Midgetec

OK, anyone can go in and start cutting things out, especially if they have a plasma cutter!! But now it's finally time to start putting some of it back. To be honest, I was kind of dreading this part since I'm definitely an amateur when it comes to patch panels and this type of fabrication. But there's no better way to learn than just tackling it.

I'm going to take you through the steps, but keep in mind there are a lot better websites to learn how to do this stuff than mine. If anything, this should show you that if you study those sites enough, you can tackle this like I did and get a decent result.

So the Duratec/T5 combo interefered with a lot of Midget sheetmetal. Steering rack support, tranny tunnel, and the driver's footwell/firewall. It's this last one we're tackling now. My buddy Michael is along with me for most of this one too. I definitely needed the extra hands and the extra brain.

This is a shot of the inside of the driver's footwell. You'll notice that there's a lot of sheetmetal gone, and you're looking right through into the engine compartment at the intake manifold, starter, and the MAP & MAT sensors:

So the first step was to shape a piece to hug the right side, above the gas pedal, to clear the starter but allow maximum room for mine and my son's size 12s. Time for the shot bag:

Then smooth it out with the english wheel. Got this one from Metalcraft tools - very happy with it.

Now that we've made enough marks, and have a panel that seems to clear everything, it's time to get the engine out of the way:

Here's the panel cleco'd in place. You'll notice just to the right of the panel, I also filled in what used to be the heater vent.

And a view from the other side. We recut the side of the footwell to be a little cleaner and easier to fit to.

Next comes the panel on the front side. I was surprised how well it fit with only about 30 minutes on the post dolly to get the flange following the curve of the first panel. You'll notice the spots on the small panel, which are spot welds I did on the back side to reinforce it with a second layer where the steering column will pass through.

Here it is on the bench, after I tacked the two panels together. My welding skills are not what I'd like, so whenever I can arrange to have a lap joint, I do it because I'm a lot less likely to burn through with that second layer there.

One other thing I want to take care of. You can't really see it in this photo, but there was a bulge in the top of the footwell which provided clearance for the original steering column. That's going away, so I want to level that panel out. The bulge runs from the firewall down the slope into the cut out area.

So I slit it with the plasma cutter, and started hammering and dollying it flat. I had to trim the edges since there was too much metal once it was flat. The gap isn't as bad as it looks in this shot since one side was higher in this photo.

Here it is with the tacks in place:

And after the weld.

Now it's time to trim the new panel. I'm using a straight edge to project the top surface of the footwell to the panel, so I can trim it to be even with that plane.

After trimming, and a little bit of grinding:

Now I have a piece clamped on top, and then I'll get underneath with a scribe to make a cut line by following the opening.

Not bad. It's just laying there right now, but not for long!

Starting the tacking:

And now the upper edge is all welded, although not cleaned up yet.

Here's another view. You can see that I added some backer strips beneath the two edges that will be welded to the car. A very easy way to simplify the welding. I hope to be good enough with my welders that when this project is finished to not have to take these additional steps.

Here it is all clamped in place, and ready to be welded in. I won't do that yet, though, because I want to get the new steering columng mounted and the shaft in, so I can know exactly where to put the hole.

That wraps up this post. I feel pretty good having gotten this one behind me. Going to tacke the tranny tunnel next, and I'm sure I'll learn alot on that one.