Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[J. Robinson]

With the firewall lip made, the next step is to make the metal firewall cover. First thing I did was put the pattern back in place and tape it to the body. Then I used the rubber side of a dead-blow hammer to tap on the areas where the master cylinder and bolt holes need to be. Tapping with a rubber hammer caused the poster board to deform slightly and leave an imprint of the holes on the back side. In the picture, I have drawn in some of the holes with a Sharpie pen so they would show up better, but the real imprint is on the back side.

After cutting out the holes in the pattern and checking them for fit, I transferred the shape to some .025" aluminum sheet. (I actually prefer .040" aluminum, but .025 was all Lowe's had and since it's going to be laminated to the fiberglass it will be OK.) I cut out the aluminum with ordinary aviator snips and then taped and clamped it to the buck that I used for shaping the lip. With a solid backing behind it, hole-sawing and drilling the necessary holes was easier and safer.

The firewall and lip could be drilled and installed at this point, but I want this car to look like a high-end race car from the late 40's - early 50's, so... One thing that was popular on early race cars was an "engine turned" finish on aluminum (and sometimes brass) panels...