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Truggy guys : Keep firewall or lose it/build one?

DavidB

DavidB

1/2 ton status
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I'm trying to decide whether to keep my firewall to save work fabbing one and mounting the booster, pedals, column, computer, wiring, gauges, etc. or ditch the entire body. I can take 10" off each side except for the 2 outer gauges. Thanks

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just keep the panel that the column and brakes hook to. thats what I had done on the willys and just transfered it over to the new firewall.
 
I thought about that too. There's still all the other little stuff that seems to eat up all your time though. I'm in a time crunch. TDS is march 1.
 
could just chop it up to that point, then move the dash cluster to the middle,LOL
 
I'm ditching the factory firewall and making an aluminum one this winter.

My initial plan was to keep the firewall and wiring to make things easier, I don't think either was a good idea.
 
38377k5 said:
That's mostly why I'm replacing mine, but the stock one really isn't cutting it at this point.
Click to expand...

What's the issue with the stock one?

BadDog says he wished he had gone narrower.

QUOTE : As for the firewall, I always wished I had removed it earlier so that I could have gone narrower across the rockers. But mine was a moving work in in progress, and by the time I got to where I wished I could make it narrower, I already had to much stuff "in place" and time/money invested to redo it all. Bottom line, if I were where you are, I would take it the rest of the way now.

In fact, I was thinking along those lines a couple of years back. So I cut out a fairly small section of a firewall from a K5 I parted out. I cut it so that it gave me (barely) the bulkhead mount for the fuse block, the steering column, and the pedal assembly. My plan was to graft that into a much more narrow "body" so that I would still be using common "off the shelf" stuff and eliminate a lot of the fiddly bits required to build it all from scratch.
 
Ive got a dumb question. If your going to that extreme why not just ditch the cab and go with a full on tuber? Im assuming your cutting the top off.
 
DavidB said:
What's the issue with the stock one?
Click to expand...

Mines too narrow actually (I cut it and then added fenders later) so hot air from the motor blows by the firewall and into the cab. Nice in the winter, not so nice in the summer.

It also moves around a little; it had supports on the side which were cut off. I welded the firewall to some of the tube but its not totally solid.


I guess my real problem with the stock firewall is the weight. I could probably drop a few hundred pounds by making a new firewall.
 
Ah, yeah the summer problem would be a problem for me. That's part of my problem with cutting it up/where to cut it so it works ok, keeps me comfortable-ish, doesn't flop around. If it's narrow, engine heat is gonna get me more.

Here are some idea pics. Yes, the body is going bye-bye. Sometimes I think about keeping it and making the tube and body and frame one, wife doesn't want it too narrow, doesn't want to be that close to the ground/rocks. Would skin the fenders and put them over the tube. It looks cool with the wrinkled black fenders/doors, etc., gives it character. :D Sheetmetal is heavy though.

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ACage2.jpg


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Could some people that have chopped the firewall/dash area up post some pics if ya have some so I can get a better idea what all is where in there?

:bow:
 
Something else I just thought of: I have mine Green-stickered = registered off road only. The VIN is on the registration, so I kinda hafta keep that....
 
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