[DeTomaso] So who makes the best bulkhead reduction kit?

Christopher Kimball chrisvkimball at msn.com
Thu Jun 12 15:00:52 EDT 2008


About a year-and-a-half ago I purchased MOST of the flat firewall kit from Pantera Performance.  I only purchased the new bracket for the alternator (along with a new alternator) and the inside, fiberglass engine cover designed for the flat firewall kit.
 
I then cut the bubble out of my stock bulkhead and used cardboard to fabricate a piece to join the lower portions of the remaining fiberglass bulkhead cover together, being careful to shape it so that it would fit behind the console tray and meet with the engine cover for a tight fit, and then utilized fiberglass to make it as strong as the rest of the piece.  I also took this opportunity to cut a 12" hole in the passenger side for my subwoofer.
 
I then used bondo to fill in the flat side of the new engine cover to make it easier to upholster and had Gary Herrig cover both that and the bulkhead cover (sans its original bubble) with black leather.  It was quite a challenge due to the shape of the engine cover and he said he would never do it again...
 
I mounted a chrome handle on the engine cover for easy removal and used the same bolt holes as the original to hold it in.  Now I can remove the engine cover without taking out the entire bulkhead cover and it looks really good, too.  Since I used a bunch of that sticky dynamat-type stuff all over both sides of the firewall, that plus the leather means the engine noise is quite muted.
 
If you aren't afraid to do a little fiberglass fabricating, this is a great way to save some money.  I think I have some pictures of how it turned out on my Pantera web site.  Let me know if you want to see it and I'll send you the link.
 
By the way, I sold the old fiberglass bubble on ebay for $35.  I have no idea who bought it or why!
 
Sincerely,
 
Chris
#3846
 
> From: JDeRyke at aol.com> Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:19:45 -0400> To: asajay at asajay.com; Detomaso at realbig.com> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] So who makes the best bulkhead reduction kit?> > To my knowlege, Pantera East was the original source for this kit, but it was > built by Kirk Evans for resale & uses a stock GT5 or GT5-S alt/AC bracket to > relocate the alternator up & back in the wide-body smog-pump space, plus a new > steel cover and upholstery panel. So maybe some of the other vendors now sell > the same rig. Good luck- J DeRyke> > > **************> Vote for your city's best > dining and nightlife. City's Best 2008.> > (http://citysbest.aol.com?ncid=aolacg00050000000102)> _______________________________________________> > Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA> > Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/> > DeTomaso mailing list> DeTomaso at list.realbig.com> http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso


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