A few years ago, I was just beginning in earnest to piece back together the '68 Dart that I had dis-assembled about 20 years earlier. It wasn't difficult to remember what everything was and where it went, but I had a big question about what goes in first. I didn't want to spend a lot of effort putting something in and only later find out that I had to remove it again to put in something that should have gone first...clearance issues and the like. I posted a question about that, and I got some helpful advice. Well, yesterday I experienced the exact case I was attempting to avoid. I have refurbished my AC/heater unit, but I knew that there were various insutlation pads that had to go in against the firewall before I put it back. Detroit Muscle has a great kit for this, and upon trying to install the first piece, it was obvious that I would have to remove the pedal cluster and parking brake cable to install it. Of course, in order to get that unit out, I had to also remove the windshield wiper pivots and linkage. After all said and done, it's all back together and looks great. But this single piece of insulation installed took about 2 hours of my afternoon.
In the process, I also discovered why the insulation pad had perforations for a possible cut-out. Obviously it had to be something that doesn't apply to all cars. It turns out that when it's cut out, it provides space for the clutch pedal bracket and movement of the pedal for manual transmission cars. So, naturally, I had to pull the pedal cluster out again to cut out the perforartions.
By the way, Detroit Muscle did a great job on the manufacture and documentation for these insulation kits. They even have some photos on their website to illustrate the proper positions of the pads.
