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firewall dress up ideas
Good afternoon, all! hope your winters have been mild and/or natural disaster free...In NE Ohio, build season has begun! I am soliciting ideas for making the firewall look....well, not plain. I know powder coating is popular. I toyed with the idea of anodizing. Does anyone have a technique for the engine turned look?
thank you!
Tom
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Senior Member
What if you took a piece of 1/4" or 3/8" aluminum, anodized it a color, and milled grooves with a ballnose endmill? You could then attach it to the standard firewall with acrylic adhesive, rivets, or screws.
A little hard to see but like the firewall on this car.
Or these valve covers.
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Senior Member
I liked the turned look, but my second choice was brushed aluminum look. I thoroughly sanded all of my panels in the engine bay, 320, 400, then 800 wet/dry, then carefully brushed them with scotch-brite pads for a grain look. Clean them well with lacquer thinner, then coated them with Shark-hide. This is time consuming, but I like the look clean & simple.
I believe the forum Admin Polished his firewall, then added the turned look, but masked the stripes off. It looks AWESOME, but it was a LOT of work! But looks AMAZING!!!
F5R #7446: MK4, 302, T5 midshift, 3.55 Posi IRS, 17" Halibrands
Delivered 4/4/11, First start 9/29/12, Licensed 4/24/13, off to PAINT 2/15/14!! Wahoo!
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Administrator
Originally Posted by
MPTech
I liked the turned look, but my second choice was brushed aluminum look. I thoroughly sanded all of my panels in the engine bay, 320, 400, then 800 wet/dry, then carefully brushed them with scotch-brite pads for a grain look. Clean them well with lacquer thinner, then coated them with Shark-hide. This is time consuming, but I like the look clean & simple.
I believe the forum Admin Polished his firewall, then added the turned look, but masked the stripes off. It looks AWESOME, but it was a LOT of work! But looks AMAZING!!!
Thanks for the Kudos!
I built a jig I used to engine turn the firewall, upper and lower fan shrouds, dash and cubby walls of my brothers' build:
They are labor intensive to create, but I do love the look!
FFR 5369 Pin Drive, IRS, Trigos, Torsen, Wilwoods, FMS BOSS 302 "B" cam , Mass-flo. CA SB100 (SPCN) Registered
Delivered 4/23/06. "Finished" 4/2012 (still not done!)
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Post Thanks / Like - 0 Thanks, 1 Likes
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Sometimes, just a good polish works! This is the forward firewall from FF Metal which is pushed forward about 2" and much more noticeable.
9EngingBay.jpg
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Senior Member
Silver Hammertone on this one. I eventually got a result I liked through the school of very hard knocks and a lot of rattle can paint. I'd just get it powder coated next time.
Untitled by John Ibele, on Flickr
MK4 #7838: IRS 3.55 TrueTrac T5z Dart 347
The drawing is from ~7th grade, mid-1970s
Meandering, leisurely build thread is
here
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I am also a fan of engine turning. I did this all in my garage with basic tools-a drill, some 2x4's and a sheet of old countertop. These are 1.5" diameter turns. After the firewall, dashboard, and door panels, my wife said "enough"!
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Senior Member
Originally Posted by
DanQ
After the firewall, dashboard, and door panels, my wife said "enough"!
Looks Great! I think firewall and dash/door panels are just enough! Nice touch
F5R #7446: MK4, 302, T5 midshift, 3.55 Posi IRS, 17" Halibrands
Delivered 4/4/11, First start 9/29/12, Licensed 4/24/13, off to PAINT 2/15/14!! Wahoo!
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Wow! Thanks for the great ideas. Some beautiful work here!