I have been working on mine now for quite a while.....most videos seem to say that this is done in a day or two.....hmmm. I bought this car because there was not much rust, and esp in the frame members, including the subframes. The main problem on this one was in the driver pan. I ordered one that was maybe the only one available from C2C, and turned out to be decent. I also had to get more metal to form another pan behind the main floor, that goes under the seat. Maybe this one was overflowing from the cowl....unkn yet. So, after the fun of interior removal, with help from the forum esp for the console, I found two layers of carpet, and rotted pads. But, great paint under most other than the known offender. So, lay out the damage area, check under for wires, cables and brake lines, and cut out. Leave all on the cross members. Still some minor problems outside the cut area. Since the main pain is not large enough, begin to fab several other pieces, some of which will go in first to make new landings for the big pans. Lots of cleanup underneath and rust prevention. Finally get the new pans in the general vicinity, put them together and again adjust the fit. Now, prime, paint and get ready for the panel bond.....not the weld. I do not understand how anyone might think they could find enough good metal to weld to, OR be able to cut the old floors to match a new pan for welding....butt weld that is. I am happy with this plan. From the bottom, there will be seen the overlap joint. I am going to seal, then use bedliner to seal and cover. This will all still be visible. For the purest, if you want to later cut and weld, have at it....as I will do my best to maintain. My fav product to date is the eastwood internal frame treatment. I would not think it best as underlay, but great for places that need rust treatment and sealing. I still prefer the etching primer for most underlayment work, after trying to get to base metal, but it will help on some rust as well. So, I am almost ready to glue the panels in, and will follow up after they are in and I do some testing etc.
Floor pan replace
- Thread starter 66furys
- Start date
New pans glued in with the panel bond small tubes....work great. Rivets to pull down in place to seal. Last steps will be to clean up both top and bottom seams, prime and use eastwood seam sealer, then finish off with bedliner on bottom. So far, so good. I have a friend doing a galaxy, and they will buy the entire floor pan, and replace.....ford seems a bit better in that the pans they have replaced so far have been done at the spot welded seams, not just cut and weld. Not sure how the new floor will attach to the rockers, but suspect a nice joint. I have not found such pans for my car....although someone always proves me wrong. If in future someone wants to cut out my pans and replace, there is plenty around the edges to do so. I have also ordered a can of expoxy primer. I have used this on new car paint in past, but did not know it could be had in cans....and I will try to use this to seal up the floors on top.
Jim 68cuda
Well-Known Member
I'm on the hunt for front floors myself for my 66 Polara. I've been waiting for a couple salvage yards to get back to me. But it's been a long wait. Planning to go look at a parts car 66 Chrysler this weekend. Really don't want to search Leon's or Fredricksburg Auto Salvage even though both have plenty of C bodies. I doubt that the floors of cars sitting deep in the swampy wooded areas, of those yards, would be much better.
My front pan from C2C was small, only the lower front section in the pic. It fit OK, but mine had more rust mainly up on the firewall, where I had to add some small patches, as you can see. Also, I had to make the larger pan that comes back to the center of the seat. All in all, I am happy with the panel bond glue. Once I put the silent mat over most of this, much of it disappeared, and of course now carpet covers all the mess. I went under to use more JB stick and eastwood seam sealer to fill around the edges. Now, with couple coats of bed liner....it is getting there....very good for roadkill. I have not yet found a joint between firewall and floor pan, but maybe just bad eyes. Leons is a hoot, just got a third member from them, and will go back for a wiper motor, if possible.
Jim 68cuda
Well-Known Member
I considered the C2C pans, but much of my rust is where the pan is welded to the rockers. Those pans don't cover much of the area I need. A buddy had volunteered to weld the pans in.
Two things about welding floor pan panels drive me nutz. First is how to weld to rusty metal. Second is how to get in there to cut accurately enough to match pan to left overs. Was hard enough for me to cut around my marks from pans, and allow about 3/4 overlap for glue. My bud just replaced the entire trunk pan in a 63 galaxy, but he cut off the spot welds, and the new pan matched the oem body, for new spots.
71Polara383
Kid with ballcap
Mark. Cut. Fit. Trim. Fit. Trim more. Fit. Trim more. Tack. Tack. Tack. Tack. Tack. Tack.
Patience.
Maybe one day I'll go back and do an even better job on this one when I give it a real restoration. A 1 piece floor pan from a donor would be ideal, but I had patches from a donor and made it happen and this should hold up for quite some time.
Patience.
Maybe one day I'll go back and do an even better job on this one when I give it a real restoration. A 1 piece floor pan from a donor would be ideal, but I had patches from a donor and made it happen and this should hold up for quite some time.
71Polara383
Kid with ballcap
Thank you. 2nd set of floors I did. I know it's there though, a complete floor section from a donor would be ideal, so I could do all the spot welds and have no butt welds. But its solid with the way I try to do floors, I like to hide seams with crossmembers/supports to make it hard to see underneath.
But if I do all the floors I loose original metal to the car. So it is what it is for now. I'd love to get my hands on a CLEAN 70-71 Polara and completely dismantle it at the spot welds and start over.
71Polara383
Kid with ballcap
The firewall/floor seam comes together in the engine compartment. It's spot welded all the way across the firewall.
D Cluley
Active Member
What panel bond did you use? Any tips for using it?
I used the 3M 38315, which is the small tube. Evidently this stuff has been used in the auto world now for some time...early on for corvette, and now much more broadly. I really like it. The small tube allows you to remove the mixing nozzle and close it up for future use....need more nozzles. I found that one tube is just about enough to install a panel of about 24 inches square, with roughly three beads around the edges. You want to brush or spread to cover the bare metal. This prevents corrosion. I used tape to provide a 3/4 inch overlap. This is a type of epoxy and dries rock hard, kinda like JB. But, it mixes as you apply with the gun. You have enough time to work all around and set. I used a few rivets to pull it into place tightly. I think it has small beads to prevent squeezing it out of the joint. My main recommendation is not for use of the glue, but in joint prep. Try to make sure that your lap joint is tight all around. Due to the crazy design of this floor pan, there are all manner of irregularities and it is difficult to ensure you get the joint flat. I had to use another product underneath, to full some gaps caused by some places that were angled away from the joint. I had tried to use sheet metal pliers to bend the old edges to get that flat joint, but failed in a couple spots. You dont want to leave any spaces for future corrosion, want it to look at good as it can, even from below. I got two of the small tubes with the small gun. They have a large tube as well, but I did not think I would need that much.
D Cluley
Active Member
Thanks!
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