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March 21, 2004
4.5 hours
One Year Ago Today

Floor Repair Update

OK, I know I promised that there wouldn't be any more floor updates until I was done, but I kind of miss doing regular updates, so here's an update of what I've been up to for the past two weeks.

The passenger's side is pretty much done except for some final grinding and finishing and the fabrication of the interior support bracket. I also started on the driver's side this afternoon. The last few things I did on the passenger's side was grind the welds flush and weld in the final patch inside the hinge pillar. I also did some finish welding on all the patches, but kept blowing through the original floorpans because they were pockmarked and thin from rust (that was removed using Picklex). So I cut that part out instead of chasing the holes with the welder, which just made big blobs of weld that weren't going to be easy to hide, even with some grinding.

Passenger's side floor turned out pretty well. Still some grinding to be
done on some of the welds to make it all pretty.

On the driver's side, I started by cutting out the interior support bracket and removing the rusted panel underneath. It was like lace. Fortunately, the lower body brace was in fine condition save for some surface rust. I noticed a few differences between it and the bracket I fabricated, particularly where the bod bolt passes through it, where there is a gusset to provide some additional stability when the bolt is tightened. I'm going to see if I can shore mine up somehow, possibly with a spacer that I'll install when I bolt the body back on (whenever that is...).

Driver's side brace is in better shape than it appears in this shot. Note
the gusset in the center that supports the floor when the body bolt
is installed to keep the floor from collapsing.

I cut the interior support brace apart so I could work on the floor. I believe I can salvage it and use it as a template for the passenger's side. I'll throw it in the blast cabinet to clean it up. Once the floorpans are repaired, I'll weld it back in place and everything should be as good as new.

Interior brace looks worse than it is. I think it can be saved.

I hit the inside of the lower brace with some a variety of wire wheels on my die grinder to clean up as much rust as I could, especially in areas that I won't be able to reach in the future with a sandblaster or chemicals. Once the body is off the chassis, it should be easier to reach all the bottom areas that are not quite perfect, but the very end of the lower brace will be impossible to get at, so it has to be as clean as it can get now. A good step is Picklex-20, which will convert even micro-rust to a rust-resistant coating. So I hosed the area down with a little bit. When it dries, I'll apply some Zero-Rust inside and around the lower brace to seal it up and protect it. When it's time to prep the bottom of the car, I'll try to spray the primer and final coats up inside there and hope it works out.

You can see the Picklex cleaning up the rust here. The final patch
will be butt welded into place and slipped under the toe board
for an original-type lap weld.

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E-mail me at toolman8@sbcglobal.net

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Last modified on 02/06/2005

Thanks, Fidget!