MTFCA Forum

My 1911 touring car project came with only the bottom of the two piece firewall. Can someone post the dimensions of the windshield riser section of the firewall? Is the windshield riser section constructed of a solid board or plywood like the bottom section? Thanks, Art

Art -
I have been working on the "American Pickers" 1911 Model T abomination for the past couple years off and on. The body is 1911, but most the rest of it came from various other years. I redid the firewall last year, so I am able to give you the measurements of the upper piece, which is made of the same material as the lower one: 28 1/2" length and 4" tall, with rounded edges on the top corners. There is a concave curvature running along the bottom of the piece so that it will sit nicely on top of the brass trim piece that encases the lower firewall. See photos.
Why not drive over to Davenport (Iowa) and see this work-in-progress? I'll take you over to Craig Beek's private brass Model T museum in Moline where you can examine a couple show-winning 1911 Model T's among 25 or so other OUTSTANDING brass T's. You can also pick up Larry Jenkins' Model A rear fender fixture you wrote me about last year. I was finally able to dig it out of storage.
Marshall

Thanks Marshall, I notice your length of 28 1/2 inches is about 3 3/4 inches shorter than the top of the lower section of the my firewall and in your pictures appears about the same. In every picture I have seen of an 11 the riser part is the same width as the bottom section. The bottom section is also narrower at the top than the bottom and in pictures the riser part appears to follow that same taper. I guess I do need to see one in person. Thanks for the offer of the fender holding tool. If I can get away from work long enough I will take you up on your offer. Art

Art -
That's a good point. As I wrote, this car was a mess of parts from almost every year Model T. We are slowly replacing the incorrect parts with authentic ones, and of course it was the rare and expensive parts that were missing or were incorrect! I don't think this firewall is original. It may be an older repo. But I wonder why someone went to all the trouble of cutting a new firewall, drilling the appropriate holes in the right places, and then making the piece below the windshield too short? The wood matches each other between the two pieces. There were multiple suppliers of bodies, weren't there? If the former "restorer" (a very generous description for his work) had used the original firewall as a pattern for making the new one, is it possible that the maker of this body typically made this windshield piece shorter than we normally see? Nah!!! I don't think so, either. We would have seen documentation on this by now if that were the case. It appears that this car has bitten me in the posterior once again and that a new firewall may need to be ordered. 'Sorry for the bum steer. I am learning about early brass cars as we go and sometimes the experience isn't always pleasant. $$$$$
Marshall

art ebeling wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 01, 2019 3:44 pm

Is the windshield riser section constructed of a solid board or plywood like the bottom section? Thanks, Art

Neither piece would be plywood. The firewall itself was constructed of a random width board-core with a veneer. The filler board was a single board, not plywood. I don't have the specs for a Touring, but in the case of T/OR's it is the same width as the firewall and I have never seen era photos of Tourings showing otherwise.

Here is a picture of the firewall and filler board from my brother Jim's 1911 T. The firewall is new and was made using the original as a pattern. It has the original brass trim. The filler board was in good enough shape to re-use. It is made from a single piece of wood and is the same length as the firewall.

Dan

If you contact the Henry ford museum in Dearborn, MI, they might have the original plans of the firewall. that is what I did when I when to restore my 1911 torpedo's firewall.