Well to start out I really want to keep her


Now for the rot

----------
and......

 

Looks like you will be doing some cuttin n weldin.

 

right side kick panel

 

----------


Left side kick panel

 

No how bad does it actually look? What do you think I should do as far as the section under the HVAC box and the corners? I have decent welding skills, a cousin that is heavy into fabrication work at Vanishing Point RaceCars but not necessarily panel replacement. i found floor board but they are 325 for one side and I only need the front piece. If I would go to a yard how would I go about cutting the panel out of a doner?

 

Sorry I can't help you that's out of my realm of capability. If it were me I would do the new replacements.

 

yeah i would just get the new ones if it were me. i havent looked under my carpet, and now i'm afraid too.

 

i agree with what i would find under my carpet also

 

The thing is the floor pans are left and right and they are full floor coverage. They are over 400 without shipping for both of them. Shipping is prolly $200 , it's just a v6 sport coupe car. I really don't care what it looks like just that it's solid. I heard people cut it out of scrap cars. I just don't know how you would do that at a yard without a plasm or torch. It is mainly just surface rust with a couple spots that went through.

 

I'd clean all the rust up and then determine what is surface rust and what is not. Then I'd por-15 the rust, then weld in some new metal.

 

Yo could cut them out of a donor car if you REALLY want to save the car. The cheapest way out would be to find a car in a Jy with a good body or find a cheap donor car and sawzall the good pieces out then weld/ rivet the pieces in. My 87 formula had the same exact rot in the same exact places that you have here. You could always buy sheet metal and make your own panels if you don't want to pay the high prices for the full floor pans. -Bob

 

I just sanded off all the rust, saved the spots I could, and dropped in some sheet metal patches where I couldn't save the floor. Once carpet is down, you can't tell I did anything. Unless you are really worried about how the floorboard looks when you lift the car, that's the cheapest/easiest way.

 

I think I am going to go sheet metal just because of price and unexpected dent into the swap fund. I would love to cut the pieces out of a donor car but I just can't find any in good shape that are cheap enough. does anyone have a pic of the florr cut away with the subs still installed. Is it just spot welded, I just can't see and welds to drill. what gauge should I use to form the floor and tunnel?

 

Donor cars with a good floor are ultra hard to find, especially if you live in the rust belt. I think that's probably the first thing that goes.

My car had damage to the doors and hood as well, so I went the ultra cheap route and just cut those pieces up, reshaped them, and used that sheet metal. Sorta funny that now my feet are on what was once the driver's door. A wild guess is that this is either 18 or 20 gauge, but I could be well off.

 

Where can you get new floorpans for these cars? I discovered the same thing last night after lifting the carpet:



My plan is to piece it back together with many sheet metal patches and POR the rust.

 

classic industries, http://www.showcars-bodyparts.com/8292cam.html , couple places but they are not cheap

 

Its nice to see this post and realize I am not alone. All I can say guys, is no matter how you tackle it, its a fairly dirty and long process, and its really annoying. I finally got carpet down again this week, and that's having only address the inside of the floor, I still haven't hit the bottom of the car with any rustproofing or anything.

Do you guys have paint or primer on the inside of your cars when you lift the carpet? I have a black car that was painted black from the factory, but the only coating on the floor was an olive colored coating that looks a whole lot like primer. Stupid guys at the factory didn't even bother to finish the inside of the car.

 

same here green, I had a arguement with my father in law about the fact that the car was midnight blue before the paint. He swore that the car was green. Even after I showed him the build sheet. lol

 

My car is also black and shows no sign of paint on the floors. It looks like cheap primer and flakes off very easily. After looking at the way floor is constructed, and the liberal use of seam sealer, I can only guess that it was designed to rot. If they made replacement front floor panels only, I would probably buy a couple, but since they don't I'm resigned to patching the heck out of it.

 

I had the same issue on the driver's side. Big rust holes, the pinch weld was all rusted away under the floor. I just welded some sheet metal in. I had to replace the side behind the kick panel as well. I just used a piece of a donor car from jy, but I was also in need of a front clip and the driver's side "frame" rail. It wasn't able to find a car with a good enough floor, but the side piece was usable on one so I used that after welding a few pinholes shut.

Anyhow, for the floor I used 16 gauge sheet metal. Seems to be about the right thickness and strong enough. I also had to replace a section of the "folded" seam on the floor and used a piece of 1"x1/8" steel bar to help support the floor where I had to remove a section of that seam.

Campin - My car was painted under the carpet, but some of paint was flaking off around the rusted areas and underneath that was a grayish primer coat.

 

I've gotta wonder, is it the van nuys cars that aren't painted on the floor? Seems like a lot of us see the junk primer on there, but a few don't.

And I agree with what a few people have said. Seams are sloppy, everything is bad. The design on these floorpans is bad, but the installation of them is almost offensive. If I saw my car coming together like that in the factory, I'd simply walk out and flip them the bird.

 

Sorry to burst your bubble there, Campin, but my car came from Van Nuys. I agree that the floor pans are a horrible shape/design and I'd really like to know the age of the kid who put the seam sealer in my car when it was built. My 7 year old could do a better job using my caulking gun.

 

Well I was hoping I could just blame it all on van nuys, lol. I actually thought my car had been in a serious accident and someone did a crappy repair job, until i started seeing other cars and pictures of other cars without carpet, and realized that's just how they look.

 

I would go with just cutting and welding some sheet in there. As long as its not a show car who cares. What does that have to do with an engine swap? What are you putting in it. Please say a 350!!

 

WOW, that rust looks scary! I think you guys just added another step to my interior redo with those pics. I guess while the carpet is out I'll spray some sort of rust-away on the floor board.

Good luck guys.......

 

The floors were painted on our '84 T/A. I can't guess why this car survived so well in Michigan.

My wifes '04 Jeep is only red on top. Underneath is gray.

 

My car is almost back together, and all said, I've done the following:

Cut & grind rust
self etching primer
self etching primer again
patches
fiberglass to shape it
primer
paint
paint
rubber undercoating (for soundproofing)
rubber undercoating
peel n seal
peel n seal
carpet

Sounds like fun huh? But hopefully that floor is solid as rock now.

 

Yea I am swapping in a rebuilt 350 with mild crane cam, self ported fuellie heads, TH350
heres a pic during mock-up

 

that there sure looks like a small block.

 

GO SOONERS!!!!!!!!!!
----------
Now thats a purty engine. Nothing better than a 350 with a carb. So nice!!!

 

Off topic but I really would like to know what those wheels are.

 

My car is a Van Nuy's from 87 (The first year they changed the way they applied paint. My primer is rock solid. My paint... Ha!) and the floors are fully painted, no clear. Pretty nice I must say. Then again, coming to Az was the first time this car had ever left California, and it was never coastal.

 

Seeing this rust made me remember how bad it used to be when I lived on the East coast as a kid.

I bought my first car, a 69 Camaro, in 1976. It was only seven years old and the lower quarters where just about gone.

My 83 I bought new in New Mexico is now 25 years old and there is nothing but surface rust where the paint is deteriorating.

Funny how time plays tricks on you. My 69 seemed like a real old car when I got it, but my 83 doesn't feel any older than my 69 did back in 76.

Larry

 

UPDATE -
Got most of the rot cut out and a couple panels welded in. I am getting happier ever panel I finally wel;d to the car. I still debating what to do with the rot under the blower box? I will just have to keep thinking. I also found that the right side torque box was swiss cheese and fixed that. I also debating "bondo"-ing the engine bay to get rid of majority of the wrinkles and panel lines along the fender panels. What do you guys thinks? I am going to be shaving the battery box and evap box. Also going with the ford ranger coolant and washer bottles
The pictures are on my Fquick page www.FQuick.com/HottestZ28