Billy Jackets

On a 66 or 67 Cutlass, How much of the integrity of the car is in the floor ?
I found a car that the rockers seem good but the floors are all rusted through.
I see that you can buy replacement pans but they would require good metal in the right spots to attach to.
What do you do if the floor is too bad?
Thanks

copper128

Part it out

Seriously though, you can replace the entire floorpan and crossbraces with aftermarket sheetmetal. If the body tub is too rusted to restore the structural integrity that way, you probably picked the wrong car to start with.

Billy Jackets

Thanks , I haven't bought the car yet , checking first, too bad I had to be an old man before I learned this trick lol.

joe_padavano

Bill,

This is unfortunately common on convertibles, especially if the top starts leaking. There is a repro one-piece floorpan available, but of course installation requires removal of the body from the frame. The one-piece pan runs in the $450-$500 range, but it is well worth it in both ease of installation and quality of the resulting work. I've got exactly this problem on my 66 and this is how I'm fixing it.

Of course, these cars are full frame, so the floorpan primarily serves to keep your feet off the ground. Once you unbolt the body from the frame, however, you will need to add temporary welded braces in the body to prevent it from folding up once it's off the frame. The more important thing to look for is frame rust on these cars. The convertibles used fully boxed frame rails, which trap water and salt. In particular, check the frame rails where the frame kicks out behind the front wheels, pretty much at the forward end of the rockers. This is the usual rust point on these frames.

Billy Jackets

Great info , thanks !
I would not have looked at the front nearly as much as the rear.

cherokeepeople

about 25 yrs ago i had a 66 2 dr post tempest that had a rusty floor.we cut the floor out of a 4dr and welded it in we did not have to pull the frame off.we got it jammed thru the doorway.but it was not a full floor.we only went back to the bottom front edge of the back seat.

Professur

In the long run, any car can be saved with enough replacement metal. The question is ... when is it worth it? I did enough work to save an old S-10 ... but I did it understanding that I could get an entire replacement cab for half the price of metal and a 10th the work. But my goal then wasn't the destination, but the journey. I learned a lot about body repair through that build. If your goal is to have a running, safe car in the shortest possible time, you need to keep that firmly in mind. If it's to have a project car ... you need to decide just how big a project you want. With my S-10, I understood from the start that if I buggered up and the whole cab folded itself up into a pretzel I was no worse off than when I started, and a replacement cab was only a phonecall away. Set yourself firm, clear goals, shop accordingly, take lots of pictures, and remember than you've an unbeatable braintrust on this site ready to help as we can.

Billy Jackets

There is no question in my mind that , the skills are here and you guys like to help.
I think it's great.