Firewall metal?

I took off my heater a long long time ago. and when i went to swining pedals i botled a piece of 16 or 18 gauge steel to the firewall. WWell after this time the metal palte has warped and bent from being pushed on with the clutch and brake pedals. So when i get to painting the jeep, i am going to repair the firewall. I am wondering what you guys did or a palte to the friewall. The original firewall didnt not buckle with the new plate did, and the new palte seemed thicker than the stock metal. I am going to weld in the steel now, but i am just wondering if the new welded in metal will hold better than bolted in?

 

I think the reason the firewall doesn't bend as much as the plate is twofold:

1. The firewall is bent, therefore making it stronger.
2. The plate is both flat and bolted in place. Flat is weaker than bent, and the bolts alow some give, no matter how tight you get them.

Have you enough room to put some lightweight angle/channel stock on the backside of the patch once you get it tacked in? Ideally you'd want it to overlap the seams and tie into the body for maximum stength.

 

thats true, i didnt have any stiffeners on the metal. jsut flat. Wish i had one of them rollers like on trucks to make it all fancy shmancy

 

I've got a sheepie Harborfreight 18" sheetmetal brake that you can do all kinds of neat stuff with, I think it was like 20-30 bux. If all else fails, you can just cut some pieces of lightweight angle iron, invert them and tack both "legs" to the patch and the tub. Voila! Instant stiffener!