Firewall question

[Hellraiser]

What would you do when you uncovered this PO's Artwork:






A) keep the holes, enlarge them and use them as inspection hatches
B) replace the entire firewall with an original one
C) remove the entire firewall and replace it with removable aluminum sheet metal
D) ?

The car will be used for trackdays and as a "weekend warrior"

Thanks!

[Joe Bob]

Assuming that you are dropping the engine?

I would weld in patches of similar gauge metal. Grind to clean it up, POR-15 anti rust coating or equivalent.

[Hellraiser]

That's an option, but maybe I could benefit from the fact that it's
already messed up.

How much do the people that have removable firewalls actually
use them?

[Reiver]

Clean it up nicely and post it on the 'lightening my 911' thread...you may be in new territory

[Hellraiser]

Ok, I've decided to cut away everything inside the red line



and replace it with aluminum sheet metal.

[Uwon]

Personally I would weld in steel sheet to maintain structural integrity of the unibody, my 2 cents worth. It will look better too.....

[andyt11]

Does the firewall not provide something in the way of rigidity? I'm not sure I'd remove anymore metal but those openings sure could come in handy. Have you considered making inspection doors at those locations and just cleaning up the PO's raggy edges?

[irl]

Just weld in the three circles and dont cut it more. No reason not to do this. Every beginner welder cuts out too much at first and then gets a lot smarter

[timmy2]

Well, I guess that's one way to get to the shock towers...
Weld it up with sheet metal.

[Synchro Joe]

+ 1 Weld it up with sheet metal.

[Hellraiser]

Finally found the time to remove the engine and weld it with sheetmetal.