Still looking for a plenum/firewall

[oofacts@earthlink.net]

OK so it appears my facts are a little crooked.I have been told the
following when I asked for help with describing this problem


<<its the metal tray that the intake plenum (plastic) is mounted to.  It is
spotwelded to the fire wall
where yours is rusted out.  so.. you want  them to cut theirs out AROUND
the spotwelded section so you get the part of the firewall thats rusted out
on yours. >>

When I said "Oh so its a FIREWALL I need, I was told:
<<Just the section where the plenum is mounted that has rusted out.>>

AND <<You can use anything form 71-3 and remember, thre are 18 spot welds
holding it
to the trunk wall, if you cut it out you should probably get the whole dash
section, that way the torch wont touch the parts you want to save.  you can
then
use a cutoff tool to cut off the rest, leaving the section thats spotwelded
on and just weld that right onto the trunk wall after the rust is cut out.>>



So, to make a long story longer, and to avoid weird terminology I dont
understand, here goes.

A) The firewall has rusted out in a couple spots. Straight through. As some
have said, I dont understand why these holes couldnt be fiberglassed (only
I dont know how to do that; does fiberglass = bondo? that sounds wrong) OR
even just cut out and weld-patched. I dont know anything about this either
but I know some people who do.

B) Under the grill  in front of the windshield is a place where water
naturally flows. Where the water winds up is on a tray which includes what
looks like a grill for the blower in the front. The intake plenum (for air
exchange, blower, etc.) is mounted to this tray. This tray is spotwelded to
the firewall.

 The thing appears to be designed so that water from the windshield goes
down into the external grill, onto the tray, around this internal blower
grill and down a drain hole (which may acually be the hole for the
windshield washer tube). Does this make any sense so far?

C) Now how do I know how this plenum tray looks from the top, especially
since I havent pulled out the air system in front? Well, when I open my
hood, remove the cardboard in back and look at the back of the front trunk,
theres a ragged, rusted piece of curved sheet metal that's supposed to
cover this tray, but its so rusted out I can see straight through it. Its
rusted right where it meets with another piece of curved sheet metal that
runs along and straight back up the back of the trunk. I assume this is the
firewall. This piece of metal is rusted along the seam where it meets the
sheet metal above. (there is a thin strip of steel running along this seam
which I presume is the armature)
Ok, ALSO this firewall is rusted out at the bottom, just before the curve
where it meets the bottom of the trunk.  The rusted out part is about 4"
long and goes as much as 2" high.
Furthermore, there's serious rust all along the firewall.

So what I need is a new (read better) firewall and intake plenum tray. This
entire assembly is spotwelded to the trunk walls in 18 places, and I need
it cut out AROUND these spotwelds.

If anyone can help me; if anyone understands what I'm talking about, please
let me know. Its a huge piece of metal and I live in New York. So far, I've
gotten some great responses, but the pervasive question has been "What is
it you need?" Hopefully, this will make it more clear. The well-being of a
T3 in otherwise fantastic shape rests upon this. If I dont get this solved,
then its lost to the rust beasties. If I DO get it solved, it could last a
long and happy time.

Is the Pres of the Long Island Club out there? I think I need some real
eyes to see this thing for advice.


-Mike