Cracks on trans tunnel

[James75]

While I was figuring out where to put a new fuse panel and rewire the whole car, I came across some cracks on the firewall at the trans tunnel. I probably wouldn't have even noticed if I wasn't looking for a place for the fuse box.

Has anyone ever seens this before? I'm wondering how, when, and why this happened? Do all II's have this problem? Maybe I'll never know. Guess I've got a little more welding to do...

Here's a pic of the stock fuse panel from my '75 too, if anyone wants it for reference.

 

[Steel Steeds]

First I've heard of it. Don't recall seeing anything like that when I had the dash out of my '77 years ago, but I wasn't exactly studying the firewall.
I'll be pulling the dash out of my '78 in a few weeks, I'll be sure to check it out.

 

[78CobraII]

The only structural issue I have heard with the MII is cracking where the front subframe meets the firewall, and even that is rare, usually requiring more much engine than stock and repeated hard launches.

I think that overall the MII is pretty tough. My '76 was parked against a curb on a hill and was hit hard enough in the front to pop it up over the curb abd spin it out into the street. I replaced the radiator and pulled the bumper back out and drove it for another 5 years.

 

[James75]

I think I know what happened now. The cracks seem to line up with the bolt holes on the bell housing. My theory is the motor and trans mounts are so worn, the engine has been slamming into the firewall on hard launches through the years and produced the cracks. I also noticed that the radiator has some wear marks from the fan hitting it, probably during hard breaking, Which again seems to come from warn mounts. I've been real tough on it on more than a few occasions, so I think thats most likely the cause. And now I'm planning to put some real power into it...