47-55.1 Interior fireall cover?

[TX3100Guy]

I'm in the middle of installing the wiring harness and ensuring that all my interior wiring is as hidden as possible, while still being accessible if needed.

One of my concerns is the mounting of the firewall cover (see pic below) and how much of the wiring that I can get to either lay flat or get up high enough that this cover isn't on top of any wiring. While I have one of these covers and have altered it to allow my Vintage Air unit to mount against the firewall, I'm not thrilled with the cover.

Has anyone come up with an alternative way of covering/hiding the appearance of the upper (interior) firewall? I'd love to see photos of any alternatives.

Thanks.

[mr48chev]

Normally you just don't run wires behind thatpad. I'd go for neatly laced and routed up high out of sight but routed in a way that the harness becomes part of the art even though it won't ever be seen unless you are laying under the dash. Maybe worth 10 points at a major indoor show.

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Normally you just don't run wires behind thatpad. I'd go for neatly laced and routed up high out of sight but routed in a way that the harness becomes part of the art even though it won't ever be seen unless you are laying under the dash. Maybe worth 10 points at a major indoor show.

Makes sense. However, I've mounted the new fuse panel on the drivers side, high up on the firewall and I had to make a cut out on the firewall cover to allow it to be accessed, along with the cutout for the Vintage Air unit.

Additionally, I've eliminated multiple firewall penetrations for the stock wiring, speedo and tach cables, etc. This requires that I have only two access routes for wiring. All wires for the front of the car exit the firewall on the passenger side, and all wires for the rear of the car (and the oil pressure, water temp, and brake switch) exit the firewall on the drivers side. Both of these exits were existing holes (slightly over 1" in diameter and I used a stock grommet to avoid wire chafing, although the wires will be in nylon wire loom)

I can move 90% of the wiring from behind the firewall cover and get them high up under the dash, but given the two exit points, a wiring bundle has to descend from under the dash to these outlets.

[mr48chev]

One reason that I don't like wires to be too hidden is that more often than not I was the guy in my group who ended up troubleshooting wiring issues when we were on a club or group road trip.

My best friend who was more of big brother than buddy had a 29 Model roadster that the guy who wired it for him did every wire in red. Story was he got a great deal on several large rolls of red wire of different gauges and wired several cars with it including Ron's roadster. That was fun to deal with on the side of the road.

On my 48 I still have the 48 Fuse block cover that that i had Waco plating chrome in1973. I won't have any fuses under it or at least dond't plan to but it will cover the hole in the firewall that the wires come through the firewall . Then out the regular 48 openings in the bottom of the cover and neatly routed where they have to go.

[dsraven]

its a good idea to mock up the wiring and hanger points etc but then remove that, install the firewall cover, then install the wiring so it is exposed. wrap the harness in whatever you choose then hide it with whatever you choose. modern cars use kick panel covers etc. I was a proffessional firefighter, before i retired a couple of years ago, and have been to lots of car fires where the home grown "big stereo" groups would route wiring under the carpet and back to the truck. sometimes wiring would chaff on an edge or a component would short out. long story short the crwes responding had no access to the problem and the car would burn up. had the "group" wired the vehcile with proper fuses and left the wiring exposed the driver would have smelled something hot before it started fire and possible been able to disconnect things before it was too late. before I was a firefighter I was a heavy duty mechanic. back in the day some manufacturers ran wiring with all the same color and used to define the circuits with numbers labelled on the wire every few feet. yeah, fun trying to run down a problem for sure. the same would go for wiring hidden behind carper or a firewall pad.
it's your truck and you should build it like you want it. it's also probably you who gets to work on it after it's done. just saying.

[TX3100Guy]

These are all good points and many of which I've already considered and put into action. First, the wiring harness is from American Autowire and thankfully not only is every wire color coded, they have what the wire is for printed along the length of the wire.

Secondly, at the moment I'm using loose zip ties and rare earth magnets with zip tie loops built in (see photo) . I keep the zip ties loosely connected so that I can route (and re-route) wires as I change my mind about location and routing.



My plan is to finalize the routing of every wire to its ultimate location via the bundles I've previously outlined on each side of the truck engine bay and to the rear of the truck. Then I will pull each section back, one by one, and insert all the wires for that bundle into split side wiring loom, then pull back to its location/route.

The issue still is that the two routes are mid way down from the top of the firewall and the hard plastic firewall cover is going to create an issue if I leave the bundled wires behind it, although only for several inches from the top of the dash to where the access holes are. What seems to be suggested here is that I have those wire loom bundles on top of the firewall cover. I'm going to have to experiment with that method/look to see how it looks.

[_Ogre]

the big problem with the original style firewall mat, is the fasteners used are big plastic push pins. chances are is you've welded those holes closed. i use raammat, ensolite foam and carpet pretty much as high up on the firewall as i could. everything bought at raam audio, not sure they exist anymore.

i wouldn't install wires behind anything that can't be removed easily. plus rubbing between the layers may wear on the wire insulation. granted, i've never had to rework any wiring in truk. but i may be the exception, not the rule.