Firewall question

Pete

Pete

Founder/Owner
Staff member
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Sep 17, 2009
7,951
Hailey, Idaho
First Name
Pete
Willys Model
  1. Wagon
Willys Year:
  1. 1960
Question about the horizontal seam in the firewall of my '60 Wagon.

Was this seam welded from the factory? Mine has a gap-osis, I can see light through it most of the way across. Wondering if I should try to clamp it together somehow and weld it, or use seam sealer, or ?

Wondering what kind of structural problem I might have if this seam is loose?

Thanks for any tips / info...

Pete
 
Factory spot welded in all sorts of random places. Usually some cracking around the bends for the center tunnel, haven't had to repair the seam itself. Possibly could allow some movement of the body leading to wrinkles in the panels in front of the doors.
 
D. All of the above Pete. :lol:

This is a common issue.

If you are able to clamp and spot weld (or even tack) I would go for it. Then I would fill the seam with sealant.
Steve
 
When I get a chance, I'll get in there and see if the factory welds are still there. If they are, I'm just going to seal it up. If not, one more thing to add to the ever growing list... :roll:

Pete
 
Pete,
Mine was the same way. With the new firewall recess going in on mine I am going to finish fiberglassing it shut from the inside later today. Still waiting for the sun to warm things up a little more. I gotta do some work on the gas pedal mounting area first though.
 
Pete, spot welding has been around for a while, but when the area gets moisture in between the formed pieces as we all know rust takes over. I wanted to do some body work on the rear window IE: get the rust uot and seal it with rubberized bed liner for weather and sound proofing. I drilled out the spot welds put the bed liner on then did a rosette weld over the holed I drilled, ground excess on the surfaces then used the 50 silicone paitable caulk (for houses) squeezing inbetween the seem to further weather proof. Now all I have to do is to finish primer to ready for painting. :D
 
kramwit said:
Pete, spot welding has been around for a while, but when the area gets moisture in between the formed pieces as we all know rust takes over. I wanted to do some body work on the rear window IE: get the rust uot and seal it with rubberized bed liner for weather and sound proofing. I drilled out the spot welds put the bed liner on then did a rosette weld over the holed I drilled, ground excess on the surfaces then used the 50 silicone paitable caulk (for houses) squeezing inbetween the seem to further weather proof. Now all I have to do is to finish primer to ready for painting. :D
Click to expand...

I looked over my firewall seam, and it looks to be solid, aside from being able to see daylight though it in various places.

My wagon has a terrible squeek noise that I thought was the two pieces of the firewall moving around, but after driving it a bit, I think the noise is coming from elsewhere.

I think I will be able to do the caulk trick to seal up the firewall seam. Not that it matters much, there are 500 other holes in it for the wind to blow through.... :lol:

Pete
 
Pete check your fender seals they may be the ones ratteling. you can caulk those too. :cheers:
 
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