Muscletang needs new floor pans - advice?

[tony-muscle]

Eric,

Not many people can say that they built their car out of computer pieces. I think that's awesome problem solving skills .

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?

 

[Mister 4x4]

Eric,

Not many people can say that they built their car out of computer pieces. I think that's awesome problem solving skills .

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?

LOL - yeah... I'm not sure if it's one of my better ideas or not, but it's solid and good for a laugh. ::thumb::

Here's the donor after taking a nibbler to it.



Tossed it in while tweaking it to fit - just got the crease done.



You can just make it out toward the top middle/left of the pic - and maybe even notice the hand-peened ribbing.

 

[tony-muscle]

Rear floor extender is welded on. Not a piece from a computer case, but the 66-70 mustang piece.

Next steps include prepping and welding the brackets that go back there to hold the seat and panel.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Looks awesome! ::thumb::

I used the same Mr. Mustang panel in the same place on mine, too. Despite a few topographical differences and needing a few tweaks, it fit just fine.

Nice job! :bravo:

 

[tony-muscle]

Yesterday I gave up my effort to restore the seat platforms. You can go back to about post #52 of this thread where I decided to give it a try. I took the platforms to sand blast and after $100 I received a pair of beautifully shiny platforms. At first glance, besides the obvious rusted out pieces, they looked fixable. However, once I started looking closer there are pieces with too much pitting and too many stress cracking at the edges. The holes that you see within the pitting were done after I hit it with a chisel. I first thought I could replace the pitted and rusted out pieces, but once I found so many cracks I gave up. They are fixable, but they will require a lot of work. I think I'm better off buying new ones and then modifying the height to match the fastback ones. CJPonny had a great deal going on that ended yesterday and they were discounted at $65/each. Once I get the new ones and fix them I could sell these ones to a more adventurer restorer. In insight I would have been able to save the sand blasting and use the money for new ones, but at least I gave it a try.

 

[turtle5353]

I would fix those bad boys right up....... mine were completely gone. I bought a 3ft sheetmetal brake from harbor freight and it works great on projects like this.

 

[tony-muscle]

They are fixable, but when i saw so many cracks at the edges i figured that it was a sign that it was time to move on. Oh well, they will be up for sale soon.

1971 M-code Mach 1

 

[tony-muscle]

I am finally done welding and patching the floors. I un-tarped the interior of the car after one half year being covered. It is nice to see the inside of the car looking actually like a car and not a "bag"

I am now working on cleaning all so I can prime and then paint. After that I will modify the new seat platforms and weld them in place. So a little bit more welding left, but almost done. It is nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This has been quite the job, but I have learned an incredible amount and can now be proud of it. Could have not done it without the help of this site. The job has taken on a bunch of side track smaller jobs while I have been at it. Expenses have also been side tracked. Since all is disassembled might as well tackle all those little details. I am sure there will be some more to tackle as I assemble the pieces back together. Who cares, that's the fun part

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

You are going to have to get you a molasses tank going and save all that blasting money. For less than $20.00 you can have a tank plenty big enough for those parts. Just drop them in and wait about two weeks and wash away the rust. Clean metal. One part feed grade molasses to 9 parts water so a 5 gal. jug of molasses will give you a 50 gallon tank. It will not touch grease, paint or chrome just rust. So the parts cannot be greasy when they go in or nothing happens.

You have done a great job and probably better than some shops could do. It will be a lot more solid than the rust holes.

David

 

[turtle5353]

Looks great!!! Get some primer on there and sound deadener and you're ready to rock n roll. better hurry the weather is starting to get warmer!!!

 

[tony-muscle]

Just wanted to post some pictures to show the culmination of my almost one half year project. I finished last week by priming and painting the inside and underside. All is left is to assemble the interior back together. Oops..... I guess I forgot to say that I still have no seat platforms. They are backordered, but should have them in two weeks.

The inside black ended up being a bit more glossy than what I wanted. You can see that it highlights the imperfections. Specially where the floor pan had to be hammered to fit. You can see on the passenger side by the firewall that is a bit dented. The paint makes it look worse that what it is. That area needed a lot of persuasion since the ribbing was hard to match.

In summary, the pans (inside and underside) were primed with Eastwood's epoxy primer. The inside was then painted with Eastwood's chassis top coat and the underside with Eastwood's underside coating. I do not own a spray gun so the primer was laid with foamy brushes from Home Depot, and the paint and underside were top coated with spray cans. As a feedback to anyone not owning a spray gun, laying the primer with a foamy brush works great and the finish is very good. The primer is very thin so the foam doesn't leave brush marks.

So here are a few pictures of the floor pan finished work.


I also have to say that the seam sealing step took a lot longer than what I was expecting. I read all about laying the bead on top of the seam and I have this image of a beautiful bead, but I felt that the sealer had to be pushed into the seam to create a good seal, which made the job harder. That meant that it didn't look the prettiest. In the past I have caulked bathrooms and that's much easier. In the bathroom you typically use the squeegee along the corner. The floor pans don't make a corner so the squeegee is more difficult and messy to use. In any case, it may not look the prettiest, but I am sure the sealer is very well in between the seam.

 

[turtle5353]

Looks great man!!!! Awesome job. Are you planning on putting sound deadener in?? It made a world of difference in my car. Much quieter and my feet are not nearly as hot from the headers. I used Eastwood Thermocoustic stuff.

 

[tony-muscle]

Looks great man!!!! Awesome job. Are you planning on putting sound deadener in?? It made a world of difference in my car. Much quieter and my feet are not nearly as hot from the headers. I used Eastwood Thermocoustic stuff.

Yeah.... i would do a partial coverage with dynamat, plus complete carpet underlayment and mass back carpet.

1971 M-code Mach 1

 

[Qcode351mach]

looks good :bravo:

Now you know why it costs so much to have this type of work done not easy is it.

You should definitely repair the seat risers, the stress cracks can easily be fixed by adding a reinforcement layer of sheet metal underneath in addition to welding the crack itself (drill a 1/8" hole at the end of the crack prior to stop it from traveling)

 

[cudak888]

That has to be one of the best-looking home-done floorpan jobs I've seen here. Bravo!

-Kurt

 

[tony-muscle]

That has to be one of the best-looking home-done floorpan jobs I've seen here. Bravo!

-Kurt

Thank you. It would've not been possible without all you guys help.

When I started this was my first sheetmetal and welding experience.

I wish i had all you guys here in the neighborhood so I can buy a few beers.[emoji1] [emoji1]

1971 M-code Mach 1

looks good :bravo:

Now you know why it costs so much to have this type of work done not easy is it.

You should definitely repair the seat risers, the stress cracks can easily be fixed by adding a reinforcement layer of sheet metal underneath in addition to welding the crack itself (drill a 1/8" hole at the end of the crack prior to stop it from traveling)

It is tempting but i found the repro ones at a good deal. I hope someday the original seat platforms are of use for someone doing a rotisserie restoration.

1971 M-code Mach 1

 

[73pony]

Nice job. I like the foam brush idea. That seam sealer is a PITA true but hey they didn't make it look good from the factory either.

 

[mach71351c]

Congrats on a job well done!

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Very nicely done. Now you get to cover it all up so no one can see your fantastic work.

 

[mjlan]

Wow, those turned out really nice! You did a great job!