My poor ol 33 pickup has been sitting engine-less for a year and a half. I had decided that I wanted a little more pep then the 1934 221 that was in it. My brother made a deal to buy the 221, so out it came. Earlier that year I bought a Model T hot rod project that was abandoned in the 60's. It had a rebuilt 59AB in it that had never ran. After talking to the seller, I discovered he had purchased the reman at S&S Engines here in Spokane in the late 60's. My grandfather Roy worked there during that time, and did all the antique engine rebuilds. I cannot prove it but I'm sure my grandpa built that engine. So I bought it, sold off the T and planned on running that engine in the pickup. But, I also needed to fill about 17 crudely cut holes in the firewall. That hurtle kind of stopped me. I just found other things to do and suddenly it's a year and a half later. Around Christmas I got the hitch to get the truck back on the road. This summer is gonna be a busy one for me with non-car projects...I know my extra time will be very little and if I wanted to get the ol mule on the road, it's gotta be ready by spring So, I ripped all the old insulation off the back of the firewall, stripped everything off of it, buffed the years of paint and rust off, and started filling holes. Actually was not near the job I was dreading. My friend Dusty offered to help me prep and paint it in his heated shop. So a lil mud work and a few coats of primer and she got shot. It's not too bad for a quicky lacquer job. I wanted a dull (but not flat) finish to go along with the rest of the truck So. With that done, I installed a new firewall insulation on the back side, and got working on the engine. My dad and I took it apart as it needed cleaned from years of sitting. Everything inside looked good, so back together it went (with a cam upgrade as it had a stock cam in it). I'm just about done with it, going to fire and run it this weekend in my dad's trusty run in stand. If all goes well ill mate the engine with the 39 trans I rebuilt for the trck and stuff em in. Then it's just some wiring/plumbing work and she'll be back to rippin around town once the weather gets a little better.
I forgot to mention, I swapped the wide 5's to a set of regular 16" Ford steel wheels. I wanted to run black wheels instead of maroon, and after I stumbled on a set of NOS 1946 Mercury caps, the deal was done Before: After:
Nothing is prettier to me than a clean uncut firewall. It's like a picture frame for a work of art! Yours sure looks great!!
Thats how my firewall looked. Seemed like such a daunting task, I put it off forever. Once I started, took less than a day. A small thing, seemed like a milestone when it was done.
Great looking truck and the with the story about the engine it is even better. I will be watching this one...
Chris, Glad to see that she's going to be back on the road!! The firewall looks excellent and the fact that your Grandpa built the flatty is just too cool!!!
Exactly, I have a couple 3 hour after work periods into filling the holes. Biggest time consumer was cutting out the patches
Who's firewall insulation did you use? I keep reading about some insulation cover made of fiberglass. I need education on this Please
Gramps is still around, 90 years old. I asked him if he remembered doing it. He laughed and said "yeah right..."
The Jalopy Journal
