Floorpan Install pt. 1

The floors in my old Ford were in serious need of attention. They were soft and flimsy feeling and had been sort of patched back together with sheet metal and rivets. This kept the dust and road grime out of the cabin for the most part  and didn't look too bad but I knew something evil was lurking under those patch panels. 

So one afternoon I decided to see just how bad off it really was...

I drilled out the rivets holding the patch panels down and pulled the panels off and this is what was there.

It was rust. Surprise!

The soft floor was due to the awful state the body mount was in. Notice the rusty remnants of the body mount in the bottom pic.

I cut the worst of the floor out and I will make a patch panel to be welded in. 

I see you flowmaster

Body mount came out in a whole bunch of rusty flaky steel. But the 
body mount bold was so corroded you couldn't get a wrench on it and even if you did it was not coming out without a fight. 

I started by cutting a slot in the top with the cutoff wheel. 
This will come in very handy when it's time to back the bolt out. 

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I started by heating the bolt. I probably didn't need to get it glowing red but hey that's good clean fun right?

Heating the bolt expands it within the threads thus breaking up the rust scale that has it stubbornly frozen in place.

Torch!

Too much heat or too much awesome?

Then I quenched the bolt with 3 in 1 oil. I don't know if 3 in 1 
is the best thing to use but it certainly works. 

I've also read about folks doing this with wax. I can't vouch
 for that because I've never done it that way but you can see
how in theory it would because it is petroleum.

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An impact driver was used to crack the stuck bolt loose. 

When you whack an impact driver with a hammer it 
turns just slightly in one direction or the other. The
force of the hammer blow keeps it well seated in the screw head.

Basic stuff but effective.

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Old bolt out

After cracking it loose with the impact I used a pair of 
vice grips to back it the rest of the way out. 

I like removing bolts this way because there is not drilling 
out snapped-off bolts or tapping new threads. It is a little 
time consuming, but not nearly as time consuming as drilling 
out rusty bolts.

It took me awhile to develop a little patience with old bolts.
But this approach keeps me from busting the bolt off in the
threads and spitting and cussing. 

In the end I think I save time not to mention I get to use the 
torch which will never cease to be at least a little fun.

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After the old body mount was out of the way I could get everything cleaned and ready for a new one to be installed.

I bought this new body mount from Chris and Hollie at Shoebox-Central. They have a real passion for these old cars and provide excellent customer. 

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The old body mount pads were roached out so I ordered some body mount pads from Energy Suspension part number 9.9533. 

They are not exact replacements but they're very close in thickness and I can trim them down to the original width if need be.

With some new hardware in place the body mount goes in with the new mount pads between in and the frame. The underside of the body mount is primed and painted and I will hit it with undercoat when the job is complete. The topside is prepared with weld through primer.

I have since added some washers under the bolt heads to spread the pressure out.

While I have a hole in the floor I am going to weld up the leak in the exhaust left by the muffler guy. Thanks muffler guy! In his defense its in a place that would be tough to get to but he's a professional so I don't know if that's really an excuse. 

After everything has been mocked up and I'm sure it's in the right place I'll weld the body mount to my inner rocker panel. 

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Then I made a pattern for the big hole I cut in the floor. The yellow poster board was almost a dollar less than the white. I don't know why. 

I recycled the steel from the cheesy riveted in repairs to make my patch panel. 

I will butt weld the front  and inner edge and plug weld the rear. Then plug weld the patch panel to the new body mount below. This should make everything rock solid again. 

First impressions are that it fits pretty well. With a little more trimming here and there it will be perfect. The beads at the bottom left match up better than I thought they would. 

I was pretty excited to get welding on this panel.

To get it to line up there was some massaging to be done with the body hammer. But for a first try I think I made a pretty good effort

Here it is tacked in and sprayed down with weld through primer.

That's where I am right now. I will continue cutting, gutting and welding in new until my floors made more of floor than rust holes. Watch out for Floors pt. 2 where I'll try and tackle the forward portion of the passenger floor board.

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