Firewall replacement options

[DaddysTruck]

Pretty much all sides of my firewall panel are rusted to death. Does anyone make a fire wall panel for our trucks?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Not that I have ever seen, no remotely easy way to fix that.

Pic is inop BTW

 

[Mark_88]

Cab swaps are actually easier than patching firewalls because they involve less work if you find an exact match year or generation with similar wires.

For an 85 it might be harder to find one but I know they are out there.

There was a member on here years ago and his pics may still be available...he was active until last year...check out posts by Lima Bean...he fixed up an older BII that needed some serious work on the front and side of the inside cab.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Cab swaps are actually easier than patching firewalls because they involve less work if you find an exact match year or generation with similar wires.

For an 85 it might be harder to find one but I know they are out there.

There was a member on here years ago and his pics may still be available...he was active until last year...check out posts by Limabean...he fixed up an older BII that needed some serious work on the front and side of the inside cab.

Zman did surgery on his too, mainly in the cowl area IIRC.

 

[Mark_88]

Zman did surgery on his too, mainly in the cowl area IIRC.

It may have been Zman's that I was thinking of now that you mention it. I tried searching on Lima Bean's posts but I kept finding links that had no posts by him. I thought maybe his membership was deleted but I found it in the member list...then I got sidetracked by a hockey game...

 

[ZMan]

Thats not even really the firewall either, its the cowl panel that I fixed. Can't see the picture the OP posted but I assume thats what it is of. It was fun..

 

[Mark_88]

I do remember that now...cowl is such an easy place for rust to start eating them away.

Pretty sure I saw one with side panel work too but can't remember. Maybe it was Lima Bean.

Mine was sort of like yours when I took it apart in 2014 but not as bad. I was able to clean up most of the rust and repaint it but it would have required surgery at some point if I was going to keep it.

 

[ZMan]

I do remember that now...cowl is such an easy place for rust to start eating them away.

Pretty sure I saw one with side panel work too but can't remember. Maybe it was Lima Bean.

Mine was sort of like yours when I took it apart in 2014 but not as bad. I was able to clean up most of the rust and repaint it but it would have required surgery at some point if I was going to keep it.

I had another one too that I had to rebuild the a-pillar around the top passenger door hinge and the tops corners of the roof.

 

[DaddysTruck]

Nice work ZMan. Those look like tough areas to recreate.

A cab swap isn't really an option for me because of the sentimental value of the truck.

Here is the current status of operation.

 

[AllanD]

I've had my 1987 Supercab since February 1996 and my cab is not as bad as yours, but I searched for and found a replacement 12years ago, and I'm finally ready to use it.


My sentimental attachment to my truck is to the formation, not any of the individual bits.

I think of the story of George Washington's original hatchet, still the same hatchet though the head and handle have both been replaced down through the years....

 

[DaddysTruck]

It's not as bad as it looks. The major part of the firewall missing I just cut out for easier access. That and I've got new floor pans ready to go in. None of this will even be visible once it's all back together which kind of makes you wonder what it's all for anyway.