It ****s when you buy a Texas car and it has more rust inside the car than outside. Years of water getting in the car from dried out seals and my floors are rusted from the inside out. This is how much sand/dirt I pulled from the p***enger side in the panel below the rear window. The drivers side was the same.
Now that's funny I would rather have the rust on the inside then the outside. That's most of our problem here in salty NJ
I bought my '55 in south Jersey but the seller told me it was originally from Texas. The front floor pan had been replaced at some point but I'm redoing them since they were done poorly. The rocker panels looked good from the outside but were rusted thin from the inside out.
I ordered new floor pans from EMS today but they won't be here till Friday or Monday. In the mean time I figured I would fix the bottom of the toe pan and clean out the braces and get them painted. That way when my new pans come in I can change them out. EMS makes toe pans too but they are the full section and I only need the bottom 3 inches. Ever found an axe cut in your rocker? What the heck??
That's not an ax cut. There was this couple parked on lover's lane one dark night when they heard a sound outside the car. Luckily, this was all that happened to them.
So I made a new toe board while waiting for new panels. I didn't see the sense in replacing the whole thing when it only rusts in a few spots. I received my new pans yesterday and am about to get to some cutting. The pain (from the cost) has subsided and I'm actually glad I went this route instead of patching the heck out of my rusty floor. I didn't realize it was going to do the "whole" floor. Here I just tossed 3 of them in to see how things are going to line up.
Jay I think you made the right decision going with the panels. I just finished making the floor pans in my 54 ranchwagon and while it didn't cost that much, it took me about 3 weeks! Time is money.
Subscribed to this thread,anxious to see the final results so we can post a link in the "sticky" file.
Here is a quick update of what I got done yesterday. I got all the old floor removed. I coated the floor braces with a chemical called Wonder 900. It works like another product out there called Ospho. It has phosphoric acid in it that neutralizes the rust and leaves a black primer coating on it. You can see the braces on the drivers side have a black tint in the picture. After that dries I used Rustoleum "hammered finish" black paint to coat them. The hammered finish paint is very think and it seals stuff up very nice. The p***enger side floor brace is the only one rusted right through so I will order a new one from EMS on Monday and swap it out after from below. I am going to have to replace the top of the rocker panel as well (where the axe mark is). The p***enger side is quite rusty and when I hit it with the wire wheel it opened up like swiss cheese.
They are real nice quality. They are flanged on the edges to over lap and spot weld to the existing floor. The four pieces replace all the missing floor you see above which is a lot nicer than patch panels. I got rained out yesterday and I am off to work in the morning so I will be stalled out for the next few weeks. This is good as it will give me a chance to get a new floor brace in for the p***enger side. I should mention that they arrived in 4 days as well. Super fast shipping. FYI. the fronts were $175 ea and the rears were $185 each. With shipping it was $796. IMHO they extra cost is returned in quality and when it comes time to weld them back in I expect it to go quite fast due to their flanges and minimal welding because the panels are so big.
Thanks for the business, all your money stayed in the usa to support american workers keep us up to date with photos the ems guy
I just thought I would bump this to the top. I'm on my way hone from Ohio now and I need to knock this out in the next couple days. I'm supposed to get my upholstery redone this week so I don't have anytime to be lazy. I have a bunch more parts waiting at home so I'll keep the updates coming.
Well I finally had some time to do a little work on the 56 today. I spent part of the morning removing the one rusty floor brace on the front p***enger side. The more I cut the more rust I found. Yuk. After I finished cutting and threw on a coat of Wonder 900. I found that all rather depressing so I figured I would work on the other side so I could see some progress instead of two steps backward everytime I do something. The new EMS panels are slightly larger then needed so I did a bit of t*******. I found the best place to start was the mounting holes. When they are lined up there is only about 1/4" movement the panel can make before it won't fit the floor braces properly. I drilled the holes and lined the panel up based on the holes. It's hard to tell but I have the panels screwed down right now while I trim and fit everything. I had a brain fart when I did the rear panel. I fit the panel before I drilled the holes. When I realized I missed the important step I drilled the holes. Sure enough I have to move the panel forward a bit leaving a gap at the back. Doh! That's all for today. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy so I'm not sure what kind of progress I will be making.
This may be a dumb question but I have not done this yet. How do you weld the panels to the floor braces? Do you have to do that with the car on a lift?
Yes it like ospho. John once I get everything fit I will drill a bunch of small holes where the floor braces are and spot weld the holes. I like the screws for temporary use to hold everything in place. Sometimes panels can move around if not careful then after its welded you are like wth? It also helps keep the panels tight against the floor braces.
I had a few hours today and got a little more work done on the car. I installed the toe board I created awhile back. I also got the rocker panel patched on the p***enger side and the front floor brace tacked in place.
I finally got a chance to knock this floor project out. After a cazillion in and out after a little t******* here and there the floors are all done.
The Jalopy Journal
