Grinding Welds on Firewall Patch

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67Dart273 said:
I'll tell ya. One of the handiest things I ever bought is a step drill. Mine is only up to 1/2, and you can get much much larger sizes, but they are the best thing in the world for drilling holes in sheet metal. They don't tear up metal like a twist drill. Quality ones are not cheap, but my little 1/2 I've had since the HVAC days of the early 90's. And with that, I'm off to bed.

PP_Titanium_Coated_Step_Drill.jpg
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I'll see if I have one in the shop. If not, is there a good quality one I can buy over the counter somewhere?
 
I would move/pull that brake line for the rt front just below where your working out of the way. one slip with a grinder and....
 
Update... Got a step drill and hole saw and drilled those suckers out this morning, but I'm still having trouble installing the pedal assembly. All the studs are going into the holes but the pedal assembly keeps on interfering with my dash frame so the two mounting locations closest to the driver cannot get in there proper location. :/ Don't know what to do or how to fix it from here. Trying to play with it for now.

Edit: So fiddling with it more, I can get it past the front part of the dash frame but notice the upper mounting portion hits a crossmember in the frame. I'll try to get pictures if possible. I remember when I pulled the pedal assembly out of the 75 Valiant, I yanked on that upper crossmember with a hammer to try to flex it and then removed the pedal assembly.
 

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Please fix those grind holes. Aluminum/brass backing on the front, re-weld, 60 grit flap down. :eek:ops:
 
I really love my little 2" twist lock grinding pad for this sort of thing. First I grind only the weld not the surrounding metal with a cutoff wheel attached to a straight die grinder. I hold the cutoff wheel perpendicular to the metal and cut just the weld with the edge of the cutoff wheel. Then I switch over to the 2" twist lock on a right angle die grinder. The twist lock resin disks come in lots of different grits and the twist lock lets you switch grits almost instantly. With a little practice (and I've had far more practice than I ever wanted) your welds will be nearly invisible when finished.

Here's an example of what's possible:
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showpost.php?p=1969791550&postcount=25

All this stuff is available cheap at Harbor Freight, assuming you have a compressor.
 
PoisonDart74 said:
Please fix those grind holes. Aluminum/brass backing on the front, re-weld, 60 grit flap down. :eek:ops:
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Those will be fixed. Hell no, will I ever drive a car with holes in the firewall. I like my feet inside the car at all times. Just no access to a welder right now and I need to keep on moving before this becomes another "I'll fix it one day."

The longer it's in my garage, the more I start to hate it little by little. And I'm not going to lie, but part of me wants to sell it off and possibly buy a '73 Challenger that's way nicer than the Dart. However, I'm not selling this thing as a project and I don't really want to tow it to my shop as an embarrassment and say, "Well this is what I did. Fix it and shoot me a pricey bill for it." Realistically, I'd like to be able to enjoy the car and modify it but it's just a big pain in the butt (and most of the blame should be put on me for being ignorant and naive about it). Honestly, I'd like to make it into a nice pro-touring car some day but it just seems more work than it's worth right now. Sorry, had to vent.
 
Grab a HF flux core welder, grinder, flap disk set and a hood, should come under $200. Especially with some coupons. :D
 
PoisonDart74 said:
Grab a HF flux core welder, grinder, flap disk set and a hood, should come under $200. Especially with some coupons. :D
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All my friends tell me to avoid the flux core welders and say I should get the gas. But $200 does sound nice. And sorry about going off earlier. I was just "in the moment." Got the pedal assembly in without damaging anything. Just need to align and screw it down (the ones up top are my issue). Maybe if I can snap a picture with the MC mounted in place (no pushrod) it will give me a little boost of motivation... :/
 
So far as getting the pedal hanger in, I have no advice without photos. You have the cluster out, I'm sure. Can't you get enough room to "back" the hanger up into the cluster area and slip it forward and down? Frankly, I don't remember much of a problem on-the-only-car that I had to pull and install one.
 
67Dart273 said:
So far as getting the pedal hanger in, I have no advice without photos. You have the cluster out, I'm sure. Can't you get enough room to "back" the hanger up into the cluster area and slip it forward and down? Frankly, I don't remember much of a problem on-the-only-car that I had to pull and install one.
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Actually, with a little persuasion and bloody knuckles I got it in and out, then back in with the cluster still in. :D Only problem I have is that the top mounting holes aren't matching. The lower mounts closer to the driver fit just fine. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the firewall. Taking a picture with my phone, I'm only getting about half the hole showing through...
 
Holes for the top mount aren't lining up even though the holes for the bottom do... The drilled slots in the pedal assembly wasn't me.
 

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MuuMuu101 said:
All my friends tell me to avoid the flux core welders and say I should get the gas. But $200 does sound nice.
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I did my whole car with one. What now?! What now!?! *Does a little dance*

Look at my build.

They work great, long runs on big panels where you can't get a dolly behind it make it hard. Not a lick of difference between .030 or .035 wire.
 
Geometry with any linkage is important. If it's off, it will ruin your life. Do more homework.
 
PoisonDart74 said:
I did my whole car with one. What now?! What now!?! *Does a little dance*

Look at my build.

They work great, long runs on big panels where you can't get a dolly behind it make it hard. Not a lick of difference between .030 or .035 wire.
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Lol. Touche!
 
Welding is fun and makes so many things possible. It's best to learn on thicker metal. Trying to learn on sheet metal will be frustrating. Plan to take some time learning.

Start thicker. Watch YouTube tutorials. Then practice lots on scrap sheet metal before welding on your car. Otherwise you'll likely make more holes than you have now along with mountains to grind down. Put some time in up front. You won't regret it.
 
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