fire wall does not match frame

[wbs]

hello again- it is very hard for the nice repliers to help me think things out when i fail them.
i notice in the frame an approx 7/16 hole slightly posterior [1" back] to the engine mounts. i notice that there is a very heavy [5/16 thick] metal anngle on the front lateral base of the cowl with a 7/16" hole.

when i move the cowl forward wth the fire wall closer to the engine such that the two holes line up, the clutch ,brake,foot throttle pedal all hve enuf room to actuate.

when i examine the rails, i can see that they have welds in them making me think they were shortened

final ques= should the hole in frame be bolted to the heavy duty hole in the base of the cowl? in other words moveing cowl and fire wall just maybe 3or so inches from the indentation in thefw?
if true, i should have seen this days ago. thanks to all
sorry, wife no t back with camera

[wbs]

hello again- it is very hard for the nice repliers to help me think things out when i fail them.
i notice in the frame an approx 7/16 hole slightly posterior [1" back] to the engine mounts. i notice that there is a very heavy [5/16 thick] metal anngle on the front lateral base of the cowl with a 7/16" hole.

when i move the cowl forward wth the fire wall closer to the engine such that the two holes line up, the clutch ,brake,foot throttle pedal all hve enuf room to actuate.

when i examine the rails, i can see that they have welds in them making me think they were shortened

final ques= should the hole in frame be bolted to the heavy duty hole in the base of the cowl? in other words moveing cowl and fire wall just maybe 3or so inches from the indentation in thefw?
if true, i should have seen this days ago. thanks to all

[Keith True]

Everything indexes off that front hole in the frame.Everything falls into place after that.I spotted that you had bolts in the two holes in the flange,that is not correct for the roadster.Only one is used.I've seen cars with a piece of angle at the foot of the firewall,not sure if that is an improvement that Ford did,or if it was something aftermarket.

[rotorwrench]

Welding found on the frame could have been done for a number of reasons. I've seen quite a few that were welded to repair cracks. I've also seen fittings and cross members welded due to loose or missing rivets and some with elongated holes. You never know what you'll find. Shortening is mostly done to make doodle bugs but they are usually too short to use for anything else.

The Les Andrew's Mechanics Handbook Volume I has a good rundown on frame holes with bolt sizes for the different model A applications on pages 1-25 through 1-32. The book is short on photos since it mostly uses illustrations but it has a lot of good text information.

[gdmn852]

Here is a picture of the wood front body blocks,how they work on the 31 , the last hole on block is a carriage bolt that goes though the hole at door post , this does not attach to frame but rather bolts to the wood block with flat washer and nut . The next two go through the body sub frame, the wood block, rubber shims and into the bracket that is hanging outside of frame. The first hole on body at edge of firewall has no block but usually round rubber shims between firewall and frame. Hope this helps.

[wbs]

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hello again- it is very hard for the nice repliers to help me think things out when i fail them.
i notice in the frame an approx 7/16 hole slightly posterior [1" back] to the engine mounts. i notice that there is a very heavy [5/16 thick] metal anngle on the front lateral base of the cowl with a 7/16" hole.

when i move the cowl forward wth the fire wall closer to the engine such that the two holes line up, the clutch ,brake,foot throttle pedal all hve enuf room to actuate.

when i examine the rails, i can see that they have welds in them making me think they were shortened

final ques= should the hole in frame be bolted to the heavy duty hole in the base of the cowl? in other words moveing cowl and fire wall just maybe 3or so inches from the indentation in the fw?
if true, i should have seen this days ago. thanks to all

sorry, Mrs. has camera and been on vacation 2weeks, so no pix

[gdmn852]

Hello. Picture of front body mount from inside the car , originally there is no welding on the frame, it’s riveted together,so if you have angles welded to it someone would have added them. The first hole is located near the engine mount if that helps.

[wbs]

thanks to all who helped me: keith explaining , gdmn, roto etc--gdmn pix has straightened me out and i should be in business now --the welds that i saw in the rails i thought were repairs but they were modifications

[David R.]

Isn’t there a wood block missing?

[Keith True]

There is no wood block under the foot of the firewall on the 30-31.Just a rubber pad.