FIREWALL BRACE

[cjbiagi]

While doing some other work on the car I had to remove the w/washer bottle so I thought I would post a pic of the firewall/clutch cable brace I made. I know we discussed these in the past but not sure if I ever posted a pic. It is designed to spread the load from the clutch cable off of the firewall and to a stronger part of the chassis. I welded a heavy gauge washer on to the end of a tube (along with another brace at the bottom of the washer, hard to see) and then connected the other end to the wheelwell where the brake booster brace mounts. This is about the strongest part of the body in that area. So now some of the clutch cable force is transferred to the wheelwell which helps prevent firewall flex. Fairly easy to do, hardest part is getting the angle correct so that the washer sits flat against the firewall, but well worth the effort.

[Monza Harry]

What I do if I can [I know yours was probably already shiny under hood when you did this] is to do the tack first in place then remove to finish weld. I know this is easy to say and can many times be much, much harder to do! But that is the easiest way if possible, for those of you doing your build that haven't started the polish part yet and want to do this "mod" this is a known weak spot on these cars, and like Clyde says definitely necessary especially with more motor, that of course leads to more clutch. Harry

[cjbiagi]

I did a light tack weld between the washer and tube and then held in position and bent it into position before doing the final weld. The washer is only welded to the brace, not the firewall. Then I added another angled brace at the bottom of the washer to the tube (visible in the first pic) so that it can't move. The clearance for the cable is tight though but it fits.