# Floor Pan & Restoration??



## leeklm (Mar 11, 2012)

I have a slight dilema, and would value your opinions... My 66 has a "partial" restoration from the previous owner, and I am undecided on how far to continue down a restoration path... The car has a clean & straight outer body with new base/clear paint. Even up close, the paint & chrome shines nicely. Interior is mostly new and looks good. I have been installing new weather stripping, window felts, etc. as needed.

Looks like the trunk has been replaced, and seems to be a decent job from what I can tell. During the replacement, new body mounts were installed in back, but I installed new mounts in the front half of car (always a good time while on your back). While under the car, I noticed that the front floor pan/toe area had some rust through, which was previously "patched" from the top side using sheet metal and a few rivets.

While the repair is solid for practical purposes, and will likely last me for many years, I am trying to determine the work effort & benefit of installing two new floor pan inserts, and maybe even adding the rears while the plasma cutter & welder are warmed up.

In your opinions, would it be worth installing the front pans without doing a full frame-off? Is a frame-off project even feasible if the goal is to not repaint the body? Seems like it would be a challenge not to ding up the body! It appears that replacing pan inserts from the top side is not a big deal, or is it?

My primary purpose is to enjoy the car in the summer months, while it stays snug & cozy in my heated shop during the winter. I do not plan on having a show car, but would also like to keep the resale value in mind for when that day eventually comes!

Thanks for your feedback!


----------



## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

partial floor pans can be put in without separating the frame but grinding and smoothing the underside will be tough depending on how much you need to take out. Remember back in the day we used "No Parking" signs on a buddy's 65' Mustang floors. I would at least spray the repair from the underside with undercoating if the previous owner did not. Fact is most of our cars do not see rain and snow anymore so you could probably hold off until your ready for another paint job.


----------



## FlambeauHO (Nov 24, 2011)

I would also hold off. Unless you want to cut out only the necessary patch material out of new floor pans... definitely undercoat either way.


----------



## leeklm (Mar 11, 2012)

These pans are bugging me, I just hate to put the carpet back down over the crappy sheet metal.

Just talked to an old friend that owns a body shop, and will be driving the car down to him for further review since the interior is stripped out. They have done a number of floor pan replacements, and was thinking anywhere from 5-10 hours of labor per 1/4 pan fully welded. Of course I could put that labor $$$ towards a new welder (which i need anyway) and work on it next winter... But considering I spend 8-10 hours a day behind a desk, my welding skills have greatly diminished. Of course they were never very strong to begin with!


----------



## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

if you have them do it make sure they cover ALL glass, the sparks can ruin it.


----------



## leeklm (Mar 11, 2012)

Met with my body shop friend today to look at the floors. His suggestion was to also not replace any floor tin until a full frame-off some day. Since the metal is good for the most part, his recommendation was to clean the floor sections up good that are in need of a little repair, and put down some cloth and resin. Should last for years.

I did a boat floor last year with cloth and Epoxy, which was nice to work with. Any suggestions on what type of material might work good for this type of repair?


----------



## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

regular polyester fleece (sweat shirt material) from fabric store and resin will work into contour and channels better than fiber mat. can smooth with body icing poly filler. just did my trunk which had a few pinholes.


----------



## leeklm (Mar 11, 2012)

Well, here it is... I cut the "holy" metal out, cleaned, sanded, and riveted in 26ga galvenized (was about all the local Menards had). Used lots of PL Premium Adhesive under the new metal.  Roughed up the metal and applied Epoxy resin (left over from my boat floor) and two layers of heavy knit cloth (again left over). After curing, scuffed it up and painted. I then sealed it up good underneath the car and applied 3M undercoating. Good as old!

I will say that an experienced body guy with the right tools could have welded in new floor quarters in about the same time, maybe a little longer, as what I spent on this

From the looks of it, the repair is very strong and should last for many years. I really do not have the heart for a frame-off in the foreseeable future...


----------



## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

you should be fine for years, not like these cars see the salt, snow and rain that they were designed for anymore. Much more fun driving them than having it apart in the garage....we used to borrow no turn on red signs, they seemed to fit floor pans nicely from the top and were heavy gauge and weatherproof.


----------

