MTFCA Forum

Okay, here's what I've been up too....as of November of last year, my subscription for the drawing program I use (CorelDraw Graphic Suite) ran out. And since we were in a bit of a financial jam at that time, I wasn't able to renew it either. So I did the next best thing I could think of (5 days ago)....I tried a Free Trial of Corel's basic program. Having wrestled with it for (5) days now, I can tell you that it is absolute crap, that I was able to bearly beat into submission to at least act like a premium drawing program! The good news is that it is a 15 Day Trial (which is the only good thing about it), so, I've got another 10 days to go before it turns into a "pumpkin" (in other words more useless than it is). And when this one bites it, I just offload it and download another Free Trial version (the one I actually want) CorelDraw Graphic Suite (latest version), it's good for 10 days, so I have to be sure I can finish whatever I draw next in those 10 days.
Anyhoo, this is what I've been working on for these first 5 days, the 1915-1916 Firewall Assembly-Interior Side. The one I'll be working on next is the Exterior side. I'm sure, most of you will notice that the Hood Former isn't on this drawing. The reason is, because the Hood Former actually bolts to the front of the Body Wood at the Cowl not the firewall (other than two small wood screws at the bottom, but those just stabilize it against the firewall). And the only place I can really show this is on the Exterior side (not sure how just yet, but I'll figure it out....ghost it maybe, hmmm, or just draw that portion as a reference, still not sure, I'll have to try it and see).

So have a look see and tell me if I've got the right of it or not. I've been told that the Canadian cars have a different mounting bracket than I'm showing here, so if anybody has pictures of those brackets or those cars firewalls and or any other differences, please let me know so I can draw that one too.

My Canadian 15 tourer came with different firewall to frame brackets. They used the same two mounting holes on the top of the frame. The brackets themselves were formed from strap steel, bent double on itself, with the frame end bent out on the flat to access the bolt holes on the rail. These bottom ends were bent offset, just like the forged ones shown, so that the holes through the firewall were on the same vertical line. They were shorter, having only two holes through the firewall. I believe there were some of these brackets used on US production too.

Allan from don under.

Allan, got a picture of one? Would really like to see them.

Allan, these the ones you're talking about?

Okay, are there any other differences between our domestic cars and the Canadian version you folks have (like two step bolts per side in the Hood Former....still trying to figure that one out)?

They are to ones Martynn! Glad you were able to track down the photo.

Allan from down under.

Allan, from what little I could decern about those brackets, I've numbered them 3640 and put them in a box on the side of the drawing. There wasn't enough differences to warrant a new drawing.

If they don't look correct, please let me know so I can make any changes needed.

They look OK to me Martynn. They are not very common, so probably not really important in the scheme of things. They were probably cheaper to make, but were superseded by the down-the side later brackets fairly soon.

Allan from down under.

A minor detail, almost not noticeable.
The firewall to frame brackets have an offset, a dedicated left and right, with the upright more than a half inch offset from the foot of the bracket. Your picture shows the brackets offsetting the upright toward the outside of the frame. In actuality, they mount with the offset toward the inside of the frame. The brass era hood comes down almost even with the inside edge of the frame rail. If mounted with the offset to the outside of the frame, even from behind the hood former, the hood would need to come down near the outside of the frame rail.