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MG TD TF 1500 - Need a piece of a firewall

I am working on filling in some extra holes in my firewall. The small bolt holes have been easy and fill in well.

I have one area that had two large holes (quarter size) in the long indent on the right side. These have been difficut to fill and grind down so the fill is not raised.

I would like to just cut this section out and replace it.

If anyone has a junk firewall that they would be willing to cut a piece out of, please send me an email at cunhab52@gmail.com.

Bruce Cunha

Bruce, I had the same situation and I cut plugs from sheet metal of the same thickness and tig welded them in place, ground the welds down and they disappeared.
PJ Jennings

PJ's solution is the way to go. I can't tell you how much ant cap sheet metal I've used in my panel work. I just grind of the gal and Bob's your uncle. I don't have a TIG but careful use of a MIG does the job. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Here's where my holes were. As you can see, I had to replace the battery box also. That I spot welded in.PJ


PJ Jennings

The battery box. This is before I plugged the hole.


PJ Jennings

I had two pretty good size holes on the TD I had where they had mounted some turn signals

L E D LaVerne

I was pretty pleased with the weld in patches I did.

L E D LaVerne

The older guy at body shop #1 during my restoration closed a couple holes in my firewall and another in the toeboard (which I had cut out to replace the rear core plug years before). Really nice job, they did it as the guys suggest above. Can't even tell after a little metal work and paint. George
George Butz III

Apologies for digressing again Bruce. La Verne is that piping in the original pic painted? Reason I ask is that if it's dyed vinyl, then the colour match is exceptional, as is the colour of the Ivory. I can't recall ever seeing a better match. I really hate the 'featured' piping that you so often see. Nice welding job by the way. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Bruce, my car had the same problem, Michelangelo,who painted my car welded them shut and they were no longer visible. took a little time but he did not have to put in more than a little sheet metal.
TRM Maine

Darn I wish I had posted this before starting. The little holes filled really well and you cannot see where they were. I had one the size of a quarter right in the long groove on the passenger side (why the po put it there is odd), so kind of hard to put a plug in it.

PJ, wow. What would you need such large holes for?

As those of you that know welding understand, it can be a bear filling a hole, you end up chasing the hole around. This is with a copper plate against the back side.

Well, I got material on both sides and ended up grinding and then filling the low spots with more weld. I have enough welded material that I have somewhat created a new plate of metal. I used my dremmel with a grinding stone to carve out the groove.

One little hole and I will have it fixed.
Bruce Cunha

I have used washers before and then just ground down the slight overage and filled in the hole.
Christopher Couper

To be honest Peter I do not remember.
L E D LaVerne

Well Bruce, We have to remember that these cars went through a period when they were just old cars with not much value and you could find them in junk yards cheap! The list is endless what these cars went through. Back then it was no big deal to chop a hole somewhere to run hoses, wires cables etc. Drill holes for antennas, chop out a dash to put a radio in. In most cases, originality was thrown out the window. PJ
PJ Jennings

So I turned the welder to the lowest setting I could weld at and did a lot of short tacks. It took a lot of work, but I got all the holes filled and got the groove back.

I am using a new metal filler, similar to lead but no lead. It is actually pretty easy to use. Here is a picture of the first pass with the filler.

Still a bit rough, but I will have it looking good soon.

Bruce Cunha

Please tell us the name of the lead but not lead filler.
Christopher Couper

It is Johnson 523. About $23 a pound. That will get you 5 rods. I used one rod on the firewall.


http://www.johnsonmfg.com/

I will start a new thread on non-lead metal filler
Bruce Cunha

This thread was discussed between 12/11/2019 and 16/11/2019

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