Clutch problems due to cracked Firewall? Here's what to do.... PART1

[Agnem]

Many thanks to OB member Al (RiotWarrior) for his work on documenting the installation of one of Jason's fine reinforement plate reproductions. Member dedication such as this just continues to make Oilburners.net the finest resource on the web. Without further ado.....

Major FIREWALL reinforcement kit install 101​

Thanks to Oilburners.net member freebird01 (Jason) we have the firewall reinforcement kits available to us that Ford no longer offers. He has taken it upon himself to manufacture these reinforcment brackets and because of his efforts, I was able to do this install and provide this information with pictures for everyone to view and use. Jason’s web site is located at http://www.terrapinmfg.com/ .

Thanks Jason for providing me with one of your excellent major firewall re-enforcement kits.

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The very first thing you will need to do is to obtain Ford TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) 90-16-7 (also available at www.thedieselfiles.com/Ford/1989/TSB90167Clutch.pdf - Ed.)
and read it thoroughly. Jason has it located at; http://www.terrapinmfg.com/TSB%2090167%20Clutch.pdf

I would suggest printing it off and for all intents and purposes, just follow it’s instructions for the “Large Reinforcement Installation Procedure” which is quite straight forward and has excellent point by point instructions along with some diagrams that may help along with these pictures that I have taken.

I removed the steering column and foot pedal assembly along with the instrument cluster. This is all covered in the TSB so I won’t get into the details on how to do this here. My concern is the actual plate and it’s installation.

Now for me, the way I did it was very easy because I had my whole front clip removed for an engine/trans swap and some other work I needed to get done. Most will not be so lucky, and will have to work around a crowded engine compartment. Regardless of the situation, the work needs to be done easy or not.

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Upon the first “look see” to check how it’s going to fit I saw some miss alignment issues as seen here. No big deal though, as I didn’t even have my pedals out yet.

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Once I had the column and instrument cluster out of the way, I could pull the speedo cable out from where it is threaded through the pedal assembly shown here by me pointing at it. Next, undo the pedal assembly disconnect the two pushrods for clutch and brake and remove it. Remember to support your brake booster and clutch MC! As before this is in the TSB.

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With everything out of the way (pedals and column and yes I did cut and remove some of the firewall insulation as opposed to just moving it out of the way) this is about what you should be looking at by now.

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This is the view outside the vehicle where the steering column, clutch MC and brake booster MC where.

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With everything out of the way, it’s time for a “look see” once again. Take the plate and hold it in position to determine if the plate or firewall needs some minor adjustment. Us a hammer to bend the firewall and plate if needed.

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You will notice that the holes in the plate do not coincide with those in the firewall, not to worry, the TSB clearly states this at Instruction 11

NOTE: THE SHEET METAL VARIES FROM TRUCK TO TRUCK AND IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO BEND THE REINFORCEMENT TO GET A GOOD FIT.

Please, please, understand the above statement, as Jason has done his best to duplicate a product for us and I am here to tell you it only needed minor tweaking and so did the firewall but I do mean minor! Great product Jason.

As you can see here by the scuffing on the firewall/trans tunnel area, I did some minor massaging of the metal to let the plate sit correctly with a hammer.

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Now I have made a few more minor tweaks, some more to the firewall and also subtle tweaks to the plate, I have it right about where I want it.

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Here you can see the clutch MC in place so I canbegin to hold the plate for final drilling.

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I cleaned off some sealant above the MC and you can see the dimpling I did for the side on the trans tunnel area. Again not much, very subtle adjustment! No 12lb sledge used, a good ball pein was all it took.

Here is the plate set just prior to drilling the 5 holes

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You’ll notice the nice fit on the side and upper tabs, easy simple and very nice plate, took very little bending to get it to fit correctly. Kudos to Jason for fine craftsmanship!

Continued in part 2....

 

[Agnem]

Part 2

Here we begin the drilling procedure, I would advise the use of a right angle drill if possible.

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Getting the first 3 side bolts in here, along with what you’ll be seeing on the engine side of things. This took my wife Rose (thank you hon) helping me so you’ll likely need a helper too, to hold the plate or install the bolts.

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Looking up towards the top tab you can see right through and yes my cowl cover is still in place.

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Now it’s time to install the upper bolts in the bracket and the external plate with nuts welded on. I made a gasket from an inner tube to sandwich between the wiper box cowl area and the plate with nuts.

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Ok that being said, I used some Permatex thread sealant on the bolts, the gasket and in the nuts too

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Ok this is a two person affair here too. One holds the gasket while the person inside sticks the bolts through. Then the plate and thread the bolts in and tighten.

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Here is a close up of the nutted plate installed, trimmed and more thread sealant swirled around the bolts down onto/into the nuts, I really hate leaks

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At this point it's time to reinstall the cowl plate, and then back inside to begin the pedal install along with steering column and then clutch and brake MC and boosters along with all other re-assembly of parts removed. This sums up and concludes my basic install of a major firewall reinforcement kit.

I would suggest following the TSB’s suggestions about checking free play and making adjustments accordingly to get your clutch operating properly.

Thanks for reading
Riotwarrior
Al[/QUOTE]