Topic: Firewall Pad Restoration

[PraireBronze]

I know some of you guys have done this and I'm wondering if I could pay someone here to do mine.

I have a firewall pad that I consider to be in very good condition, but just needs a bit of work to make it perfect.  A bit of work that I don't feel capable of accomplishing myself. 

TIA

[Bob Gaines]

I know some of you guys have done this and I'm wondering if I could pay someone here to do mine.

I have a firewall pad that I consider to be in very good condition, but just needs a bit of work to make it perfect.  A bit of work that I don't feel capable of accomplishing myself. 

TIA

Posting a picture may give a better idea and better incentive if in very good condition as you say for someone to take on the job. Dearborn and Metuchen mats are a piece of cake compared to SJ pads for instance.

[PraireBronze]

Here it is.

[CharlesTurner]

The only areas that I see needing attention are the cracks.  I've had good luck using 3M black weather-strip adhesive to fix things like that.  Once everything is closed up and the pad is cleaned, it could be sprayed with semi-gloss dye.  Although, as nice as yours is, I would hate to spray over it.

[Bob Gaines]

The only areas that I see needing attention are the cracks.  I've had good luck using 3M black weather-strip adhesive to fix things like that.  Once everything is closed up and the pad is cleaned, it could be sprayed with semi-gloss dye.  Although, as nice as yours is, I would hate to spray over it.

+1 . wow . unexpectedly nice.

[J_Speegle]

Yes not what I was expecting to see. Imagined the pad in at least four pieces. 

[Morsel]

That pad looks great, way better then the one I restored. Mine I had to replace the entire jute padding on the back. This would be an easy one to do yourself. I used the weather strip adhesive process to repair the cracks as mentioned in the previous post, worked really well. Just try to go as light as possible with the stuff and don't move the pad around until it's completely dried, the weather strip adhesive loves to move and seep. After it's dry, then you can see if you even need to dye it or not, looks pretty good to me as is... ping me a PM if you do decide to dye it. I found something I think worked better then the dye method, seem to give it the correct sheen and was much less of a hassle to work with and dried better. and quicker... but try not to, yours looks so good.

Jason

[PraireBronze]

I got it off of ebay a few years ago.  I actually got it for a very reasonable price because, for some reason, nobody else bid on it.  (At least that's the way I remember it  )

While obviously a SJ pad, I don't know if it is correct for an Oct '64 build.  If anyone could comment on this, that would be helpful.

Some of the "cracks" you see are actually tears that go all the way through.

I'm curious if the "notch" at the bottom of the brake pedal support cutout is supposed to be there.

Because the pad is in such nice condition, I'm leery of making repairs myself, for fear of ruining it.

[J_Speegle]

While obviously a SJ pad, I don't know if it is correct for an Oct '64 build.  If anyone could comment on this, that would be helpful.

Can confirm that you got really lucky    Matches what I have examples of from your cars time period.

I'm curious if the "notch" at the bottom of the brake pedal support cutout is supposed to be there.

Unfortunately - yes that knock-out should be there for your car and application. It's removed for a manual trans car . Its where the clutch rod and the boot are located

In a pinch you might consider (just thinking out loud here) taking a small section from behind/above the heater to make a new one. Or find a donor from a torn up donor pad for the fix

[CharlesTurner]

Jeff, what about the A/C line knock-out?  I have had some with a rectangular knock-out instead of oval.  Used to the oval one being on the later pads with the A/C lines coming through in a different location.

[PraireBronze]

Jeff, what about the A/C line knock-out?  I have had some with a rectangular knock-out instead of oval.  Used to the oval one being on the later pads with the A/C lines coming through in a different location.

This concerns me too.  I don't think that oval is going to line up with my A/C holes.

[J_Speegle]

Jeff, what about the A/C line knock-out?  I have had some with a rectangular knock-out instead of oval.  Used to the oval one being on the later pads with the A/C lines coming through in a different location.

Yes we've at least discussed the different versions related to the AC line routing and holes in the thread below.

http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?topic=5773.msg32354#msg32354

When responding above I took a quick look, found examples from about the same VIN range as PraireBronze's car since we don't have real dates and posted what I had found.

Guess we can return once again to that other thread to keep things together and expand out a survey, like what has been done with other details, for a possible better idea of the usage range for each style.

[J_Speegle]

Maybe the graphic I just posted to the other thread will explain why I commented as I did. Apparently two versions were being installed during that period of October.

[PraireBronze]

In a pinch you might consider (just thinking out loud here) taking a small section from behind/above the heater to make a new one.

Circling back around to this.  Thanks for the suggestion Jeff, but not going to happen with such a nice pad. 

Since no one offered to do the restoration, I guess I will attempt it myself.  Does anyone have a section of pad that I could buy to fill the missing clutch knockout?

[Dino1]

The last one that I restored I used spay can black Plasti Dip, spayed on two coats and it turned out looking like a new one.