Magikal
1/2 ton status
front inner fender wells on late 70/ early 80 k5. What is this removable panel for? It's been the question of the day for awhile now at the shop. ..
CK5
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What's the purpose of this?
- Thread starter Magikal
- Start date
Cntymnty77
1/2 ton status
I’ve been wondering the same thing.
Patch panel for the rot that normally happens right there.
That may be a replacement piece, but it's for the stock piece. I don't know what that is for, but mine is rotted out. It just gives access to the firewall right there. Can only thing maybe it's to clean out if the drainage plugs up?
Pull it off and see what's behind it.....I'm curious too!
There is nothing but the firewall. As I understand it, the cowl drains between the firewall and the inner fender in this location. If junk gets in there, it will trap water. Only thing I can think of is that it is for potential access in case it does get plugged. Not sure if the AC drained down here too?
Mine looks about like this, except the panel is all that is rotten. For some reason, even up here where rust isn't a particular problem, these little panels love to rot out:
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Heater core bolt access panel?
I'm not at my truck but pretty sure it's way too low to access heater stuff.
I only ask because I've seen people cut a hole big enough for a socket and a extension before.
This is a better pic, from CK5 even!:
You can tell from the below pic that the bolt, shown above on the right side (closer to the shock) holding the inner fender to the firewall (on the rib closest to the frame rail), attaches way below the heater assembly (and that there is no rational reason to need access there):
You can tell from the below pic that the bolt, shown above on the right side (closer to the shock) holding the inner fender to the firewall (on the rib closest to the frame rail), attaches way below the heater assembly (and that there is no rational reason to need access there):
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Magikal
1/2 ton status
I fabbed the panel in my pic to replace the rotten non-existent one that was there. I saw no bolts, wires, or anything that looked like it needed any access panel. The mystery continues on......
I always figured that was there for extra material strength at that mounting bolt.
I don't think there's a hole behind it, it just seems like there is because it's always rusted out along with the piece you can see.
I don't think there's a hole behind it, it just seems like there is because it's always rusted out along with the piece you can see.
I would imagine it has something to do with making a manufacturing process easier. Cause it's on all of them from 73 to 91.
Any chance it's "relief" for the forming process? I'm not familiar with stamping sheet metal, but I would think there has to be a space for the metal to "flow" as it's bent, especially with all the bends and angles that are formed into the inner gender. WAG.
Seems overly complex/expensive to bolt it in instead of tack welds though.
Seems overly complex/expensive to bolt it in instead of tack welds though.
The replacement wheelhouses I've seen without them crack there. I'm guessing the wet noodle frame and soft body mounts causes a lot of stress risers there.
Reinforcement for the mounting bolt to the firewall.
