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I have some rust through at the forward “seam” of the floor pan; both driver and passenger side. There are also small areas around the seat mounts but nothing further back. I’m trying to figure out how to go about replacing the bad areas. Whole floor pan? Do they make them? I don’t see a “seam”(not sure of the proper term) at the rear.
Hello.
I am kind of in the same boat with my 70 Cutlass. They make floor pan sections, a complete front section, a complete rear section, a complete front and rear floor pan, and even a complete floor pan with the floor braces, rear section, and rocker panels. You have to decide if you are just going to cut out the bad sections or replace the entire floor. At some point you are going to have to butt weld the replacement pan to the good metal on the car. I would not cut anything out of the car until you have your new sections or entire floor. That way you can take a good measurement of what your cutting out vs what you want to use on your new pan. I have looked everywhere but surprisingly found the best deal at Jegs.com. You can also try Auto metal direct, OPGI, Year one, and The Parts Place ( they seem to have the biggest selection). Keep in mind that you will pay extra shipping for the bigger parts, probably anywhere from $100-$300 depending on weight and location. Hope this helps.
Kevin
I cut a good front section from a 66 to put in my 65,made my seam on one of the cross braces,so I could button hole it and made another seam across lower firewall where it wont be seen, used
a bolt nut washer in the e brake hole to align and also the seat holes,as I left the brace in.
I did a full floor replacement on my convertible project a few years ago. My floors looked like swiss cheese (lots of holes) and the braces were mostly gone as well. I used an AMD floor pan that came with the braces and the inner rocker panels. I had to drill out what seemed like a million spot welds and did multiple trial fits before welding in the new floor. I don't recommend this approach if you just have a few holes to fix. If you have significant rust thru that requires a full floor replacement, you can disconnect the body mounts, brake lines and fuel lines to raise the body above the frame for more room to work. I used 10" long 4x4 posts and screwed them to the frame at the body mount locations. This kept the body "indexed" to the frame while I removed and replaced the floor. There is an overlapping seam at the front toe board, the inner rockers are spot welded to the outer rockers along both sides, the top of the floor pan is plug welded to the outer rockers beneath the door sill plates and there is another overlapping seam at the rear behind the back seat where the floor pan meets the trunk floor pan.
It was very difficult but not rocket science by any means. If doing a convertible, it's very important to brace the body before lifting off the frame. I removed the doors and made door braces that bolted to the striker bolt in the door jamb and one of the hinge bolt holes. I also bolted a brace across the body to preserve the width spacing. Just take your time and drill out the spot welds thru the panel that will be discarded, this way the remaining "good" metal isn't full of holes. Here's a link to my build page for pics of the work I did. I hope this is helpful.
Hello Rodney.
That's really good info. My floor is completely shot too. Somebody tried to do a really bad patch job on it before I owned the car. I also bought the AMD complete floor with rockers. Everything you posted is a life saver because I wasn't 100% sure how to approach the install.
Thanks again
Kevin
Got sidetracked....thanks for the info. Getting things in order for the replacement. Seems like there’s a few companies that carry the pans/sections so it’ll probably come down to shipping costs. OPG looks to be a lot cheaper
Most likely - no, not on a hard-top. A friend took his family (years ago) to Pike's Peak, went hiking for several hours, left his convertible top down (the day was gorgeous), it then turned cloudy, and rained buckets. When they returned the entire interior was full of water. He called the tow truck service and learned for the 1st time the purpose of the drain holes.
Most likely - no, not on a hard-top. A friend took his family (years ago) to Pike's Peak, went hiking for several hours, left his convertible top down (the day was gorgeous), it then turned cloudy, and rained buckets. When they returned the entire interior was full of water. He called the tow truck service and learned for the 1st time the purpose of the drain holes.
Actually, the "drain holes" in the floor pan are not for draining water from convertibles when the top is left down in a torrential rain. While they could be used for draining the floor pan of a convertible, that was not their purpose. You find those holes on all body styles for a reason.
All the car bodies were dipped in a vat of primer by means of a conveyor line. The bodies are hung from a conveyor line "chain", lowered down into a long tank to submerse the complete body in primer. The drain holes allow the complete body to sink into the tank. As the body is raised at the other end of the tank, primer is drained back into the tank from the floor pan and recesses in the trunk because of the "drain holes". If you can visualize a constantly moving endless conveyor line it helps.
If you need to replace the entire floor buy the sectioned units or section/s as needed. The after market stampings are not exactly perfect. Having multiple sections allows for easier modification for fitment. if you buy the floor pan with braces and the whole kitten caboodle you are married to that set up . If you need any advice tricks or tips feel free to ask. Im a bodyman by trade and have learned a few tricks to not only create less work but work a bit faster .
Last edited by coppercutlass; January 29th, 2019 at 06:50 PM.
If you need to replace the entire floor buy the sectioned units or section/s as needed. The after market stampings are not exactly perfect. Having multiple sections allows for easier modification for fitment. if you buy the floor pan with braces and the whole kitten caboodle you are married to that set up . If you need any advice tricks or tips feel free to ask. Im a bodyman by trade and have learned a few tricks to not only create less work but work a bit faster .
I will probably take you up on that offer. Yeah I’m planning on getting the 2 sections; possibly the smaller 4 sections needed. The rear section is still good
If you are replacing the front halves of the floor pan. make sure the boxes the front body mount bushings sit on are in good shape. The front half of the floor pan has a few welds that go to them. They are pretty cheap and not much more work to replace but.... you will need to raise the body to do that and while you are at it you can do new body bushings . You wanna know how I found out LOL. I replaced my floor halves and didn't make much of the body mount boxes had to do them 5 years later after I did the pans . Just something to keep in mind. When I first did my car I was pretty new to the trade and didn't make much of my thin looking mounts .
Wow, been a long time but I can’t stand open threads so the results are that I took forever to replace the floor pans. Biggest issue was a crappy gasless welder I bought that fought me forever. Bought a different one a couple months ago and made quick work of them. Unfortunately the pictures are from after I installed the the deadener but they’re finally done. Cut out way more than I needed to
nothing to me personally, but have heard too many horror stories. As you can imagine, hard to put something back if the floor pan comes in a little smaller than you thought. Just wait until the part comes and measure off of it.
November 1st, 2018, 06:43 AM
