I am trying to get some knowledge on installing the floor pans to my 76. I will not be welding them in. Will pay someone for that.

But I want to set it all up so all they have to do is weld them in.
Also so I can tell him the way I want it done ( as you tell me how )

Below as some pics of what I had to cut out.

I bought the willcox usa made pans too.




At the front I was going to cut up to the fibreglass. as this part is on the new pan.

Also with the back part where the black arrows are, I assume those are welded some how. How/should I get that off. As that part is also on the insert.

What about the side parts. Should the insert sit over a 1/2 inch of clean metal and be welded in on top and bottom?

Also can someone link a product for the from part where the metal and fibre glass is glued?

any help will be good thanks.

 

Boy you got your work cut out for you that's for sure.

The front is riveted to the metal pan and when we do them we try to do it the same way. However, you can use pop rivets in there and they will do just as good of a job.

But.. We try hard to just remove what is necessary to do the job and we butt weld the sections together without over-lap. At the front edge of the before we rivet it, we apply auto seam sealer (3m has it) to the area so it is sealed and then we rivet it.

This must be a 4 speed car because I don't see the cross member anywhere.. and if you get the pan to low it will rattle on the cross member so be careful of that. The floor board should sit about 1.5" from the top of the cross member.

If that back section isn't rusted out I'd leave it... Why? Because getting that reproduction hammered in place is another task. Like I said, if you have a good guy doing the welding, make a template of the area you removed, then transfer this to the new floor board, measure twice, cut once.

You might want to consult with your welder and see which he prefers too, he may not like butt welding and may go for the over-lap and in that case you'd just trace your pattern 1/2" wider when you transfer.

IMHO and good luck

Willcox

 

One of the things I did on my 78 was to take some measurements from the floor pan to some random points on the t top framework, and write them down on some painters tape at those points. Then when I put the new pans in I had an idea if the floor was close to the same height as the originals. Funny how you can hammer it down too far without knowing it. Also agree with Wilcox about how hard it was to pound the back corners in place, so if you don't need to replace that part, don't. Good luck.

 

I received an email tonight in regards to "why don't you over lap the panels".. Simple. Anytime you weld you must have clean metal so lapping over the old panel is easier.... but it also leaves exposed bare metal between the two sections that will rust out way faster than the original floor pan. When you butt weld you are putting two edges together and can then treat both the top and bottom sides with rust inhibitor and paint for a permanent repair.

In all my years of working with these crazy cars only three times have I had a need to install the entire floor pan.... and boy that becomes a task. I think the last one was a few years back and there might be some pictures on our facebook page from it. This green 76 came in my shop and it had cardboard and duct tape for a driver side floor board. This was possibly the worst one I've ever seen because the replacement floor boards were even too short on the sides. Thankfully we had a donor car to cut the rest of the material we needed.

Willcox