I did a rebuild on my 350 and I took out the ac and heat, now what do I do about the big holes in the fire wall from the ac and heat unit. Anybody have any suggestions. Just screw a piece of sheetmetal or what, big hole goes into my interior, not good for heat and fumes

 

well, I removed the AC from mine, but not the heater or vent, so I just used a non-AC box from an S-10. If you don't want any type of ventilation system, just cover it with an aluminum plate (no sense making it with heavy steel). Don't forget to pull out all of the vent ducting at the same time.

- Justin

 

yea we did this on my buddy's, we just took a sheet of sheet metal and tack welded it all the way around...i would probably just pop rivet it if I had to do it again...but then we bondo'ed it all in and turned out pretty nice.....i however went with the ac delete box to retain my heat...

 

Smooth out the sharp lip around the holes using a grinder. I did it with a cutoff wheel SLOWLY but surely. Then I cut square pieces of sheetmetal to cover the holes nicely.(just 2 pieces since there are only 2 big holes). After that I'd suggest cleaning it and Primering it/painting it to keep rust out. Then Drill and rivet the panels into place, painted or not, whatever you prefer.

I actually did Bondo over to make it smooth but since I'm no Bondo professional, It didn't come out smooth as glass. I'd prefer to just see the rivets and paint over them. Another option instead of two small cover plates would be 1 larger plate to cover that half of the firewall. I might consider that next time.

Don't weld anything. These cars will light up faster than you ever want to see. The paint, rubbery glue in the panels, and insulation are worse than gasoline when you put heat to them. TRUST ME ON THIS FACT!

Goodluck!

 

yea i made one big piece of sheetmetal, and cut it to fit...my bondo job wasn't the best either, but then again it wasn't my car ....when i welded it i went real slow, and kept it real cool between tacks...i would never weld it if i had to do it over again...