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Body Repairs: Front and Rear Floor Replacement

As the photos indicate, the floor was rusted out in several places despite the fact that previous owners had covered the floor with POR 15. Contrary to what many people think, “rust converters” like POR 15 do not magically convert rust into new steel; they only hide the rust and partially contain it. The only cure for rusted-out floors is replacement with new metal and this car needed new floors from the firewall to the trunk.


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When I ordered the firewall, I also ordered a complete floor kit from Bitchin’ Products. The complete floor kit consists of 3 sections: Front floor, rear floor and trunk floor. The front floor section has 4 components: Front floor panels, front drive shaft tunnel, transmission cover and toe boards.

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The rear floor kit includes the rest of the drive shaft tunnel and the right and left side floor panels.

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If I wanted to do an authentic restoration, there are companies that make original-looking floors with all the correct beads and creases.

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Floor Installation

Prior to installation, I cleaned all the parts with PPG DX 579 and then primed them with DP 40.

The instructions supplied by Bitchin' Products are complete but they assume that the original floors are still in place. Since I had cut away the front and rear floors when I replaced the rocker panels, I had to make some changes to the instructions. The following steps are the ones I followed:

  • Located a line 22 inches back from the body bolt.
  • Centered the transmission cover and tunnel on the chassis
  • Test fitted the right and left side floor panels. The floor panels go under the rocker panel and over the drive shaft tunnel flange.
  • Trimmed the floor panels so one side has about 3/4 inch beneath the rocker panel and the other side was on top of the tunnel flange, about a 1/2 inch from the tunnel wall.
  • Marked and drilled the holes for the body bolts.
  • Drilled 3/16 inch holes about 1.5 inches apart for rosette welding the floor panels to the drive shaft tunnel
  • Drilled 3/16 holes about 1.5 inches apart in the rocker panels for rosette welding the rocker to the floor panels
  • Mounted the floor panels using the set up screws supplied with the kit. I also shimmed the floor off the chassis’ X member using some paint sticks.
  • Installed the toe boards and transmission cover. The toe boards needed some trimming and the transmission cover required some serious adjusting to fit.
  • The key point when installing floors is to make sure they fit before doing any welding.
  • When everything fit, I completed the rosette welding, did some grinding, and applied the seam sealer supplied with the kits.


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Sources

Bitchin' Products: http://www.bitchinproductsinc.com

Direct Sheet Metal: http://www.directsheetmetal.net

McPherson's: http://www.mcphersonauto.com

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