Last month we tackled a little body repair and the installation of a Direct Sheetmetal firewall in a '55-59 Chevy pickup cab down at KA Custom in Huntington Beach, California, but the original firewall had taken such a whack in a previous accident that even the lower section required replacement, which is what we'll be covering in this installment. The repair panels are relatively simple to make, requiring just one 45 degree bend at their lower edge, and while KA Custom used a sheetmetal shear and brake, as well as some specialist tools, there's nothing to stop you from using tin snips, a drill, and improvising to form the bend, or farm this part out to a local sheetmetal fabrication shop, in order to complete a similar job at home.
The bolt-in transmission cover also required some modification to work with the new firewall, but this involved nothing more than basic trimming and welding. The techniques shown here can also be used for patch panel installment, or any number of sheetmetal projects, so take note of how the pros do it, and get out in the shop to tackle that project.
 Here's where we left off last...  Here's where we left off last month, though the crew at KA Kustom primered the fresh steel, as the cab is stored outside, and even though this is California, the shop is near the beach and the salt air promotes corrosion very quickly. |  Our task this month was to...  Our task this month was to complete the firewall installation and get the trans cover to fit, though the first task was to remove the air vents in the kick panels to provide better access to the firewall mounting flanges just below them. |  KA Customs' Kevin Francis...  KA Customs' Kevin Francis began by firing up his trusty Miller plasma cutter and removing the lower sections of the old firewall, cutting along the bend where floor turns to firewall. |
 With the floor trimmed, the...  With the floor trimmed, the outside view now looked like this. Incidentally, the body and chassis were raised to a sensible working height using the two-post rack, but with a bed and axle in back and nothing up front to counterbalance the weight, it was necessary to strap the chassis to the rack, should you wonder what the orange straps are doing! |  The outer flanges of the original...  The outer flanges of the original firewall were still spot welded to the body, though a spot-weld removal drill made light work of eliminating them, The body flange was then dressed with a softpad on a grinder. |  Using a length of 2x1-inch...  Using a length of 2x1-inch wood as a straight edge, the distance from a known datum point, in this case the seam in the floor, was measured forward to just aft of the new edge of the panel, to determine a straight cut line across the entire floor. |