floor replacement

i am doing a restoration on a 67 gto and have purchased the full floor pans from ames. i am looking for some advice as how to tackle this because i have only done patch panels in the past.  

Just like patch panels, dont cut out everything if you can help it.  No patches for a bad patch job.  
Carlos
70 Lemans(GTO Clone),406,Solid Cam 218 single pattern, 105 LSA
Serious Hobbyist

Did you get a one piece floor or two piece? Goes from the front of the back seat to the toe boards? How do your floor support crossmember(s) look? I have not done a 67 GTO floor but lots of other jobs. I've got a photo album online of doing two piece pans in a '64 Chevy if that will help.

To expose the welds and seams. I like a 3M clean-n-strip disc. For removal, I like to use a good 1/8 drill then a Blair spotweld cutter. After that, a 3/16" thick cutoff wheel on a guarded tool for the stubborn spots, then a hammer and chisel for the rest. I like using small self tapping sheetmetal screws for fitting. Expect some trimming and maybe adding, and some possible hammer work to fit the seat belt and seat mounts just right. Take pains to precisely measure and mark everything beforehand, particularly any brackets you may need to swap over.

Keeping the new floor dry might be hard to do unless you've had the fenders off and redone the factory seam sealer around the cowl and firewall area. Just FYI, don't know how big your project is.

Holler if you have any specific questions before or during the job, theres a ton of help on tap here.

 

I think we would like a little more information and photos would be nice.  Does the car really need a whole pan or does it need patches?   Is the car going to be a daily driver or a 100 point restoration?  What are your plans for the car and a little more about your experience level.

To replace the whole pan requires removing all of the spot welds pulling the existing pan and cleaning up the mess on the braces. Fitting the New pan and and welding it back. Oh, and lets not forget about keeping the car straight while your working on it.

I know our friend Mat will have a lot of things to say too but the more we know the better the advice.

Milt  

Heh heh, Milt, that was a simul-click!    Nice. We aim to please.  

New floor pans are doable, but require serious fabrication/welding skills.,. tell us more about the extent of rust,,,, pics would help.

 
When The Flag Drops,,,



The Bull Chit Stops,,,


P. Engineer, Engine Builder

I have done full floors,bracing and trunk floors on a 67, it requires alot of time and effort. If you only have sections that have rot i would just replace those areas.
Post some pics.  

Hey Mat - it has been awhile since we had a good body thread.  I hope wwillis18 comes back with a photo and a bit more information.  This has potential.  

BTW wwillis18 thanks for giving us an opportunity to help you out on your project.  We do love a good project...

Milt  

Maybe if we hold really still and wait for the wind direction to change ...

Matt    

hai i am new to this site and very happy to meet you all.  

Fantastic - another new face (so to speak).  Welcome to the group.  The are a lot of nice friendly people with a common passion, Pontiac, and a deep knowledge base, on the site.

Milt  

Thanks for all the feed back. I have pics, buy don't know how load them yet. The floors are definitely in need of repair from front to back. I thought that it would be a good idea to go with the full floor pan because it would would be stronger and it also has all the braces welded into place. It will be mounted to a rotisserie when the time comes since it must be mounted from underneath. As Mr. Milt mentioned, one of my concerns is in keeping the body straight. I am going to tackle the trunk area first since this is also a full pan replacement also. Right now I only get to work on it one day a week so progress is going to be slow.

Walter  

I’m glad you’re still with us.  I am a little confused though since I have never seen a full pan in person I am surprised to hear it includes bracing.  Very surprised in fact! It also surprises me to hear you are going to attempt it from the bottom up.

Normally, and again in my experience, you would cut the spot welds from he old pan  all the way around and on the floor reinforcement too and then remove the old pan.   After the braces were cleaned of rust; the new pan would be ready to test install and you would make any adjustments for fitment (and there will almost always be some of those).  Once you get he fit right, plug welding the floor in can begin (Please note that preceding statement is very simplified.)  

I am also a little concerned that you are mounting it onto a Rotisserie.  Without the frame under the car and with the floor removed and the doors out - it could taco (fold in the middle like a taco) very easily.  That could be extremely hard to fix – maybe impossible in a home shop.  As I have said before my friend Mat has move experience with putting in full pans and he may tell me I’m all wet but I would leave the frame on until the car until  I  had the new pans in and I would put them in from the top.  Once the pans are there you could mount it on the Rotisserie but I still would cross brace the heck out of it to keep it straight in any case.

BTW you can put you photos on PhotoBucket and insert links to post photos.  I definitely have a lot more to say and I am sure Mat will too but for now I am going to shut up and let Mat chime in.   Finally please let us know your level of experience with extensive body repairs - it will make a difference on what we suggest.  

This could/will be a long project and it could be very hard for you if you don’t already have some experience and some nice tools.

Milt


PS I don't think the full pan will make it stronger once the welding is done...  

wwillis- feel free to PM me if the picture hosting thing is a stumbling block.

Maybe the new floor is like a kit and just came with the braces, not attached? Hmmm...

Hardtop bodies seem to be OK without bracing on a dolly or lift but I haven't had one on a rotisserie yet. We did have a Camaro with a fully welded chassis on the rotisserie though, no bracing needed. Convertibles must have bracing. A bare post car body I wouldn't hesitate to flip right over without bracing but I don't know if they even made GTOs that weren't hardtops.

Milt I think if our GTO hero has tackled some patchwork before and has the guts to go for full floors, I support that and am ready to see and advise as needed. I would like nothing more than to see another one restored and preserved properly without breaking the bank and with giant grins at the end! I'll wait for pics though.

Matt  

Matt yes there was 2dr post (2 dr sedan) 1964-67. 68 and up was hardtop(coupe) and convertible only!!

Bob