Firewall, Heater Box Prep
Back on the old Gal some to clean up more and prep firewall and heater box for reassembly.
But first take a look at this sway bar difference. The old factory bar vs the new bar is pretty obvious. I think the old bar is like 1/2sd, maybe 5/8 inch or something while the new bar is 1 1/8 inch diameter. With such a large car the small bar just seems funny almost. In any manner it’s getting replaced.
The “HI” firewall reinforcements was surely some Ford engineers day of having fun back in 1965/66 that continues to amuse today. It does kind of make it a pain to clean and sand but still good for a laugh when I look at it.
Next on to the heater box. It was terrible. Beyond terrible almost it seems. The complete bottom of the box is gone that holds in the heater core. We really didn’t realize this as it cannot be seen from the engine bay but once we started pulling it apart it was obvious. I did look online a bit but anybody that had one was asking in the $150+ range and as a non AC car it seems more rare than AC cars. After a good cardboard template plan, a piece of aluminum was cut up to replace the lost area. I believe this should work fine and after the whole thing is cleaned up and coated with some rattle can bed liner it should be fine.
The car will have an add on under dash AC unit so this heater box will live on to provide heat… hopefully. This has since been pop riveted together and painted using the bed liner rattle can that we are using elsewhere on the car. Should be good for a long time.
