Muscletang needs new floor pans - advice?

[cudak888]

Would that be enough to have access to the inside to hammer it?

More likely to dolly it.

Remember, both the hammer and dolly are always sitting on the high spots of their respective sides. Thus, find the high spots in the rocker, set your dolly on them, and tap around them with the hammer.

Granted, I'm not convinced that the thick metal of the rocker will be as receptive to the hammer/dolly as bodywork without a bit more force than is usually talked about.

I'm charting into waters where I have fuzzy vision too, so I'm going to take a rest on this and let Q weigh in...

-Kurt

 

[tony-muscle]

Interesting. Two questions here:

. The thickness of the bondo seems thicker than the bumps. Therefore, if the rocker is made straight it may not align with the fenders. I dont know for sure, but if thats the case what would i do? Thats one of those worms in the can that i am afraid of.

. The slot that is cut on top of the rocker is about 1.5" wide. Would that be enough to have access to the inside to bang it?

Well, let me answer my 1st question. I figured that the bondo skin is curved, being thicker in the middle where the "repair" is. Therefore, I don't think I need to worry about a mismatch once the bondo is stripped.

 

[turtle5353]

I really suck at body work but can weld just about anything. What I would personally do would be to cut out the bad section and weld in a new rocker. I could cut out and weld in a new one in a day easy, but I would have a week in beating it with a hammer and dolly then still have putty over the top. That's just me though, and as I said I SUCK at body work!!

 

[tony-muscle]

I really suck at body work but can weld just about anything. What I would personally do would be to cut out the bad section and weld in a new rocker. I could cut out and weld in a new one in a day easy, but I would have a week in beating it with a hammer and dolly then still have putty over the top. That's just me though, and as I said I SUCK at body work!!

If i go the welding route:

. Would subframe connectors be enough to hold the chassis in place while the rocker is cut? Or do i need a jig?

. Should i replace the whole rocker outer panel or just the 2 feet damaged section? I guess the latter should be much easier.

. Any experience with the Sherman rocker repro?

.............

Thank you for all the suggestions. Keep them coming[emoji1]

1971 M-code Mach 1

 

[turtle5353]

The subframe connectors would definitely help. I would also weld a temporary small brace from the subframe connectors out to the rocker in front and behind of the repair you are going to make. Cut out the bad section, butt weld the new section in, grind it down and you will have very minimal putty in there. but you will have to repaint the lower silver section, but not a big deal. I have never used those rocker skins but for the price, those are usually cheap thin repops.

I would have the car sitting with its weight on the wheels. I usually put a cement block under each tire so I have room to work.

 

[tony-muscle]

The subframe connectors would definitely help. I would also weld a temporary small brace from the subframe connectors out to the rocker in front and behind of the repair you are going to make. Cut out the bad section, butt weld the new section in, grind it down and you will have very minimal putty in there. but you will have to repaint the lower silver section, but not a big deal. I have never used those rocker skins but for the price, those are usually cheap thin repops.

I would have the car sitting with its weight on the wheels. I usually put a cement block under each tire so I have room to work.

What other options are there for rocker replacement besides a donor car?

 

[turtle5353]

The subframe connectors would definitely help. I would also weld a temporary small brace from the subframe connectors out to the rocker in front and behind of the repair you are going to make. Cut out the bad section, butt weld the new section in, grind it down and you will have very minimal putty in there. but you will have to repaint the lower silver section, but not a big deal. I have never used those rocker skins but for the price, those are usually cheap thin repops.

I would have the car sitting with its weight on the wheels. I usually put a cement block under each tire so I have room to work.

What other options are there for rocker replacement besides a donor car?

To be honest im not sure?? Never had to do the rockers on mine. the ones you were looking at maybe alright as long as the thickness is comparable. Since you will only be using a part of it and not the whole thing.

 

[cudak888]

What other options are there for rocker replacement besides a donor car?

Someone with a donor car. Put a want ad here in the forum. There are a few fellows here with parts cars rough enough to warrant parting out for the rockers.

-Kurt

 

[OMS]

What other options are there for rocker replacement besides a donor car?

Someone with a donor car. Put a want ad here in the forum. There are a few fellows here with parts cars rough enough to warrant parting out for the rockers.

-Kurt

I have a few donor cars

 

[tony-muscle]

What other options are there for rocker replacement besides a donor car?

Someone with a donor car. Put a want ad here in the forum. There are a few fellows here with parts cars rough enough to warrant parting out for the rockers.

-Kurt

I have a few donor cars

PM Sent

 

[tony-muscle]

These last two weeks work has been slow. I was out of town for a while but now I am back at it. I have been arranging with Don from Ohio for a donor rocker panel. Welding the rocker will have to wait since I will focus on finishing the floor before tackling that job. Since I am only replacing the outer skin of the rocker I figure that shouldn't interfere with the floor work.

I have been cleaning the sections of firewall that are not covered by the A/C box. I think I may have found the source, or one of the sources, of water inlet. Could water have been leaking through the blower fan cap (see pic)? I see there is a gap there and the surface rust starts under it. As far as I can see up the firewall all looks clean, including the bottom of the cowl. Some water may have gotten in through the A/C drain hole and probably at some point the A/C drain hose was not properly installed. The hole by the transmission tunnel was abandoned at some point and the drain hose rerouted to the right by the fender. They never capped the drain hole by the trans - what the.....

In any case, I have been playing contortionist trying to clean the firewall with grinding wire wheels, dremel wheels and a flat screwdriver. Also had to cut some of what appears the original firewall insulation - hence the glue on the firewall. The good news is that most of the rust is superficial. I am removing as much as I can mechanically. There are a few spots that I can't get with the wheels so those will be "scraped" with the screwdriver. Next up is using some rust converter jelly, then some after blast metal prep, degreaser and a coat of POR15.

I had to cut the firewall almost all the way to the top of the torque box. There was surface rust between the torque box and firewall pan, specially at the top. I think water must have gotten up there at some point and did its corrosive work. Now I hope with all the cleaning and POR15 we should be good. BTW, I am planing on taping the areas where the spot and butt welds will go so they don't get painted. I will still spray those with weld primer for some protection.

 

[tony-muscle]

In my last post when i said i was feeling like a contortionist i meant it. Today i went out to work in the car and my back was killing me. I tried couple times to work up in the firewall and my back gave up. It took me 5 minutes to get out of the car from the sharp pain. I guess i have been crawling between the firewall, glove box and floors too long. Time to take a break and dose off ibuprofen.

1971 M-code Mach 1

 

[turtle5353]

In my last post when i said i was feeling like a contortionist i meant it. Today i went out to work in the car and my back was killing me. I tried couple times to work up in the firewall and my back gave up. It took me 5 minutes to get out of the car from the sharp pain. I guess i have been crawling between the firewall, glove box and floors too long. Time to take a break and dose off ibuprofen.

1971 M-code Mach 1

A good stiff drink will help that too. Take a couple days off then get back at it. You have all winter so pace yourself. You have been doing a lot of nice work!! Keep it up!

If the dash was out it would make it a lot easier. And this would be a great time to convert to LED's if you took dash out. But its a fair amount of work.

 

[tony-muscle]

In my last post when i said i was feeling like a contortionist i meant it. Today i went out to work in the car and my back was killing me. I tried couple times to work up in the firewall and my back gave up. It took me 5 minutes to get out of the car from the sharp pain. I guess i have been crawling between the firewall, glove box and floors too long. Time to take a break and dose off ibuprofen.

1971 M-code Mach 1

A good stiff drink will help that too. Take a couple days off then get back at it. You have all winter so pace yourself. You have been doing a lot of nice work!! Keep it up!

If the dash was out it would make it a lot easier. And this would be a great time to convert to LED's if you took dash out. But its a fair amount of work.

Yeah, I am taking couple days off, I just wanted to get somewhere before the Thanksgivings break.

I took out the instrument panel as part of the work, the dash cover, but not the dash "frame" or glove box section. The LEDs were already purchased so that's part of the plan.

I thought the passenger side was going to be easier than the driver's side but I was wrong - again! The passenger side has more rust up in the firewall and because of the dash it is hard to get to it. At least, all is clean now. I still have to plug couple holes that they made for the A/C drain hose to go through and another oval hole by the tans tunnel that I have no idea what it was for. When they made these holes they most have drilled a small hole and then bent all the sheetmetal. Only one of these holes was used for the drain hose so the others were a good path for water to come in.

 

[tony-muscle]

I am back in business.... As you guys know I am working on some rust on the firewall. However, I am working with the A/C and dash in place so I don't have the luxury of being able to prime and paint the whole thing. The existing paint on the firewall looks bluish, which I assume is the original paint. I am painting the floor and tunnel in black. My plan is to also paint the sections of the firewall that I fixed and cleaned in black. That said, at some point there will be a transition from the "new" black to the "old" blue. This transition will be mostly hidden from view unless someone really looks. Is there a recommendation on how to better make this transition?

 

[tony-muscle]

Something I wish I would have known or thought of before hand is to tape the welded seems once you are finished (see picture, I just did yesterday). This is specially important when you are doing one floor at a time like me, and would be seam sealing and painting after both sides are done. I finish welding the driver's side a few month ago and then started working on the passenger's side. What is happening is that while I cut and grind on one side the dust and particles settle between the overlap of the recently finished side. I am using a protective tarp throughout most of the interior, but the floor is not covered. Therefore, a recommendation is to simply tape over the overlap seam so no dust and particles settle in there.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Lookin' great! ::thumb::

When you pull up the tape, some of those particles will come with the tape, but run a fairly sturdy magnet along the seam - that should get most of the metallic stuff out of there. Then hit it with an air nozzle to take care of the rest.

 

[tony-muscle]

Just wanted to write here to let you know that I am still working on the passenger side floors. but little by little. I am done fixing the holes and rust damage on the firewall above the floor pan. Now I am working in the area under the rear seat. I cut a big section here and I am replacing it with the rear seat extension for the 66-70 since they don't repop ours. The 66-70 fits very well (http://www.cjponyparts.com/mr-mustang-floor-extension-rear-driver-side-1966-1970/p/M151L/?year=1966&gclid=CL6Li5mTgsoCFQ2UaQodWx4Clg). The ribbing is slightly different. Specially in the area where it will meet the floor pan. Nothing too drastic but some cutting and hammer persuasion would be required to match the two pieces.

What I have learned is that the actual welding or painting doesn't take that long. What really takes long is the prep work to get there. Example, Some areas that have shallow surface pitting that I am not cutting take a while to clean and prep. I pretty much start with the wire wheel in the grinder and then have to finish clearing the rust by hand until I get bare metal. The wires basically fly over the pits so you need to use other means. I don't want to coat any rust so I want to make sure I see bare metal everywhere. I then treat with rust transformer, coat with rust encapsulator and epoxy primer. Some of these areas are within the lap of the weld, so I am performing this treatment before welding with the hope that the rust will stop. I then try not to weld close to these areas. Off course, once I weld, I would seam seal, but I am not at that step yet.

 

[tony-muscle]

Here are some pictures of the work I did on the passenger side firewall, the area just above where the floor panel replacement ends. I adapted a piece of trunk drop off sheet metal. The ribbing is not of the same size so it won't look OEM. Not perfect, but reasonable. I also fixed some small rust sections and holes around the area, beyond where the panels fit.

Right now I am working on the rear seat extension section. I already cut out the pieces and I am in the process of prepping so I can weld a piece from a 66-70 Mustang in place. After that, the floor pan will go in. The inside of the front and rear frame rail extensions looked in great shape after I cleaned all the dirt. Today I will POR15 the inside of the rails in the areas I have access to and then use Eastowood's frame spray in the areas I can't access directly.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Nice!! You are definitely getting all the details covered. ::thumb::

FYI - I actually used the casing of an old Zenith Z-100 computer for my floor-to-firewall patch. I put the flat piece and just used a ball-peen hammer to smash the ribbing into the new piece (it's all under the carpet, after all...). Hey - sheet metal is sheet metal, right?