Finally had time to pull up the carpet and check the floorboard on the GTA. Rotted all the way through.

Previous owner just riveted sheet metal on top of it. I still don't understand why people half *** things like this.


Passenger side only has this small hole luckily.


Plan to take out the perfect floorboard of my old v6 bird.


This is what I get for buying a car originally from Indiana.

Any suggestions on how to remove a lot of the surface under the carpet and future protection?

 

Get some SFC while you think the car is still straight.

Only thing holding the car together in the middle is the sheet metal in the floor and roof.


https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...rs-solved.html

https://www.dougherbert.com/index.php

From DH above they are only $190 shipped

 

The roof? More like a single bar from the T-top.

 

Semantics

First priority should be attaching the front and rear frames.

And then it doesn’t matter how much the floors rust, its only a cosmetic problem then.
Though still fix it but rusty floors should have never been a safety problem factory.

 

Took the car to my buddies. We cut out the rot and welded in some sheet metal.
Will post some pics tomorrow.

 

Nice to see someone fixing the floors instead of just junking the car for once

 

A question for those body guys out there:

Why does it seem that our floor pans are so prone to rust even on a car without T-tops? My family got rid of our old Cavalier about 4 years ago now because of rust issues. When I pulled the interior out to redo the body sealant (to help keep the floors from flooding as bad), it seemed as though just about every body panel on the side of the car was rotted (both doors, front fender, rear wheel wells/shock mounts, rocker panels), but the floor pans were PERFECT. Not a spot of rust on them anywhere, even though there was literally half an inch of standing water in places (the padding under the carpet was literally frozen solid when I pulled it out). So, what's the difference between our floors and those on the other car(s)?

 

Here is the rot. Ugly as all hell.


Cut it all out.





All said and done with.

 

Nice job! I just wish I knew how to weld, because I need to do this. Any other pics of your floors? I have a rust problem along the passenger side rocker. Where the gaps is between the floor and where it goes up the side. I hope you get what I mean. I'm just curious to see how yours look.

 

I'll post some clearer pics without the seats tomorrow.

 

Be sure to POR-15 and Seam Seal. Then Sound Deadener.

Good Work so far.

 

I know of POR 15 but what's seam seal?

 

Seem sealer is like caulking for cars, it remains somewhat flexible and you install it on all seams to seal it from the elements.

 

Yeah def. seem seal your welds...
Don't feel bad either.. I just did a lot more than that to my floors,
(front, and back.)
and had to make all the parts including rocker parts,
and the parts that the fenders connect to all with a set of tin snips,
and scrap metal I cut off my uncle's old low rider...

Be sure to check the vents between the windshield, and the hood...
This is what created most of my trouble,
and mine looked a lot like yours

The driver side doesn't really have a place to drain off,
and as such burns a hole through the firewall up under the dash..
It's a hard place to reach, and I haven't done mine yet...
Other wise I'd help more..
I could probably take pic.s if I didn't explain it well enough..
Def. worth a check..
My two cents..

and yeah.. Thanks for saving the car ..

 

Hey whats up? You said that you rebuilt the area where the fender bolts on. How did you do this, Any pics? Any help would be surely appreciated .

 

I'd imagine he just welded some more metal in.

 

When I did mine I used cardboard to form the parts first,
(Bending it over the hole,& shaping it.) then I copied the outline to the metal, cut it out,
and bent it in..
As for where the fenders bolt in..
I left extra at the bottom, and folded it up, so it would be strong.
After that you just drill the new holes..
I haven't drilled mine yet,
I'm gonna do that when I line the car up for paint,
but when I do I will probably weld the nuts onto the back,
that's how they were from factory if memory serves..
I have pic.s I just have to find them..

Oh, and yes.. I did weld them in..

 

Thanks a lot , That really helped a bunch, I got an 83 z-28 I thought I would have to junk it. Now i plan on patching my floor, roll bars and sub framing it as I was before I found the rot. I did a bargain basement patch job for now until I learn how to weld. This site is awesome. If you find the pics i would really appreciate them. I will propably have to do the same with my 88 trans am. Thanks again.

 

Sure no prob..
I found some pic.s, but I have no place to host them..
If you pm me your email I'll send em..

Is anything else rotted on the car?
I basically had to remake everything,
with no welding experience under my belt,
so I know how you feel..
I remember sitting in my car with my feet on "the ground",
not knowing what I was gonna do..
It can be daunting,
but I assure you once you start getting things done it's pretty mindless effort...
I had a lot wrong with my car,
and it's just now going to my uncles for a new rear quarter,
and paint after a year, and a half..

Stick with it.. you'll get what you want..

 

I guess I can use image shack..
Here are couple from when I was doing the work..
I'll have to keep looking for the finished result pics,
I just transferred most of my stuff to a terabyte external,
so It might take me a bit to relocate them..

I also through in a couple for good measure so people can see how bad it was..
It can all be fixed with determination/ a bit of craziness... :P




Driver side where the fender connects

http://imageshack.us/m/402/2469/59275238.jpg

Making the part... I left some badly spelled notes on the image that might come in handy for you also...

http://imageshack.us/m/844/2847/85842056.jpg



The back of my floor looked like this..

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6141/99978346.jpg

Here is a side view.. you can see the ground..

http://imageshack.us/m/840/8697/86337253.jpg

Another side in better lighting in my garage..

http://imageshack.us/m/810/1754/33407673.jpg

The inside driver view..

http://imageshack.us/m/834/9123/60638073.jpg

Ps..

Hope I'm not thread thieving.. if so sorry Collin..
How is your ride going any way?

 

You are thread thieving, but it's for a good cause so no worries.
Btw, you can embed pictures into the forum. It's an option on the right on Imageshack.