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I pulled the carpet up yesterday in my 73 and notice the 2 rivets that secure the panel behind the seats to the driveshaft tunnel have pulled out and there is approximately a half inch gap between the two. The panel also appears to have lifted up as I can see where it was originally located. It can't simply be 2 rivets that held this in place? Is this panel bonded in? Any suggestions on how to force it back down where it needs to be?
The tunnel is part of the floor , so your floor is dropping ??
Theres a line of rivets along the bottom of that big steel panel , thats your floor mounting points. Have a look and see if there ok or been replaced .
My 69 had the same gap and I had to replace all my bottom floor rivets, but that gap up top never went away. It isnt ad big as yours though.
I still have the gap underneath ( between the floor and the gearbox cross member ) so I put it down to old age .Also my seats(now) sit level when looking through the back window.
The tunnel is part of the floor , so your floor is dropping ??
Theres a line of rivets along the bottom of that big steel panel , thats your floor mounting points. Have a look and see if there ok or been replaced .
My 69 had the same gap and I had to replace all my bottom floor rivets, but that gap up top never went away. It isnt ad big as yours though.
I still have the gap underneath ( between the floor and the gearbox cross member ) so I put it down to old age .Also my seats(now) sit level when looking through the back window.
I will take a pic tomorrow. The panel doesn't go all the way to the floor and I didn't see any other issues.
Hi p,
This is that area on my 71.
Is it similar to what you're seeing on your 73?
Regards,
Alan
That is the exact spot. So is it bonded to the floor at the bottom or riveted or both? Can I carefully jack the floor up to install new rivets and adhesive?
I just pulled the seats and carpet yesterday on my '75 and found the same thing. There is about a 3/8" gap where it meets the trans tunnel. The holes are there but the rivets are gone. Looks like the rivets along the bottom edge have pulled out. I'll be awaiting the responses on this one as well.
Hi P,
As you can see in the picture there are 2 of the typical large flat headed aluminum rivets just forward of the 2 pip-rivets.
The 2 forward flat rivets hold a small steel plate in the top of the transmission tunnel
That plate has 2 holes in it for the pop-rivets to 'set' in. You should be sure that the pop-rivets you use have long enough shanks to go completely through that plate and still have enough exposed shank that they can be 'set', (expanded,) properly.
Without that plate there's nothing for the pop-rivets to grab.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan
Thanks Alan for the great pic , I notice one of your floor rivets missing though .?
Guessing that its an older pic and its been replaced .
With my car I carefully jacked the floor using a block of wood to spread the force until the holes lined back up and used a alu. Pop rivet with a washer at the back to help hold it , but the centre never rose enough to touch that tab ,and with the drive shaft in there theres not much room to get access, but my gap is about 4mm.
3 rivets on each side of that tunnel.
I have to lift the body soon for other work so I will see if ican get at that centre better then.
Oh and there was no sign of any sealer that I can remember but I did it about 11 years ago !
Do they sell the underbody reinforcement plate anywhere? I looked at a few vendors and couldn't find anything listed in their catalogs. Do I have to fabricated something to hold the rivets underneath the transmission tunnel?
Hi B,
The hole in the right side rear floor is for the rear seat track bolt.
The 3 small empty holes in the steel seat bulkhead were that way on my car so I left them empty.
The large hole in the bulkhead above the 2 pop-rivets is for the bolt that secures the rear of the parking brake console. (you access it through the side of the jack compartment).
Regards,
Alan
i had a look under my 74 and its just a flat steel plate 64mm square , this one has 5 rivets in it , the 5th one joins in some reinforcing behind that big steel bulkhead
Excellent info guys. I confirmed with a local vette restoration shop here that there is no adhesive. They suggested Bazza's approach. Jack the floor with wood to spread the load until you get it there. I will re rivet the tunnel through the steel plate and add three additional rivets on each side down near the floor. Thanks for the help guys! I will try and tackle it this weekend.
Hi,
Here's a picture of that area taken through the jack compartment.
You can see the flat head of the 5th rivet.
If you look very carefully you can see the 2 pop-rivets and just a little bit of one of the forward flat rivets.
Regards,
Alan
Sorry guys it's been awhile since I posted an update. Too much going on. Anyway here are a few pics. I am able to jack the floor about 3/16 of an inch, still need to go another 3/16 to tighten it up. I don't want to put too much pressure on the floor.
Your right about not forcing it, so are you saying you still need 3/16 to get the floor rivets to go back in ? Or are they able to go back inthe ofiginal holes but that would still leave 3/16 at the top of tunnel. ?
I'm going to make this same repair this weekend. Thanks for the tips. Are you guys putting aluminum pop rivets back in? I don't see the point in replacing an obvious failure point with the same material.
I realize stainless pop rivets will be a bear to set, but it seems like a better option...if the jaws will grab. I have a pretty stout pop rivet gun, and may need cheater pipes on the handles.
08-28-2016, 12:05 PM
Body panel behind the seats
