Natedawg

1971 Cutlass S here. All the foot wells, under the rear seat, and the transmission tunnel have enough pin holes or complete blowouts that they will need to go. The floor braces and the rocker panels are in great shape. The metal hump in between the rear seat foot wells and under the rear seat looks pretty good however. The body has been stripped and dipped so the condition of the metal is obvious. I am a noob however so my discernment is limited. So my questions if anyone would be so kind as to share their experience:
1. If I keep the braces in place, do I need to use any additional tubing to brace the body as I cut out the floor?
2. Any issues with a lap joint all the way around instead of a butt joint? Aside from an original look that is. That would be so much easier.
3. Anything to look out for if I get a floor pan without braces?
4. Would it be better to leave the original metal of the aforementioned hump and just patch around it? I like the idea of leaving as much original metal as possible.

scrappie

1. I think if the body is braced on a jig of some sort to support at front torque boxes and at rear at factory mounts and the braces remain then you may be ok? I would take measurements of everything possible to make sure it goes back together properly. It may be harder to separate floor from braces and still keep them intact?
2. I believe a lap joint would be fine and I believe that is the original method? Floor would have to go in from the bottom and the inner rockers are lapped over. A lot of disassembly just to access spot welds to remove floor.
3. If you get floor without braces then you will have to replace floor from the top and probably not in one piece? The floor is samwhiched between the rocker and the brace. A lot more cutting and visible lap joints in this case. I would do a whole floor with braces from bottom if it were me. Either way its gonna be a lot of work but I this may be the easier and better looking way to do it, especially if the rockers are good and solid.
4. Looking at your picture, If your good at welding, patching and metal work, you may be able to patch a good part of the floor with pieces from floor without brace. This would take some real patience and would be best butt welded. You could do 4 big patches saving the hump and braces. This way would be the least invasive but most cosmetically visible if it doesn't come out right. Its hard to get the reproduction metal to fit exactly to the contours of factory metal but thats why you need to work the metal some.

I think there are some threads on here that document full floor replacement. Maybe take a look to get an idea. You've already gone this far to dip the body so you should do the best you can. I would just really examine how things are assembled and visualize how to disassemble and think about how things may move around.

Natedawg

Thanks scrappie, I like the idea of getting a full floor without braces then cutting it up and patching it in. I could put the seams over the flanges of the floor braces to line them up and help hide the weld. Sounds time consuming but do you think that would be best at hiding the joints? By a lap joint, I meant leaving some of the existing floor as it comes out from underneath the rockers, then overlap the new patch over the top rather than butt it up. I was looking for panels and had a hard time deciphering what would work. None of the patch panels appear to contain the trans tunnel, only a portion of it. The "halves" that I have seen only have a portion of half the tunnel, not the full half and I'll need all of it. Also, full floors with braces but no rockers seem all backordered for months or double the cost. That lead me to the full floor pan without braces.

cherokeepeople

by the looks of the package tray.looks like it had some jensen tri-ax-II's at one time.

2blu442

Nate, where did you take the body to have it dipped? Have you purchased a floorboard for it yet? If not, I may have some good used metal here in Medford.

John

Natedawg

Hi John, thanks for letting me know what you have. I will definitely consider it, please send me some pics and pricing. Without getting permission to put their name on here, the dipping facility is located in Eugene, OR. The process wasn't quite as perfect as I had hoped but I am still pleased how it turned out. I haven't purchased anything yet, I was looking for a site that had all the pieces I wanted and get them all at once to save on shipping. So far I'm still looking and was hoping to make a decision soon.

2blu442

Hi Nate
Its buried in the shed, but I'll try to dig it out enough to take some pictures for you. I can see the holes in your drivers floorboard, and it looks like a patch on the passenger floorboard. Are you wanting to replace just those spots, or the entire pan? I've got some floorboard portions but the one I'm thinking of runs from the dash to I believe underneath the back seat. It came out of a bucket seat console car, and has the correct holes for a dual gate shifter. I've been saving it for the project I might find someday... but being honest to myself I already have more project cars than I'll have time/money to build.

2blu442

Hi Nate
Attached are some photos. It does have rust on the drivers floorboard, if you decided you were interested in it I'd hit it with a wire brush to make sure its not through. I cut up this car probably 25 years ago so I didn't remember for sure where the cut lines were. It has the front hooks for the rear seat, but not the rest of the area underneath the seat. Let me know if you have any questions or want to see any other views. I've not been able to post pictures to private messages for a couple years now. If you want to send me an email and communicate that way your welcome to. John