Barneyformula's New Floor Pans

I saw that you were replacing your floor pans a while back. Was that a pretty simple process? I'm about to replace all of mine on my '79 Trans Am, and I'm not sure wheather to get the full length pans for each side or the four smaller sections.

I'm also not sure who to call - a restoration company or just a welder to remove and replace. I haven't had much success communicating what I need done. One welder that advertised automotive welding kept putting me on hold while he checked his computer, and then ask me what size engine and told me the gasket for the "oil pan" was extra.  

Brazil, you are in luck! I'm about to perform that installation this week. Since I'm a full-time diesel mechanic and also spend my summer spare time working on a dirt track stock car, I don't have much time left over for my own car, especially when the summer temps are hot and humid. Now that the temps have dropped into the 60-70F range with no real humidity and the kids are all back in school, I've taken two-weeks vacation. Last week was dedicated to repairs around the house, this week will be Firebird time! I bought the full-length pans for my car simply because it was cheaper and I will get more metal to work with. I will likely replace the whole pans for a cleaner installation. I will take pics as I work and post them on my Reader's Rides page with captions so you can follow along. As for equipment, I will be using an air powered die grinder with cut-off wheels and an air chisel with both flat-cutting and sheet metal cutting bits for removal and a small MIG welder I borrowed from a co-worker. I will also have to fabricate new sections for the toe-boards in the front foot wells on each side, as they are not included in the full length pans. Start watching my Rides page about Wednesday night for progress.
Steve  
Trying to help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!

Cool! I'll be following your progress, good luck!!
Brazil  

I'll be watching too because Im getting ready to do the same on my 79 TA over the winter. You might want to check National parts depot for the toe boards I think they carry them. Check out npdlink.com for those toe boards

JD  

Hi guys, the floor pans have been on hold for a while. Just after I posted that I came down with a bad case of the flu (might have even been H1N1 !) which led to pneumonia. Rotten way to spend the second week of vacation! Anyhow, I'm still not fully back to normal yet and the weather isn't cooperating either. My garage is fairly small so a big job like this has to be done outside so the doors can be fully open, or maybe I just need to clean the junk out of my garage! It will get done though and I will post a note here so you guys can check out the pics on Reader's Rides. Thanks for the interest.
Steve  
Trying to help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!

Well barney I hope you feel better buddy.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

What's the compression ratio on that H1N1?

The guy from Texas Trans Am's met me in Houston at the Rennenasauce (sp?) Festival and delivered my brand new floor pans right to me complete in his Johnny Depp Capt. Jack outfit - great guy. My local body shop guy who talks waaaay too much cut out the parts he needed and did some beautiful patching for 100 bucks, it's solid as a rock and painted with the non-rust stuff. If you would have seen how really bad it was all the way from under the back seats to up the firewall you would appreciate the dudes work. Capt. Jack also brought me the carpet which is laying nicely over the juke and tar paper padding.

I still like the way a shifter looks coming straight up out of the carpet through the black condom thing, but I'm going to go ahead and put the middle console thing back in just so I'll have an arm rest and a hiding place for um, insurance stuff.

Brazil  

Insurance stuff huh? Ok! As for the shifter with no console, I always liked that look too. Years ago when I worked at a Midas shop, my boss had a 1981 Z28 (still has it, still original paint and interior, upgraded drivetrain, runs low 12's). He told me about the 79 Z28 that he traded in on the 81. He ordered it in black with black vinyl interior, drip rail delete, stripe delete, console delete and the 350 4bbl with Super T10 4 speed and 3.73 posi on black 5 spoke Z28 wheels. What a cool looking ride in the pics he showed me. He drove it home from the dealer then to work the next day, installed headers and straight pipes (no cat) to the factory resonators and a set of traction bars. After the first few clutch and trans repairs his delear refused to do anymore warranty work and he had to travel to nearby towns to get warranty work! Man, I'm rambling again!
Don't know the CR on swine flu, but the resulting pneumonia and it's aftermath still leaves my coughing like 301 2bbl with bad plug wires occasionally. As a side note, I recently bought a Performer RPM intake for my car on Ebay, what a deal! I think I will keep it for when I build my 400. Thanks for the get well wishes guys.
Steve  
Trying to help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!

Ramble on brother, it's the month of Scorpio - it's quite hard to hold one's own tonque. I wagged mine at a 2009 Firehawk who was being unnecessarly aggressive this morning. Nobody was interested in his busyness, especially not me trying to get my wife to her teaching job dressed up in the whole female Dracula thing.

For two years now I have driven around in what my daughter refers to as a bubble. A 1997 explorer donated to us for no particular reason by my inlaws. We have always had Trans Am's, or Grand Prixs (sp?) But it just happened that this morning the Explorer wouldn't start. We didn't want to go all the way to work on our Yamaha Virago with Cil's Dracula cape and top hat, so our only choice was the Trans Am. The floor pans are installed and the carpet is just laying in there getting aquainted. There are no seats yet so I drove my wife to work with no seatbelts or seats. We looked like idiots.

I have been hesitant to really stomp "Guadalupe" after her fresh 400 heart transplant, When I noticed how easily I hit 5800 RPM accidently I aquired a problem. Every Mustang and whatever thinks they need to race me, even though we could barely see each others head.

This car is really eccentric and patiently awaiting her beautiful Exotic paint. every car I ever had was usually new, but this was a '78 I bought on Sept 11, 2001 - New York City D-Day. It's heart is a '72 400 from a junkyard. Some kid had evidently just rebuilt it and wreaked all but the engine. I rebuilt it and now it's the pacemaker for Guadalupe.

There is this new Ram Air Firehawk that I understand is supposed to be the top of the new performance Trans Am's, and I have seen this particular one ignoring school zones every day. I'm a pleasant person and the one thing I've always loved is when other Firebirds come up beside you and give you a nod and a smile, I love that.....It's like the "Harley Hello" with your left hand when you pass another biker.

Why, for some reason, this guy in this nice new Firehawk felt the need to shoot the bird at me and rev his thing up at a light heading to the freeway is beyond me. Then, he jerks in front of me for no reason and slows down and shoots the bird at me again. I'm just trying to get my wife to work with a minimum of stress since she will soon be dealing with a classroom full of 3rd graders - some gifted, some special ed.

I don't know if your familiar with the sign of Scorpio, but we can be the nicest sunshinny people in the world until someone threatens my family's well being. At this point my own rationality goes out the window and the little dumbass gets a first hand lesson about "those old cars."

I guess it'll be another year before Cil will drive it again.  

Cool, teach 'em a lesson!  
Trying to help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!

I am just installing pans in my 79. The car came with two full length pans that someone had screwed over the rust.  Using the Pans as a guide I cut the rusty stuff out leaving a 1" overlap around the edge. I also punched holes around the edge of the new pan and I will plug weld it in place, probably tomorrow morning.  That will provide all of the strength I need and will make the surface cleanup simpler.  Besides I need the practice in faking spot welds. I will be turning the car over to do the welding on the underside which beats the heck out of lay under a car with molten metal dripping all on you.

BTW thanks for smoking that accident in motion. I keep having evil thoughts about stealing their rides, cursing it into a small cube, then putting the cube back where I found the car.  

That's what I like about this group, great advice and willing to help, but all of us just a little crusty around the edges! God help the wannabees that mess with our classic Pontiac rides! LOL!    
Steve  
Trying to help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!

That crust makes for a great pie.
As far as that magical cube, I think I accidently did that in the '80s going home down a long deserted road in my '75 Grand Prix at 2AM in the morning. Out of nowhere a turd shot up beside me, fingered me, cut me off and proceeded to disappear into the night. I had just attended a Rod Stewart concert and was driving home very slow - probably very very slow. My initial thought was to be mad and chase him down, but my better, very slow senses just put a curse on him mentally.

As I approached the traffic light several miles down the road, I noticed red and blue lights everywhere. And there was that car compressed into a cube completely underneath an 18 wheeler at the light.

The worst part is, I snickered.    

Here is an update on the floor pan installation on my 79.  The foot wells, front and back, were rotted on the car but the part between the body braces, under the front seat, looked good.  I opened the sheet metal on the top side of the braces (the seats bolt to these) and it looked good inside so I elected not to remove the remaining sheet metal. I also left about an inch of the original pans where they are connected to the rocker panels and removed the mounting flange from the new pans for proper fit.

The new pans didn't quite sit tight against the metal I left under the seat and were a bit short of the overall length I needed; so I but cut the pan in half; punched plug weld holes every 2 inches around the edge; and drilled 1/4 inch holes across the pan where the heave metal of the body braces are.  

I also drilled a dozen holes, spaced evenly, through the sheet metal so I could plug weld in the area where I left the original metal.  Next I sheet metal screwed the part in place: starting at one corner and working across the pan then toward the back.  That let me adjust the fit as I went. I removed the screws one at a time and plug welded the pan in.  All together it took about six hours to fit correctly, weld, grind, and primer.

The guy that did this for $100 was a real bargain and he's hired if he wants to do that on my remaining pan.  

I hear you man! I finally got started on my passenger side pan yesterday morning. The seat and carpet were already out and it took about 2 hours to get everything cut out. I chose to remove the entire pan rather than cut the new ones. I have added a new Reader's Rides page that I will post all the floor pics on. Just click on my Formula then go to the links to my other rides, the page is Formula Floor Replacement.
Steve  
Trying to help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!