Topic: 1969 Firewall Pad from California Pontiac Restoration

[bjf1992]

Has anyone tried one of these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1969-1970-Dynacorn-Mustang-Firewall-Pad-with-Ultra-High-Definition-Rubber-/331409936112?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d29924ef0&vxp=mtr

I am in need of one and I know the repo's out there aren't even close. Didn't know if this was new to market.

[Anghelrestorations]

Havent seen that one before, but to me its the texture that makes the difference between and original and any reproduction I have seen.  This one looks really smooth from the photos.

[bjf1992]

You are correct it does look too smooth. I still have part of my original pad ('April '69 Dearborn) I have no experience with the fit of the other repo pads, but was under the impression they are not molded. This one appears to be molded. I was hoping someone would be able to comment on the fit. I was going to try to texturize this pad with undercoating to get the finish. I just didn't want to spend the $$ if it doesn't fit any better than the cheap pad.

[J_Speegle]

Havent seen that one before, but to me its the texture that makes the difference between and original and any reproduction I have seen.  This one looks really smooth from the photos.

+1  Not even close IMHO

[Bob Gaines]

+1  Not even close IMHO

+1 . That one has been called the "concours "correct mat by some parts vendors. When I saw it in person it was apparent it was not. It is easier to make the economy pad look close with some doctoring(Dearborn) then that "concours" mat. Very disappointing.

[bjf1992]

Thanks for the replies. I still have an extremely rusty '70 Dearborn Cougar convertible to part out. Will have to hope the pad is still good on that one.

[emptys]

Is there some chance of getting a better picture of the texture of an original firewall pad?   There are some good images posted on other threads, but they don't really emphasize the texture nor the dots ... its hard to tell if the dots are "pressed into" the surface, or if they're part of the plastic itself.

[rockhouse66]

Not really answering your question directly, but the dot style is unique to San Jose and I would say it is pressed into the material.  The Dearborn and Metuchen pads have a "smeared" look, for want of a better description.  Sure makes it easier to repair one!

[Bob Gaines]

Not really answering your question directly, but the dot style is unique to San Jose and I would say it is pressed into the material. The Dearborn and Metuchen pads have a "smeared" look, for want of a better description.  Sure makes it easier to repair one!

Or "spray texture" is another descriptive term that a lot of people refer to the look on the Dearborn/Metuchen pads.

[drummingrocks]

I agree, the Dearborn/Metuchen firewall pads can usually be duplicated by undercoating the reproduction.  That's always got them fairly close for me.  That being said, I have no idea how you would successfully reproduce a San Jose dot pattern.

[rockhouse66]

Since this thread is basically about '69 firewall pads, I will throw out there that I have seen two San Jose pads that look just like Dearborn/Metuchen pads - no dots or dimples.  One is a '69 car and the other a '70.  So I guess they didn't all get the dimpled pad - at least in these years.

[Anghelrestorations]

I agree with Jim and can absolutely positively confirm that not all cars from San Jose came with the dimpled firewall pad.  Here is a picture of a San Jose car I parted out last year that was as original as you could find - no rust and no repairs ever.  Beautiful firewall pad and you can see is not dimpled.

[J_Speegle]

Think the whole dimpled firewall pad may be one of those details have has migrated from one year or years to another.  Would like to see more examples but its looking like this was a detail that possibly stopped in 68 and suppliers changed for San Jose during 69 production

[rockhouse66]

Jeff - the pad in my 3/69 built SJ car has the classic dimpled pattern.  I thought that was typical/normal until I tried to find one to buy for my SJ Grande.  The two I found were both like Dearborn/Metuchen pads.  Really confused me.  Still don't really know what is normal, but I can say with certainty they were using the dimpled pad in 3/69 at SJ.

[J_Speegle]

Guess we need an effort to collect what originals remain out there to figure out what was going on during 69 and 70. May turn out to be one of those jumbled findings with just a mix - only time will tell.

At least the odd are better since we have Cougars also to check and offer data points.  Need to take a break for other things and make some yard visits. By the time I get to most of the 69-70 in shops locally the pads are out and the trash guy has already picked up