If you are looking for the hottest new products for your 1947 to 1954 GM truck, LS Fabrication offers custom parts and bead-rolled sheet metal for your advance design era truck. Its popular firewall fillers and other bead-rolled panels offer a custom look for classic Chevy and GMC pickups. LS Fabrication is an expanding company owned and operated by Chris Lange and Kris Hauser, who design, manufacture and ship their product all over North America and other areas of the world. These panels are perfect for everyone, including professional shops to do-it-yourself builders who are looking for a custom touch without breaking the bank. Follow along as we watch them install a firewall first hand.
02 Place filler panel onto the outside of driver and passenger side firewall and check fitment. Take a permanent marker and go along the edge of the filler, placing a reference line on the existing firewall. Do the same for both driver and passenger. Next, take a cut off wheel or electric grinder with a cut off disk to remove the factory firewall. They cut inboard roughly 1/2 -inch along the marked reference line. Tip: You can use 1/2-inch masking tape as a guide for spacing. 03 Two braces go along the inside of the firewall down along an angle on either side of the engine tunnel.You will need to separate the braces from the original firewall sheet metal. Next take a 5/16-inch drill bit and drill out the spot welds along the outside of the firewall that attach the sheet metal to the braces. At this point you should be able to separate the old firewall from the cab.
01 First, remove any impeding wires, bolts, screws and or braces from the outside wall and the inside of cab. There should be no interior, wires, or obstructing parts or materials that could damage or catch fire.
05Place the filler panel onto the opening until it is lined up with the top edge and outside edge. You can now tack weld the filler panels into place. Slight trimming may need to be done to the middle of the firewall where the two fillers meet roughly 1 inch of material was left for cab diversity.
07 Once the firewall install is complete, the paint is sprayed and the motor has been put back in place, it’s clear that the time and effort was worth the reward.
04Having a ½-inch lip around the existing firewall will allow you to have a slight edge for the new fillers to rest for welding. Clean the perimeter of the old firewall with a grinding disk or some sort of abrasive tool to remove old paint. You will need nice, clean metal for welding.
06 If you’re happy with placement of the fillers, continue to tack weld them by going around the perimeter in 1-inch intervals to minimize warping. Now that the fillers are welded, you can grind down your welds and prep for bodywork.