kicker: After fastening the pad on the driver side and pulling it tight to the passenger side it comes up short 1-2" - like not even close. Vertically, it's fine. I measured straight across the cab with a tape measure, below the firewall hump, and the dimension was longer than the pad measured. Taking the firewall hump into consideration, the pad would have to be several inches longer in order to follow the contours at all!
Maybe it was a manufacturing mistake. I reached out to Repops with photos and dimensions. To their credit they responded the next day, convinced that the part I got had been mislabeled. They pulled another from a box to check and said they'd send a replacement. Great! Thanks!
It showed up in short order and I compared them today... Yeah, it's exactly the same size and shape as the first one. We'll see what they have to say. Stay tuned.
At some point I hope Classic Parts is made aware of the problem. They might have the clout to persuade Repops to stop selling that particular pad until they can produce or source one that actually fits. Nice blog, btw.
I’ve tried to keep Classic Parts in the loop, though they are a little slow to respond. Repops acknowledged receipt of my email reporting that their replacement was identical to the first pad - but that’s about it so far. Repops distributes their products through rather large resellers like Jegs, Speedway Motors but I suspect this particular item will turn out to be a low demand dud that they can’t be bothered to correct. Hope I’m wrong.
Housekeeping (Moderator) Making a Stovebolt Bed & Paint and Body Shop Forums
This is making me glad that my original firewall pad was in good enough shape to reuse. I cleaned it up and hit it with some rattle can brown paint.
Kevin Newest Project - 51 Chevy 3100 work truck. Photos [flickr.com] #2 - '29 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. First car '29 Ford Special Coupe Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
.the number on mine is ct328 54-55 . I don’t know what the difference is between the years but I will have to bring it inside to warm up and measure .
Yes, that will be interesting. The photo of CT327 on the Repops website is upside down. Their photo of CT328 is flopped vertically. (C’mon guys. How hard is it to get your website photos oriented correctly?)
From the photos it appears the shape along what would be the bottom of the pad is the same. The obvious difference between the two is in the profile along the top. My question would be, did they get the side to side measurement correct on CT328? And is the pre-‘54 firewall width the same or different than ‘54-‘55?
Oh, and one other thing I didn’t mention before, the upside down V-notch along the bottom is supposed to fit around the steering column. It’s not in the right spot either.
Last edited by PrestonH; Sun Dec 11 2022 04:07 AM.
An update on the matter: After a month and a couple of emails with no response I was about to give up on Repops. Okay, there were a couple of holidays in there. I'll give 'em that. Two days ago I decided to send an illustration with dimensions (attached .pdf) and a request for some kind of response or acknowledgment. Thankfully, I did hear back yesterday, though it was a, "I'm going to talk to so-and-so about it" response. I was skeptical.
Well, apparently they followed through and I just learned they have found "another die that should correct the problem" and are going to send another pad to try. I don't know what die they've been using but I'm pretty sure it's not for a '47-'53 firewall. But, I get it. I've worked in manufacturing. Sh*t happens. We'll see when it gets here.
