Firewall Patch Repair and Paint

The Firewall is the flat metal panel that separates the cabin and the engine-compartment - called a Firewall for obvious reasons. It comes out of the factory covered in glue and padding on the cabin side and sound-proofing foam glued to the engine side. Moisture gets trapped in the foam and can rust it from the engine side mainly.

The area behind the driver's seat although largely intact was badly surface rusted on this car and had gone through in a few places. The metal was so thin that there was no chance of just welding up the holes so I got a repair patch from a nice guy in the US (thanks Kevin! 'Rhodyguy' on 914World).

You can just make out the holes in the Firewall on the right of the pic..

Here it is from the engine compartment side..much more pitting on this side.

So cut out the bad bit..

Clamp in place the repair section..

…and weld it in and grind it 'smooth-ish'.

Now for the worst part! Loads and loads of elbow grease, paint stripper, wire brushes and carbide discs on the angle grinder, thinners and de-greaser...

..and bada-bing! Lovely shiny clean metal ready for paint.

Lots of Epoxy Primer. I'm still getting the hang of the Spray Gun and the settings but it's getting better - fewer runs and drips than usual!