dmaclaren

I bought the std. Black full floor pan (Drivers side) for my 69. I also replaced the toe board which I think I need to bring it up a little more than I have it but that's not causing the issue. My gap is no more than 1/2 without pressure being applied but I don't see me getting under 1/4" as is.

1. The cross member area, on the new pan, is molded a little indented than the pieces around that area. So, I believe my choices are:
a. Pound it out a little (don't want to thin or damage
b. Build up the cross member area with 1/4" steel
c. Mix of a&b

2. When I was pushing the floor into place, It did buckle a little on the edge lip just at the rear right (tunnel side) of the seat rider hole. So up at the top.
What area could cause this?

3. What is the proper amount of tunnel to leave? I don't want to cut too much but also, I want the existing tunnel left to naturally rest against the new pan side and it is not like that now, I would need to tack little areas along it then seal seal. I was hoping to just seam seal the outside.


Has anyone else found this?

JMD

Many replacement panels don't fit exactly like they should. (some brands fit better than others). The main thing is that the body mounts are in the right place. Get the body mounts right, and then trim or add to the panel as needed to; (a) get things placed right, (b) to make things look good.

Do all of this making sure that the doors, etc. fit right.

As far as the old stuff that you will be leaving, the same rules apply, I add to this trying to make the cuts in places that will be easy to align and weld in.

This stuff is MUCH more important than everything looking just exactly like the old pan that you cut out.

Also, remember, YOU are doing the work, you can do it how ever you want, meaning you are not constrained to the way Detroit did it 40 years ago.

Instead of adding 1/4" plate to the cross member, consider adding sheet metal to the edge of the floor. If you must add to the cross member, use sheet metal of similar thickness, don't add 1/4" plate.

Consider that the piece of the floor right behind the pan you are installing might be long enough to close the gap.

JMD

We put a full floor in this Chevelle a few months ago, I had ordered two toe boards, they sent the left one, but the right one was out of stock, I ordered a right toe board from a different company. The left toe board fit well, the right one took a lot of work, pie cutting pieces out, and adding metal in other places. We did all of this work under where the front body mount covers the toe pan to minimize the amount of finishing and clean up we needed to do. While the work was clean under the mount, it is not as clean as the rest of the floor, but so what? I really doubt that anyone will ever see it.....

zmetalmilitia

I think I had to build mine a bit too. The tooling for the floor boards did not match the tooling of the crossmember. No big deal since it's under the car. I think I had a 1/4"-3/8" or so space in between the floor pan and crossmember.

dmaclaren

What did you do to fill the gap?

Also, why not use 1/4" it's srtong.


When the floor is in place, it looks like the tunnel side is higher than the other, I wonder if it's a bit off and I will notice once it's all together.

JMD

IMO sheet will be easier to deal with, it will conform easier, it will be easier to weld metals of similar thickness together, and frankly, (imo) it will look more professional.

The 1/4" stuff will be strong, stronger than it needs to be. It also has the potential to throw off the fit of other items, like possibly seat mounts, seat belt mounts, etc. (mind you I don't know where the seam is, but be aware of this stuff before you weld pieces in).

If you want to use plate to fill the gap, consider using 1/8" or less in thickness.

scootchu

There's a thread somewhere around here where the floor pan was cut and pieces sectioned in. It had pictures from what I can recall.

Coupe

I just used tec screws to pull it closed, how bad is this gap? Can you just slice the cross member to allow its radius to change, and then weld the slice shut?

Can you post a pic? I dont know if I understand?

palerider

Agree pic would be good. I don't think I can point to one peice of sheetmetal I had welded in that did not need some type of work

dmaclaren

I'll get one up tonight.