Quote:
Originally Posted by MotorcityCobra
Thanks, rbgrey1.
It was kinda funny when I realized you actually bought the plate for a 1953 Ford truck. I work for Ford and was trying to figure out what firewall plate you had purchased. I had assumed
it was probably from the past half century, but I was wrong. Thanks again for the input.
Just like the reason you went with Flaming River (10 minutes from your house), I went with Ididit (1 hour from my house to get there.... 3 hours to return as I pass Cabelas on the way). I'll check directly with them to see what they have.
MC
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Your welcome MotorCity,
As a side note, since I had to cut the aluminum plate down quite a bit, I drilled and chamferred 4 holes for 1/4-20 Oval Head Bolts (one on each corner of the plate) for the firewall protrusion. Even though the plate is very large, it does support the column much better at the firewall than the column just supported by fiberglass. When I get the body back on the car I will also mount the plate with some Automotive Panel Bonding adhesive to assist the 1/4-20s to hold the plate firmly in place without any potential for movement.
I've always been concerned/surprised that the original CR build instructions were less than stellar in terms of solid mounting. The original and only attachment point on my CR1 for the column is the silly single 3/8 bolt to the mounting tab on the cowl bar and the rest of the column just supported by the fiberglass firewall. In my mind, this is a HUGE SAFETY issue, as DV has called out before. I feel much better with using the Flaming River Column drop that mounts to a new bracket I made for the cowl bar and the firewall support bearing for the column. This connection is solid, the column doesn't budge when you yank on it or use it for ingress/egress and most importantly, IT'S FAR SAFER than the original CR1 build instructions. The original CR Design depends on one single bolt attached to the cowl and if something happens that causes that attachement point to fail I personally don't want to be behind the wheel at 70 plus mph, no thank you.
I feel far better with the improved set-up.