Thank you everyone for the nice and not so nice comments..... I appreciate all your advice..... I will look at some new metal...... Let me start shopping around....... my budget is not that big..... any ideas on who’s pans are better..... or are they all the same cheap metal...?? From my pictures am I better off with the whole pan or four sections or left and right....???
I replaced both floor pans, left & right of the driveshaft hump, if I were to do it again I'd replace the whole floor pan.
Concerning a rotisserie, you shouldn't need one to patch those floors, provided the floor under your seat pan is sound. If that is the case, you only need to replace the 2'x2' footwell sections in front of and behind the seat braces, which both maintains unibody rigidity and saves you from having to remove your subframe. Cut out one quadrant at a time, lay the old section in the new pan, and cut that perimeter with an extra 1/2" all around. You can weld the patch in as-is if you want to use lap joints, but I butt-welded my floors. To get the exact size, I laid the oversized patch in the floor and plunged my cutoff wheel into both the old floor and the patch panel at the same time. This left me with a cutoff wheel's width gap for butt welding, which was wider than ideal, but it still worked fine.
You should be able to get a used 110V hobby welder for not too much money. I think I paid $150 for a Hobart Handler on craigslist and spent another $150 on gear, wire, and gas. Once you have a welder, a whole new world of repair and fabrication is opened to you.
It's worth noting that those half-floor pans have the flange for the pinch weld on the wrong side. It's not a problem when you are cutting patches, but if you decide to do the entire half floor at once all the way to your rockers, it will need correcting.
Update I now have a rotisserie and have the bird dismantled so I can get the body mounted on the rotisserie...... I’m looking for a complete floor pan...... and will cut what I need from it........ then I can also prep the whole floor and prime and paint it........
I replaced both floor pans, left & right of the driveshaft hump, if I were to do it again I'd replace the whole floor pan. [/quote] I'd buy a better rust free car or one that all the work was done
I replaced both floor pans, left & right of the driveshaft hump, if I were to do it again I'd replace the whole floor pan.
I'd buy a better rust free car or one that all the work was done [/quote]
I would have to agree with you Chief. Spend the big bucks at the beginning and get the best body you can your hands on. There was a mint 67 400 Vert /w Tyrol blue and white interior loaded and done for $50k. Wish I bought it!
You can take your frame off now that you have the rotisserie. You love that tool. Makes it much easier doing the welding and everything for that matter.