The trans tunnel originally had some 1" square tubing braces that ran from the top of the tunnel, around the engine and angled down to the front frame rails. These had to removed to enlarge the foot wells, so I had to try and add that support back into the new setup. I made the lower half of the firewall out of 16 gauge steel to help with this, but I will most likely have add some more bracing. I'm still thinking about that and may have to wait until some more components are added to see where I have room.

The upper half of the firewall will be made from aluminum. It's lighter and a lot easier to work with. I'll be making it from several panels and these will be riveted together with aircraft type rivets. I like the look of these. I'm temporarily fastening panels as they are completed with a few aluminum pop rivets since they are easily drilled out. My supply of Clecos is limited and they get in the way if you don't really need the quick release ability.



The passenger side foot well was pretty easy. You can see where the new sections are welded in and the extra tunnel area I added to clear an automatic if I ever need one. This may not look like a lot of extra room, but it really makes a difference.

I started out welding the new steel parts in with my TIG machine, but the metal is so rusty and contaminated with whatever spray bomb coating the original builder used that I was having a tough time getting it clean enough to get a good weld. I was forced to drag out my ancient old MIG welder and was able to get some usable welds with ER70-6 wire. The -6 stuff has something in the mix that allows it to weld on dirtier metal. I had to argue with my MIG welder for quite a while before figuring out some settings that worked and had to replace a part inside the gun, but eventually got it to weld OK. I'm not real happy with the way the welds look, but they are sound and will be covered with Lizard Skin insulation in the end anyhow.