Thread: Stude M5 build

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Thanks, it's fun to see some shiny green paint. Seth got me thinking about firewall insulation so today I'm making my own from some foil backed felt, gluing some black vinyl to it. I've changed the shape of the firewall so a stock one wouldn't have fit very well.

Figuring out my AC and heater hoses so I wanted to see where the inner fender wells were going to be. I'm pleased that I can use the inner fenders with the new frame, wasn't sure it they would fit.
As long as I had some sheet metal on I went ahead and threw the fender and hood on to see how it all fits.20180618_172446.jpg20180618_181356.jpg20180620_195052.jpg20180620_195136.jpg


Did some work on the driver's side inner panel, it had lots of cracks and one big cracked up gaping hole. Had to make a patch panel for that one. This is very thin metal, it's about 0.028, I can't believe that they used to build them so light duty back then. These must have been pretty light weight trucks.

That panel must've done a lot of flexing - it looked pretty bad.
But you got it all back into shape. It's gonna look real nice when finished.

Worked on the heater and AC lines today, made some progress but I will need more fittings to finish.

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That ac is looking really nice as is the firewall! That is nuts the inner fenders were so thin. Nice work fixing that!

I got the ac lines cut and crimped today and the condenser rubber mounted. Really love the mastercool crimping tool, it is super slick.20180701_154547.jpg20180702_202730.jpg20180703_185651.jpg20180703_185803.jpg

Nice work!

Thanks. I started back on the engine wiring harness yesterday, it's quite a rat's nest to figure out.

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I wanted to start bolting parts on the inside firewall so I had to deal with the firewall pad. The stock one won't work because of the engine swap so I made my own. I used a foil backed jute pad and glued vinyl upholstery it, made the holes with a punch. Put down some killzmat for extra sound and heat reduction.

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Also decided to delete the cowl vent.

Great work on the fire wall pad and filling in the cowl vent. It's crazy how much time goes into the stuff no one will ever see.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Great work on the fire wall pad and filling in the cowl vent. It's crazy how much time goes into the stuff no one will ever see.

True, only someone who has built a hot rod from a rotten old antique car shell can appreciate what it takes to complete such a project. Now it's time to get back to the engine wiring nightmare, yah!

Originally Posted by v8nutz

True, only someone who has built a hot rod from a rotten old antique car shell can appreciate what it takes to complete such a project.

You got that right.

Great project and you are doing a nice job on it.

I agree with the others. You're doing a great job and it takes all the time you can devote to it plus more!
I guess that's true of your wallet too! 8-)

I've never been a big frame swap advocate but this one will definitely change your mind. I'd love to do one of these with a small diesel and a stick shift; maybe a Mercedes diesel or VW TDI.