Hey all, Just a little update on what I am doing with my ’56. Decided that since the motor and transmission have been removed that now would be a good time to clean up the engine bay. As stated in another post, the previous owner sprayed the entire engine bay, including everything in it, with what looks to be undercoating. So I removed grill and supports and most everything except the fenders. Looked at the firewall and figured I might as well clean that up and repair some of the holes cut in buy the previous owner. Also need to repair the transmission tunnel since the previous owner just beat on it to make the C4 fit. A couple of large cracks. Anyway, one thing led to the next. In order to clean and repair the firewall, figured I might take out the carpeting which means taking out the front seat. Now things get NASTY! Once the carpet was out, well, I have never seen that many patch panels. There were galvanized panels riveted to one another from the front to the back. Uber NASTY. Spent some time removing all the panels and floor pans, front and rear, looked like some form of swiss cheese. What someone had done is to use bondo to spread on the floors to cover up the rust, then riveted some panels on top. Most of the rivets did not even attach to anything. So after my long dissertation my question is, are there any type of replacement pans available to weld in for the front and rear? I would really like to cut all the rotten rust out, which means most of the floor pans front and rear. Then replace them correctly. Thanks for listening Steve
It's always interesting to find some sketchy previous repair, sit and scratch your head and wonder how to did it better. I replaced the front floors in a 56 4dr that I had and used toe boards, floor braces and patch panels from MAc's. It was the first job like that I'd tried to tackle and went ok, but I did notice that there were other patch panels out there that looked and fit better than the cheap ones from Mac's. I think they may come from EMS, but do some checking...
EMS will be the best ones to get . Most bigger companies that sell patch panels all come from EMS and are the same price . I have used their items and I am very happy with their products ! They are good USA metal made right here in the USA and are 18 ga thick . I have tried some other cheaper patch panels on Ebay and they don't come close to the quality you get from EMS . So if you want good parts that are going to last then buy EMS ! Just Google EMA and it will get you to their site . You can also get a catalog from them as well . I usually make my own floors from scratch depending on how much needs to be replaced . That will have to be your call since I really don't know how bad yours are . I would also highly suggest to take a pointed old screwdriver and start checking the rest of the floors to make sure you get the bad ones done while you are st it . If you need any help or advise I will be glad to help ! Jim
I called Macs a couple of weeks ago about a fender patch panel. They had one that was $25 cheaper than another one. I wanted to know why. The guy said well one is thicker steel and much more precise, in a nutshell. He said do you want one that you have to "make work" or one thats going to just "fit". I said, FIT. He says pay the extra then. I asked who made them, he said I cant really say that. I said I was just wondering if it was EMS for the good panel, he said I cant say, but "could be". Anyway, I went to EMS directly and bought it. Shipped it straight to the body shop, arrived in 3 days. The guys there called and were just excited saying its one of the best panels they have seen. Precise, heavy gauge steel, perfect. So, EMS it is for me
Your car sounds pretty typical, TRoper. The damage is usually in the footwells as a result of water sitting on the inside, not rust coming through from the outside. If this is the case with yours, try to leave the area next to the door sills and next to the driveshaft hump intact, and replace the footwells only. Replacing the whole works sounds good, but it is truly a pain if you've never done it before - definately a 2-or-more man job! And, you can "lap" the footwells around the edges or you can "**** weld" them. For the newbie I'd suggest lapping them. The replacements will fit the current floor like putting one tapered paper cup inside another...though not nearly that neat. You will need to pie cut here and there to get 'em to lap neatly, but that requires a whole bunch less skill to do properly than **** welding them in...which is the preferred way if you've got the skill. Two things: One: be absolutely sure to s****e all the undercoating off the bottom side of the floor before you start welding. It's very flamable and can turn into a very hot...and hard to extinguish...fire in a very short time. Two: Tack welding the new sections to the old floor is best accomplished with an oxy-acetylene torch, heating and beating the metal into shape as you go along. Warm sheet metal shapes much, much easier than cold metal. A helper to hold the dolly beneath the floor is very helpful at this stage. He can also be on the lookout for fires...!
Missysdad has good advice there, also it is wise to brace the car while doing floor pans , rockers etc . I use 1inch box tacked diagonaly across the car and across door frames etc . Go to my album ( Michelles ranchwagon) for a look if you like - there are some pics there of floorpan repairs that may be helpful.
Racer Ron may remember this as he was posting on this thread,a fellow HAMBer who goes by"Nitro-Flattie1" posted a step by step text and pictorial of an extensive rust repair in a '55 Ford,the dirty shame is the pics which were great have been deleted by Photobucket,you might send him a pm and see if there is a way to get those pics,he did an awesome job to say the least.
I got mine locally from a guy that said he works at a place in Detroit that makes them. They weren't the die-stamped ones like Mac's or EMS has (I think Mac's are from EMS). John (streetdreams) put them in and quality was so-so but he made them work. Here's a couple of 'before and after' pics of my '56:
The Jalopy Journal
