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First Union Securities, Inc.

Rob -

I have a couple of thoughts for this -

1.  I have been able to use hole saws to drill through the stainless
firewall.  I bought a few GOOD holesaws and they work quite well.  I too
tried sanding drums and carbide dremel bits - none worked well.

2.  Rather than boring out the stainless, I "thinned" the plywood firewall
on the passenger side.  This allows retaining the full amount of stainless
and still fit a nut on the fittings.  I figured out what I considered to be
a rather ingenious way of thinning the plywood:  Take a hole saw and drill a
small circle into the plywood from the passenger side - not very deep, but
through the glass and a little into the plywood.  Then take a sanding disk -
the 3M type that with the plastic fitting that screws into a receptacle.
Round out the screw part, trim the 3M disk diameter so that it is exactly
the same diameter as the socket you need.  Then chuck the sanding disk into
an air tool grinder and it will sand a nice, smooth indention into the
firewall.  I have several sanding disks that I trimmed to the sizes I
wanted.  If you are a big spender, you could have the plastic/metal
receptacle part also trimmed to size - I just didn't want to waste the
receiver...

Matt

________________

> Any suggestions for cutting big holes in the 0.023 inch stainless will be
> gratefully appreciated.  My hole saw wouldn't even scratch the stainless.
>
> Pretty soon I'll need to cut a hole for the cabin heat valve.
>
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