1952-59 Ford Floor pans

oh I've stepped in it now.... pulled the carpet up for a "simple" rewire and oh my what a mess. So, obviously need some sheet metal. Floors, inner/outer rockers, braces and probably quarters too. I'm really in over my head on this but going to dive into it so any advice is greatly appreciated. Starting with, what vendor to use. I looked ad EMS, but good grief those ******s are a whole lot more money than what Mac's is selling. Is it worth it, will I cause myself undue aggravation taking the cheaper route?

 

I used mac's floor pans on my wagon, but the wagon is different than the cars. Had to cut a bit, but they are in. The metal gauge is good. But, I cannot speak for the rest of the issues you seem to have stepped into. It'll be a project, but certainly is doable if you can weld.
Keep us posted of the progress.

 

thanks! did you have to cut the replacement panels? just curious. I can weld, i'm not amazing but I have a pretty good machine so that helps I think. And a couple good buddies that are ready to descend on my car and power through it with me.

 

It's been a long while back but if you are on budget a guy did his floors in a '55 Ford using old metal lockers and a Harbor Freight 30" bending brake. We had a link to that here but sadly the HAMB "upgrade" killed it off as well as all the photos and members build projects we had here in a file. His '55 turned out really well those lockers are a good thickness like EMS so they are not likely to burn through while welding he had posted every step and how to along the way.

 

Jeff, now that is creative. And yeah, on a budget but I think new floors have to happen and I've got enough squirreled away for them. that and a lot of beer for my friends.

 

I'd go for it, you'll have something to be proud of when your done. several suggestions:
check with the '56 guys to see what OTHER areas are prone to rust and have a good look at those areas. Expect to find more than expected. That way you will have a better feel for what your in for.
EMS, that way you won't have the woulda coulda shouda's. I don't know anything about Mac's panels
Do one section at a time, and leave what is solid, t******* down the replacement panels to only what you need. That way the old metal is still helping to hold the car's shape. I started with the floor section in the best condition on mine,
and worked my way around to the worst area needing the most cutting.
I'm sure we'd all like to follow your progress in pics / build thread

 

I used Mills sheet metal for my rockers
I believe they have inners also
Can’t remember where I got the rear quarter sections
And drop downs

I have a set of wheel arches I didn’t need it you are interested

 

Current2cl***ic has floor pans , rockers and quarter sections
C&G Ford has sheet metal also
Along with mills supply,inc.

 

I bought floor pans and toe boards from EMS for my 53. They are very nice pieces and fit spot on. May be more expensive but you get what you pay for

This is a picture of them just laid in the car with the rotted floors still underneath

 

Wow, thanks for all the feedback guys. I think the C&G parts are similar if not identical to what Macs has so far as I can tell. I'll check out Mills as I have never heard of them before. Seems the EMS ones are the most praised but wow, they might be a budget buster. Texas57, you are right, it'll be great when it's done and just poking around I know i'm going to find much worse areas. I'm expecting that all the lower metal from the front rear wheel housings back is compromised.

 

You can make them out of any 18 ga steel, it will probably look like **** after but at least your feet won't go through the floor. Or just use EMS and be done with it....

 

Jay, those look nice. I was hoping I could avoid toe kick panels but looking at yours, I don't think I can. mine are ate up just at the bottom edge where the front pans meet.

 

I made my own as I didn't need a whole kick panel. I just used some 18 ga sheet metal and bent it in a vise then hammered the curved area with a couple different hammers on a piece of wood.

 

EMS may be more money but they get my vote. When I did the floors in my F100 I had to use panels from another vendor. The thickness was good but they were warped and bent. They were a ***** to get in. One thing to remember is what you save on cheaper panels you will burn up in time getting them to fit.

 

If you're able to MIG weld, go for it. If you're not, take your time to learn, it is quite rewarding Then fab your own panels and weld'em in. Not that hard, its what I did:
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/free-beer.1058643/

 

i bought my p***enger floor from macs but trimmed it so much it wasnt worth the money. i then bought a 16 guage sheet for about $60 and fabbed everything over two weekends. tack welds and panel bond from half way up the kick panels to the tire well. undercoated both side of each panel and reinstalled the carpet. no one would ever know unless i told them. do each section at a time, try to leave as much original metal good metal and make sure you coat any bare metal with something preferably an etch primer(not out of a spray can). but something is better than nothing. only etch primers offer corrosion protection. read up on 3m08115 panel bond. you could tack weld your panels in then run a bead of this glue around it. 24 hours later you have a virtually unbreakable bond. patience

 

Thanks everyone for the help. Had a buddy come by who has done this before and gave me some guidance too. step one is stabilize the body on the frame with new pads, then attached the braces. both sides of the first row are gone so those need replacing. Some of them are good, some are just ate up on the ends where they tie to inner rockers, which brings up this question. Has anyone tried these vs the full replacement brace? https://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_mercury_late/floor-brace-set-10-piece-set-ford.html. Also, the mount on the rear of the inner front fender is toast but I cannot seem to find any type of part listing for that. Am I just going to have to make my own?

 

I didn't use those partial braces from Mac, I just made my own from sheet metal. If all you need is those end pieces, they are not complicated to bend, and can be done for less than $20. One of my front braces was completely toast so I bought one of those from EMS.

 

Todd, cool, thanks for the insight. My front two are toast too, but I like the $20 investment. I have about 3 or 4 that the ends are bad on.

 

thanks for the nice words fellow hambers, and double thanks to the satisfied customers of ems. to the bargain hunters ever wonder why the deal makers don't post photos of there stuff on the HAMB????

 

This was just posted on the '57 fordsforever forum:

Don't Buy Cheap Repair Panels
« on: Yesterday at 09:46:40 PM »

• Quote

I needed to replace my rear quarter panels. By mistake my friend ordered what he thought we needed from Mac's. He called me when they came in. Before he called me he called UPS because he thought they were damaged in transit they were so bad. Of course deep down he knew they weren't because the packaging was fine. I ordered the ones I wanted to order in the first place from EMS. What a difference! Wish I thought to take pictures. The Mac ones were cut up as needed to make patch panels.

 

Texas57, wow, yeah. I may order a macs pan for the rear but everything else is going to be EMS

 

WAITING FOR YOUR CALL CHRIS, THE EMS GUY 248-546-0232

 

Hey EMS Guy, I did order a bunch of stuff from you guys. It looks like really nice stuff. So far have just gotten the toe board started.

 

THANKS FOR BUYING,

 

AND POST SOME PICS OF THE INSTALL

 

I had some front floorboards replaced several years ago by a restoration business I thought was reputable. (I will not mention their name.) Several months later while working inside the front wheelwell, I noticed this large gaping hole in the bottom edge of the toeboard. on the driver side. The restoration company (whose name I will not mention) had stopped right at that point without continuing up. Why, I have no idea? I'm sure they saw the rot. (Found some in the back, too. But that's another story.) Basically, they never finished the job. I wrote the owner a nasty letter, but never heard back. Consider this a warning to others.

 

I am not sure who " mr tomato head " is speaking of, but his story of low quality work from body shops and hot rod shops etc. is a daily occurrence on the phones at customer service phones at ems. where not talking about providing help for some who needs to be point in the right direction. but total incompetence which get real close to fraud. every day we here a story about bondo solutions when metal was paid for.

The most recent big problem now is frame shops or frame builders making ****, installing engine's and transmissions to high and to far back. the owner finds out when the body goes on and it won't fit, requiring a major hack job on the firewall and trans /drive shaft area. of course these frame shops say there work is out of warranty and not there problem. i am talking about engines so far back and transmission that sit on top of floor pans.

not going to name names of the f/u frame shops ( there are some small guys that do ok) but hiedt's and fatman's have not gotten any complaints from our customers

 

This doesn't surprise me one bit. Morrison and The Roadster shop (and maybe others) design their frames around Chevy motors which have a rear sump oil pan. Comparing a 56 Chevy vs my 56 Ford the Chevy engines sit back a lot farther and the car is designed around this. Now all these Chevy people are building frames for Fords and building them the same way. Every Ford I have seen with a Morrison ch***is the engine is way back requiring a custom firewall and I am sure floor mods like you have mentioned. It is great for radiator room though. lol.

 

saying that the car was design around a chevy motor is bull, the ch***is was design for low cost installation and how the body fit the poorly designed frame was totally ignored, these over priced poor design frames leave the customer in a big bind with lots of extra cost. morrision and the roadster shop are a huge rip off when it comes to frames