I'm considering replacing the floor pans on my '67 convertible and had a few quick questions before I dive in. Can the floor pans be safely replaced, one at a time, without taking the front subframe, engine, or trans out/off of the car?

The section that needs to be replaced runs from just forward of the seat attachments/braces all the way to the firewall. The driver's side is a little worse. That side also needs a bit of the toe pan replaced.

I've seen some photos of folks doing this exact repair with a hardtop, but I'm more than a little worried about twisting the body since I have no roof support. I plan on taking off the door on the side I'm working on and welding in some braces in it's place. Will this be sufficient, or would you folks recommend more bracing (and where)?

I'm not real handy with a welder. I took a course on it back in college (5 years ago), but have never welded sheetmetal. Am I jumping in over my head with this repair? I plan on doing a lot of welding on practice pieces to get the feel of it again. I'll probably end up using a small 110V welder that I can turn the amperage down on.

Thanks for your help.

-Brent

It can be done.

For a partial repair, the rocker panels and the rest of the floor ought to be stiff enough to keep things from moving. Here's mine:


If you want to weld it up solid from the bottom, it's tough with the cross member and subframe in the way.