FIREWALL PAD REMOVAL? - HELP?

[Bullit]

Hey all!
I went to the "yard" last night after work and found some really good stuff! I pulled 2 Brake indicator lights in excellent shape and stainless trim for driprails and windshield and back window trim. I found a nice emergency flasher switch in a glove box and what looks to be NEW duct hoses for the heater. I found 2 BUMPS with really nice firewall pads but I'm not sure how to remove them without destroying them...there looks to be something that looks like large rivets holding them in? Can ANYONE give me a tip on removing them? Where and what holds them in? Also... Does anyone need a 1967 rear view mirror and bracket? There was a nice one there last night. Steel door panels for a '67? They looked pretty good too..(RED). Any help would be much appreciated!
Bullit

[Calfdemon]

There are a number of posts (12 if I remember correctly... maybe 14) that stick out the back of the pad and go through holes in the metal dash... There are nuts that are screwed on the posts to hold the pad in place... If you take out the gauge cluster and glove box, you should be able to get to all of the nuts to remove the pad. They are both at the back of the dash under the window, and they are also toward the front of the dash. They are pretty evenly spaced, so just follow the lines of the dash pad and you will get them all. The ones some people miss are the very corner ones towards each door. Once you get under the dash and see what I am talking about, it will be really easy to find them and get them off... Just unscrew them all and pop the pad off.

[Calfdemon]

Duh!! I only half-assed read your original question before responding. Now that I read it again, I see you are asking about the firewall pad and not the dash pad. Sorry for being an idiot! Oh well, I have no input on the firewall pad as I have never removed mine. But I plan to VERY soon, so I am looking forward to reading someone elses response so I can use the info as well.

[Bullit]

I think I can get the heater box removed just fine after reading the different posts... My concern is the rivet looking item....I have no idea as to how to remove those or how many other "fasteners" hold this thing in. This particular pad seems in excellent condition...I'd hate to rip it up getting it out..
I hope someone has done this and can give me some tips....?
Bullit

[BobbyFord]

I think I can get the heater box removed just fine after reading the different posts... My concern is the rivet looking item....I have no idea as to how to remove those or how many other "fasteners" hold this thing in. This particular pad seems in excellent condition...I'd hate to rip it up getting it out..
I hope someone has done this and can give me some tips....?
Bullit

The "rivet looking" thing is just a push-in retainer. They pull out just as easy. You can use a door panel clip tool, but be careful as the heel end of the tool can put a hole in the fragile, aged firewall insulation pad.

[FORDification]

Here's what those firewall pad retainers look like:



First of all, there's virtually NO way of removing these retainers and keeping them in good enough condition to re-use. Plan on destroying them. Grab them with a pair of pliers where they poke through the engine bay and crush them. Being a smaller diameter now, the barbs along the side will easily fit through the hole in the firewall.

[Ranchero50]

Another note, take a pair of tinsnips to cut the cover over the gas pedal. It's just about impossible to get the cover over the pedal and about impossible to get the pedal unbolted with the cover on.

Jamie

[Bullit]

I figgered it out at the yard... that was a learning experience! I :practiced" on the '67 that was next to the '69 to learn the best way. It worked out pretty good! One stud broke off the heater box and it just spun while turning so I had to cut it off. The pad was well worth the effort! Alot of dust on it but it's in excellent shape! I got the heater box, the dash controls with cables, all the brackets and pullies for a 429 and the interior dome light assy...all for $95.00. I'll be taking tomorrow off to hit the salmon in the river in the morning and then load up the bed to run to Buckly Wa. to the media blaster...I'll take a few "before/after pics and try to post them. Thanks to all you guy for the help...THIS SITE ROCKS!
Bullit.

[cdeal28078]

Sounds like a great haul. When I get my dad's wrecked 93 F150 supercab back on the road I will retire my 71 F100 again and start restoring the interior. She needs a new seat and firewall blanket. I am thinking of carpet also since she won't be my daily driver anymore. You did good at the junk yard
clint

[robroy]

Good day Bullit,

I think Keith's photo of the retainer's a lot better than these, especially since he's showing a complete, undamaged part.

Yet just by coincidence, this last weekend I removed one of these. I wanted to be able to lift the pad up a little to tuck a new floor mat under it, and I wasn't getting enough room under there with the retainer in place, so out it came.

My extraction method was effective but might have been a lot more difficult than it needed to be. First, I used my air-powered rotary tool with a cut-off wheel to slice open the flat, round head of the retainer. Then I inserted a long, skinny punch in to the retainer, and hammered it through. This had to bend the flower-pedal-looking arms in to fit through the hole in the firewall, so it's not an approach I'd necessarily recommend. It sounds like Keith knows how to deal with these in a much more civilized way.

Click to enlarge, if you wish.





Robroy