# Firewall insulation question.



## Oldeboy (Sep 17, 2012)

Pontiac brethren:

On my 70 GTO I have pulled my dash out of my car to re-build the dash pad. In the meantime I would like to repair this firewall insulation shown here just above the floor mat on the passenger side. It looks like the holes in this insulation correspond to fasteners on the heater ducting. (top edge of insulation appears to have been sandwiched between heater ducting and firewall) 
A few questions:
How do I get the insulation re-attached?
While I am in there should I just replace this with new insulation?
Has anyone replaced this part? If so do you remember part number or vendor? I have looked at Ames, Perf Years and OPGI and am not seeing this specific piece. (maybe it is part of the dash insulation kits?) 
Thank you in advance for your help.


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

Looks like Original Parts Group has them-

1968-72 GTO Firewall Insulation Pad w/o air for years 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 @ OPGI.com

:cheers


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## Oldeboy (Sep 17, 2012)

Thanks Alky. I had not envisioned this insulation being one piece. 

How does this duct work disassemble from the firewall? The holes that hold the insulation are not torn thru. Theoretically it seems like I could loosen the ductwork and tuck the insulation back in place with the fasteners thru the existing holes?


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## 68Resto-mod (Nov 10, 2009)

I did this on my 68 and I am assuming your 70 is basically the same.

The duct will need to be removed. The duct is like a clam shell with the largest part inside the fire wall and the other smaller duct in the engine compartment that houses the heater fan. The inner duct has studs that penetrate through the fire wall that fasten with “speed” nuts. Bad news is, you may have to remove or loosen the right fender to get at all the fasteners. 

The insulation is held in place with ribbed push-in plugs like the ones that hold the inner door panels on, just bigger. To get the old one out, use wire cutters to snip them off from the engine side then use a punch to drive them through. Putting the new one in is awkward. Get a helper to hold it in place while you push in the new plastic plugs. A little spray contact cement may be required to secure some areas of the new insulation to the fire wall.
Consider removing the front seat(s) for easier access to under the dash. And if you have any suspicion that the heater core could fail in the near future, now is a good time to replace it.


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## Oldeboy (Sep 17, 2012)

Thank you for the excellent description. This will make the job much easier. (knowing is half the battle)


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## 68Resto-mod (Nov 10, 2009)

After giving it more thought, there are a few other things that have to be removed:

Accelerator pedal bracket, and maybe even the fuse block, E-brake bracket and main body multi-pin wire harness connector. Also note that the steering column, brake/clutch rods go through the firewall insulation as well. Brake and clutch rods can be removed but you may want to slit the insulation for the steering column. Removing it is a bit of a project.


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