Projects Exhaust Smell Inside Car - Seal Firewall?

Thanks, my priorities are straight. There are no parts of the floor missing, it's the rear wall between the trunk and cab that needs to be sealed off. I will post photos later of what it looks like right now.

I'm just ordering stuff like grommets, etc that may take a bit of time to arrive so that I already have what I need.

 

We are looking forward to the pics, because you can imagine we might be confused by someone stopping by to help and posting that the floor pan is missing from the seat to the gas tank.

 

I had this happen a lot on cars with a down draft tube for
crankcase ventilation.

 

It's probably me causing all the confusion. I don't exactly know what I'm talking about but I know the floor beneath the rear bench seat all the way up to the firewall has no holes. There are two big holes between the wall separating the trunk and cab where the rear bench seat rests against. I'll post a picture tonight. Thanks!

 

the trunk floor needs to be sealed also. unless you can seal behind the rear seat AND the wheel wells inside the quarter panels, the fumes will travel into the ****pit.

 

I am the one who stopped by and YES there is part of the floor missing. The "hump" section that goes from the base of the seat ( where the vertical supports for the package tray attach) back to the bracing for the gas tank are is missing. The entire "low rider sub frame mini truck horse**** is totally open and exposed and visible in infinite detail with the seat back removed or looking under the shelf in the trunk if you need an alternate vantage point. Regardless there is a 2 ft x the width if the car hole that needs to be sealed. I gave you the cheap option and the expensive option. The cheap and easy option to keep the cost down was sheetmetal and screws and some kind of sealant. The expensive ( and correct!) way was to weld a new panel in over the "subframe" to seal the cabin and trunk from fumes.

Getting the exhaust fixed is priority number one. I offered to help you and even left you a to do list until I was free to keep helping you but clearly you are motivated/keen to get other stuff done. Great, but rather than ask inane questions here and raise everyone's ire, stick to the simple stuff Special Ed and I got you started on. The perished, unsecured fuel lines, incorrect and loose wiring and hokey gas tank are still far higher on your priorities than grommets!!!!! Please take the time to listen to the ADVICE you are given and learn something about what this great ins***ution we call the HAMB can do to a young guy starting out.

Or Don't.


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Thanks. It's at the exhaust shop so I already got the 1st priority underway. I will work on sealing the cab really well as priority #2 once I get it back from the shop. While I'm at work and need a 5 minute mental break, I've been ordering anything else I need. The grommets seem like priority as well because some wires are p***ing along bare metal on the firewall and Special Ed told me I need to get that taken care of right away too.

Already bought fuel replacement hose stock from NAPA and will look for a fuel pressure regulator online.

 

Great then you are on your way!!


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And all this time I thought you just had a few holes in you firewall as you opening post stated.

 

I had shown photos earlier. Post 92 on page 4 shows the photos I took where you can see particle board between the trunk and cab right forward of the air tank. Those are the two holes that need to be sealed. In addition the holes for two rear speakers need to be sealed off.

You also can see a photo of me unscrewing that particle board. The rear seat rests up on that board.

 

friend fad a 53 ford wagon that had a hole in floor over the muffler, guy's were always ******* on the muffler, it would steam up the hole car, THATS a leak.

 

I see that EMS (Engineering and Manufacturing Services) makes floor and trunk pieces for '53-4 Chevs. Hope that helps. Put a floor back in it and you can use your speaker holes for speakers. (Commenting on another thread by OP)

 

Here's the picture that I was meaning to upload showing the holes in the rear. I had shown pictures of these cutouts from the trunk side in earlier posts but this shows it with the rear seat out. The previous owner put a piece of particle board to cover all of that and then rested the seat against it. I had stated this in earlier posts.

 

Thanks for the pic. I guess it's clear by now, especially since we can see clear to the ground, that there is a very large hole, where part of the trunk floor used to be, which is open to the car. I am NOT talking about the two large holes in the seat back. Thru that hole, in particular, comes smells, noise, noxious fumes, heat, water, and cold. Make a plan and fill that in with something and make it airtight to the outside. It looks like particle board under the air tank, so you will probably be wanting to do that floor in metal also, when you get around to doing it right. Hopefully you, or the person who does the work, can use some of the trunk pieces from EMS and cut them to fit whatever is hiding back there. Once you get that floor sealed up (make no mistake, the floor of the trunk or cabin is still the floor), whatever you do to close up those seatback holes will add to the airtightness of the cabin. Just sealing off that seat back ain't gonna get it. Especially, if you want your girlfriend to ever ride with you again. This gives new meaning to draft tube.
Each thing you do WILL make it a better car, some will make it safer.

 

Thanks so much for the advice! I was thinking the same thing. If I sealed off the seat back alone, the trunk is still going to collect a lot of exhaust fumes, etc from the missing floor.

 

Admitting that part of the floor is gone is the first step to solving the problem.
Good luck with the project and have fun with that car.

 

Man, these guys and thier 1/2 ***ed bag jobs. Sorry you got stuck 53.


Without seeing it,
Id imagine you'll need to build a raised trunk floor, that goes from 1/4 to 1/4 and tail pan to differential hump under the backseat that is raised to clear the intrusion of the bagged suspension.
Hopefully you can do that without digging into the 1/4 panel skins and ****ing up your body work. There should be no environmental exposure into the trunk.

That panel behind the back seat panel is supposed to be open to the trunk because the trunk is supposed to be air tight without a gas tank vent into the trunk.

 

Yea that makes sense. I've seen photos of some C-notch jobs on 53 and 53s. I'm hoping to find a friend with a welder and do it the right way.

Maybe sealing it like this person did on their 54? :
?

 

Here are more pics of mine that I had on a different thread. Seems like the side from the trunk can be sealed a little better but maybe those pieces the airbag tank is resting on are still usable and it just needs to be sealed with metal on the side that you can see from the back seat panel. Maybe some sheet metal welded between the open side of the "black box" and the floor corner behind the seat back. I'm not sure.

 

Does anyone think it's bad to just temporarily seal the rear seat back with sheet metal and sheet metal screws and caulking, stick n peel, etc, and the same with the speaker cutouts so fumes cannot come in through the back? I realize this isn't the right way of doing it but here is my thinking:

I'm going to sign up for adult education cl***es in my region that teach welding. I'm currently looking for a Hobart MIG welder on craigslist. In maybe 6-8 months I will take that seat back seal job out and do it the right way and enclose the trunk and cab from fumes by making a custom sheet metal enclosure over the c-notched frame. I hope by then I have enough practice to do basic sheet metal welding.

For now I'm thinking it won't matter if fumes get in the trunk only? I don't have rear trunk weatherstrip seals and would worry about it later. I don't put anything back there either. If I wait to do it right, it could be a few months and I rather drive the car a bit in the time I'm learning how to weld and find a good MIG welder locally.

Thanks.

 

I think it would be a lost cause because the fumes can travel up the C pillars.

 

Good money and effort after bad that likely won't work like it's supposed to.

Long before there were welding machines, metal was joined with rivets and screws.
Since welding machines they have panel bond that's strong enough to rival welds on sheet metal. Just make up some 90* angle flanges and join them to the body, lay some metal on the flanges. A simple 90* bend and some snips drill and screws will probably be all you need. Panel bond everything in place and be done with it.

How did the exhaust come out?

 

Thanks,
I had left the car at the exhaust shop but they weren't able to get to it that same day and they didn't have room to put it inside overnight so I picked it up and am going back there next Saturday first thing with an appointment set up ahead of time.

Thanks, so the panel bond you mentioned is something like 3M structural epoxy that a place like Napa carries? Your suggesting for me to get some angle bracket, screw it in to the body with nuts/bolts, then panel bond sheet metal onto the angle bracket?

 

My local napa wouldn't carry it , but I think they could order it. I get it at a body shop jobber supply. It's a 2 part, but mixes in the nozzle, needs a special gun and is really good stuff. 3 m makes it , sem makes it, and a few others.

Not a structural steel angle iron because its too heavy and stiff, but a formed sheet metal angle.

 

if you seal the seat back panel and hook up the fresh airhoses like they are supposed to you can make the cab positive pressure and it will prevent the cabin from pulling in air ( from the air going past the door seals and windows ) into the cabin , this is how GM astro air works in the later cars it pressurizes the cabin just a little bit and pushes the fumes and road dust out of the car ( the reason why late model cars the fans are always running unless you turn everything off .) but if it was me I would park it till the floor is properly fixed . no worth dieing from Co poisoning or having a accident if there is any Co in the car as it does impair your senses . kind of like drunk driving .

 

The more pictures I see of this tank in the trunk, I would get the filler on the outside of the car. It would eliminate quite a bit of the problem.

 

If you seal off the back seat area from the trunk area you're losing access to the trunk area for the trunk floor installation. Not saying that it all can be done from underneath, but having that open area would possibly ease the installation.

 

OR you could keep asking the same question over and over to see if you can find anyone who agrees with you. Please read back thru all the replies and fix the f'n floor.

 

Thanks. Yes I am fixing the damn floor and doing it the right way. I'll think about the panel bond and steel angles with bolts, etc approach that was suggested, or find a person with a welder that can help me.

 

I never said steel angle iron.