More Firewall Thinking - Clutch Cylinder.

Back on December 20, Firewall Thinking, I sketched out what I thought would need to happen to get the clutch master cylinder in place.

Recycling this picture, it shows how the rectangle hole for the wiring harness bulkhead connector goes through. The circle shows the size and location of the hole needed for the clutch master cylinder (or so I thought).

I started by cutting a rectangle out of the driver's side of the hole.

Then, recycling the scrap rectangle, I planned to weld it on the other side of the hole. I used a magnet to hold the little piece in place as well as a hack saw blade that I used as a straight edge to ensure that the piece was in the right place.
After first tacking it in place, I burnt it in solid.
After grinding the welds smooth, I used a 2 1/2" hole saw to bore a hole to match the hole that was in the pattern I used that was a chunk of firewall from a 1st gen truck. I had to run into town to purchase the hole saw which makes the situation shown in the next pic all the more frustrating.
So, here I am welding a patch into this beautiful hole I just got through making.
It turns out that I really did not understand exactly how the master cylinder mounted in the hole and I am embarrassed to say I never compared the size of the barrel on the cylinder with the size of the hole in the pattern I used. It ends up that I am using a 2nd gen clutch hydraulic system (I think). It makes sense because I am using a 2nd gen transmission with the NV4500.
So, I had to resize the hole quite a bit smaller.
I cut some notches at 4 locations around the hole to fit ears that are on the cylinder. I forgot to take a pic of this, but I will edit one in later. The cylinder goes in from the engin side and twists 45 degrees to lock it in place. I also doubled the thickness of the firewall at this location to gice it a little more strength and support. The master cylinder reservoir will bolt to the cowl near where I am holding it.