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Project Burnadebt | ’59 Chevy Apache Get a New Firewall, Floor & Back Panel

Now, if you have been following along, you know Burnadebt was a long way from greatness. We patched the fenders and removed the rust, we worked out the issues with the cowl sides, and now, we set our sights on the firewall. Burnadebt has been in and out of shops over the years with varying levels of modifications, patches and added issues from these repairs. The firewall was no exception.

Bead rolled panels were added at some point but were never completely installed. We are going to start over with a brand-new OE style firewall replacement from our guys at AMD. In addition to the firewall, Burnadebt will be receiving a new floor assembly as well as a new back cab panel from AMD. You will see these parts come into play here and there. This will allow us to properly align the firewall for installation. If you’re doing these repairs at home, don’t worry. We will tie it all together right here in Street Trucks.

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The firewall on these trucks is a common area for rust. The seam where the firewall meets up with the cowl, the side cowl areas along the kick panel and the toe board area all like to collect water and rot out over time. Follow along, and let’s do these repairs along with the help of our friends at AMD.

 

As you can see from the inside, the
firewall on project Burnadebt needs
some serious attention.

 

 

Before we get going too far, Jubee is going to take a few measurements and make some bracing for the cab. This will help keep everything aligned after removing the firewall.
Line up the bracing as to not interfere with what you’re going to be working on and let it rip.
Jubee goes the extra mile and installs adjustable braces in the center incase he needs to do a little tweaking along the way. These are tacked into place and cane be undone if adjustments need to be made.

We will be removing the cab from the chassis to do the installation for the firewall and floor assembly. With the bolts removed, everything cleared, and the cab aligned on the lift, we raise Burnadebt’s cab off the chassis.

We place the cab on a pallet for ease of maneuvering and we will roll the chassis off to the side.
We place the cab on its back to make it a little easier to work on and to film. Jubee elects to remove the bulk of the firewall with his air hammer and wedge blade tip.

Be sure to watch what you’re removing. There are braces behind the panel that you will probably be reusing. If you’re not replacing the floor, take into consideration where the firewall and floor meet.
Just like that, Jubee has the bulk of the firewall out. Removing the larger portion makes it easier to work the smaller portions of metal off the cab where they were factory spot welded.

Let’s get the rest of the firewall removed from the cab. Using a drill, we drill out the spot welds. Only drill enough of the top metal to separate the two panels. You want to keep the remaining panel intact as much as possible to have something to weld back to during installation.

With the spot welds removed, you can pry the remaining firewall metal off the cab. It can be stubborn at times. Patience is your friend here. Jubee uses a flat chisel with his air hammer when it doesn’t want to cooperate. Take your time; it’s all about control.

Continue the process around the cowl to remove the remaining firewall panel. You can cut of sections as you go to make it more manageable. The smaller pieces give you more control and less chance of pulling the weld thru completely.

Jubee hammer and dollies the flange back to factory spec and cleans up any left-over welds with his 36-grit sanding disc. This will give us a smooth mating surface for installing the new firewall.
A quick coat of weld through primer helps prevent rust between the firewall and cab.

Jubee mocks up the firewall to the chassis. The front cab mounts are in good shape so they will be reused, and we ensure that everything lines up.

With the firewall bolted back in place, Jubee preps the firewall for installation by using the Scotch Brite pad and removing the EDP coating at the mating surfaces. This will allow the spot welder to get a good connection and produce a solid weld. If your plug welding, now is a good time to drill your holes and prep the cab. It will be way easier to do that now before the firewall is in place.
With the firewall in place, we are ready to get the cab back on the chassis to weld up the firewall. We also installed our new floor assembly—we’ll get into that in detail in a future article but if you’re only replacing the firewall, the floor would have remained in place.
The firewall is in place and ready to clamp. Clamps ensure a tight fit on the panels—a key to a good weld.
Continue to clamp the perimeter of the firewall and check your measurements.
As we will be spot welding the firewall in place, we need a good contact surface. Jubee uses his trusty wire wheel to remove the EDP coating of the new panel.
A dead blow hammer is a great tool to use to manipulate the panels together for a tight fit.

With everything lined up and in place with a tight fit, Jubee is ready to weld. We are using our spot welder to give a factory finish. Plug welding would work just as well but requires more cleanup to achieve the same results.
Jubee likes to work from the inside out when welding the panels together. Space your welds out every couple of inches or so. When you come to a clamp, Jubee recommends welding on either side then removing the clamp to finish the line.

Continue the process down the sides of the firewall to the toe board. We will cover the rest of the weld up at the floor seam in the future when installing the floor.
With the upper firewall and sides welded up, Jubee works the flange just the way he wants it. The goal is to get it to look as factory as possible.
Now is the time to fix any holes that may have popped up during this process. Don’t worry, they pop up from time to time when working metal this old. With the welder out, plug any trouble areas and finish them off with your grinder.

A final coat of OE Coat from Medallion is used to match the color and finish of the AMD e-coats. This is a great product to prevent rust and corrosion before heading to body work and paint. We used Part #RS-551 Black as our go-to coating.

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