40 ford floor pan

Help, does any one know of a way to put in a new floor pan in a 40 Ford 2 dr sedan without taking the body off the frame?????

 

It can be done. I made some repairs of a 40 floor system without removing the body. It is a tedious and time consuming project.The
main problem is the fact that after you remove the rusty floors it is very difficult to address the rust on the bottom of the outer sub rails without removing them as well. I split main floor section next to the drive shaft tunnel on one side then you must drill out all the outer spot welds and remove all the body bolts on that particular side. After ***uring that the floor section is loose from all spot welds including seat supports and various stiffeners it can be removed. It will not just fall out, but it will have to be maneuvered out. After the floor section is out you will have to figure a way to deal with the rust under the outer sills as was mentioned. Then to replace the section you will have to coax the new section into place. If you are doing the entire car front to back it can be done in sections as well as from side to side. I would recommend removing the body entirely after proper bracing above the floors Then replace the sub rails as well. If it sounds like a lot of work be ***ured it is!

 

Anything's possible, but you won't like it. Pulling the body off isn't that big of a job, and you'll get far better results trying to put a floor in, if you do it right.
Plan ahead. Remove body. Plan ahead. Brace body in every direction before cutting out existing floor. Plan ahead. Remove old floor. Plan ahead. Fit new floor in place. Plan ahead. Continue with project.

 

Not only is it worth pulling it off the frame. But well worth buying a rotisserie. I would NEVER do a floor without one again! Even if your only restoring one car. Sell the rotisserie when your done.

 

Yup. It's a whole lot easier and when you're done with the install, take about 3 minutes and paint the entire bottom.

 

Why not take it off the frame?? is it some other guys ride? Or just a quick bit of 'lipstick on the pig' before you flip it?

 

I have done a couple partial floor replacements on 40's and the biggest problem is welding the rusty portion to the good portion. If you have good solid sub rails you can drill out the spot welds and work the new floor in place. This is very time consuming but will work. Carpenter's new pans or Bradley's work great and provide a good solid floor with the original look. Don't weld the floor solid at one time or you will be sorry.
Lynn

 

Thank all of you for all of this helpful information. Now I know I will pull the body and I will go pick up the rotisserie that I share with a buddy. I was just hoping that someone had a little miracle. I've already purchased a Bob Drake replacement floor pan.
The trunk is in very good shape, no rust under the wood plates is one of the reasons I bought this particular car. I didn't lift the floormats far enough to find the rust under the drivers heel and someone had neatly tack welded a hide in place. I will putter my way through it. Building a frame is no problem for me, have built many weird ones over the years, but that sheetmetal stuff Phhhht!!