Is this a stock firewall pad?, What else in the engine bay looks bad? Options

[Slick914]

As some of you know, I just bought this car a couple weeks ago. I'm seriously looking into doing a facelift on the car such as new paint, some interior, and detailing the engine bay. I pretty much know what needs to be done body and interior wise. Now I'm trying to determine what the engine bay will need. I'm not going for an original resto, and plan on keeping the carbs. I'm thinking it may just need a battery tray and painted. Some of the wiring looks ugly, so maybe that can be straightened up. Is that firewall pad stock or something that was added? Everything seems solid as far as rust goes. What looks bad to you guys?

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

As some of you know, I just bought this car a couple weeks ago. I'm seriously looking into doing a facelift on the car such as new paint, some interior, and detailing the engine bay. I pretty much know what needs to be done body and interior wise. Now I'm trying to determine what the engine bay will need. I'm not going for an original resto, and plan on keeping the carbs. I'm thinking it may just need a battery tray and painted. Some of the wiring looks ugly, so maybe that can be straightened up. Is that firewall pad stock or something that was added? Everything seems solid as far as rust goes. What looks bad to you guys?

yes 73-76 had a firewall pad.

[Ferg]

That one to me appears not stock...

I don't see the horizontal splits, and should be a darker grey color not black.

Ferg

[swl]

I'm thinking the same as Ferg. I also don't see the little nubbies that hold it on. Looks good though.

[Slick914]

There are no horizontal splits. There are little tabs along the top that look stock, but not sure how else it is held on. I took a couple better pics.

Also, what were the brackets for that I have arrows pointed to in the last pic?

[Allan]

Also, what were the brackets for that I have arrows pointed to in the last pic?

That's where your relay board use to live...

[swl]

fuel injection relay panel

That says some major rewiring has been done on your car. A lot of stuff passes through that panel - like the voltage regulator lying there.

[Slick914]

fuel injection relay panel

That says some major rewiring has been done on your car. A lot of stuff passes through that panel - like the voltage regulator lying there.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

So when a car is converted to a dual carb setup, is it common practice to remove this relay board or do most people leave it in to perform some functions?

Also, what is the blower motor under the fuel injection panel brackets? It's abviously not hooked up!

[swl]

yeah - that attaches to the relay panel - lol.

When the red lever behind the shifter is pulled that fan blows air into the heat exchanger and from there into the cabin.

[Slick914]

yeah - that attaches to the relay panel - lol.

When the red lever behind the shifter is pulled that fan blows air into the heat exchanger and from there into the cabin.

Hmmm, I do get heat in the cabin. It doesn't blow with a lot of force, but it does blow heat. Is their another fan used in conjuction with this one or is there just that one?

[swl]

the lever opens a gate on the warm air elbow as well as turning on the fan. You get some warm air through air pressure - never really figured out where it came from but there is no other fan.

[Slick914]

Thanks for the help man. Looks like I have a bigger wiring project than I thought.

[swl]

be careful - restoring it could be a huge job if the connectors have been cut off and respliced. Might be better to leave it alone and enjoy as is.

[rhodyguy]

using the relay board is the BEST method for powering your fuel pump for carbs via andy's jumper wire trick(in the classic thread forum). you don't have to cobble together a wire to power the pump. you get to utillize the relay and fuse provided on the board. don't start tearing stuff out until you have a game plan in place.

k

[Dave_Darling]

That looks like a non-stock firewall pad. No slits in it, no round plastic washers holding it in. Oh, and most telling: It's still attached to the firewall!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol2.gif) The glue on the stockers often fails, which leads to the pad falling down and covering the air inlet to the fan. They also trap moisture up against the firewall, leading to the R-word.

Warm air is provided by the engine cooling fan. Some cooling air is diverted into the heat exchangers, and when you pull up on the red lever that air is allowed to come into the cabin. When the lever is up all the way, the heater blower should turn on, pushing more air into the exchangers and therefore into the cabin.

With no relay board, you won't have the blower relay so you won't have the heater blower working. (Not unless someone did even more rewiring than it sounds like they have!)

The relay board is a very convenient place to hook different wires together. It also gives you a place to hang the voltage regulator, and a couple of relays for things like the fuel pump and heater blower. Some people like the idea of getting rid of it, but I think it serves a useful purpose.

--DD

[Slick914]

Thanks for the explinations. I now have a better idea of how these things work. Like I said, I'm not going for a correct restoration, just want things to work and look neat. If the heater blower is all that I find that needs hooked up, I'll wire it up separately with it's own fuse and relay if need be.

What was the purpose of the relay? I'm assuming that the red heater lever in the center console provides a ground when pulled back all the way? Would this then activate the relay to provide power to the blower? Why can't you just run a constant hot wire to the blower itself and then the switched ground wire from the red lever?

[swl]

with the relay you only need a small amount of current passing through the switch. That switch probably was engineered for that low current and probably would not like having the full current of the blower passing through it.

here is a really useful copy of the relay board diagram. whenever I post this I profusely thank the unknown author. If he is out there I would really like to get the original document to add some information to it.