And as I suspected, they are pretty much gone. Fortunately I have the new sheet metal already for the front and rear floor pans and the inner/outer rockers. I hope nobody minds, but I'm just going to upload shitloads of pictures of the car and the process to my photo album on here. Feel free to check out the rest of the pics.
That floors not all that bad. My 53 Buick I had 4 yrs ago was a ton worse. Looks like a nice semi solid project, Good luck with it. What are your plans for the car?
The frame is golden on the car, just some floor rot, door jams, trunk, shit like that. The body is fairly straight and intact, so that is a plus too. As far as plans - probably don't hear this very often on here but I'm not quite sure yet. Most of the toys I've had in the past were just fix it, drive it, decide then. The Fred Flintstone floors just weren't going to cut it, so gotta to that first. You got any pics of the floor repairs in your old one? This is my first attempt at floor pans, so I'm looking for wisdom from anybody!
It is an under seat heater. Judging by the wire that was run to it though I don't think it was a resistance radiant heat type, so there must be some radiator lines running to it - I'll look tomorrow when I'm working on the car.
hmm...you had asses under your carpet??? good thing you ripped it out..you would have never gotten the smell out!!! sorry, couldnt help it!
Psychoholic, Brad54 is another early 50's buick lover- send him a PM (he's also in North GA) Where are you in Loganville- my wife works in town at Liberty Mgt.
All kinds of asses! Big ones, small ones, some as big as my.... um... well, ass. Mac: If you were coming from Winder (not pronounced 'wyn-dur', as in something you tint or hang curtains on) on 81 going towards loganville, we're just before you hit Ozora road.
Hey, Do the doors have good alignment in their openings, good gaps all around, do they close and open well? If so, prior to removal to make access to the interior much easier, I'd brace the A, B & C posts both fore & aft as well as across. Once you cut out the inner rockers/sills and the pans and toe boards the posts won't move from their proper alignment if braced before. Don't be shy about cutting out any metal you suspect to be rusted and thin. Bad metal not cut out, and left under floor mats/carpet will soon start to rust if water gets to them. Too, nothin' sucks worse than "soft " floors and rockers in a vehicle! I hope you've been praticing your welding- Swankey Devils C.C. "Meanwhile, back aboard The Tainted Pork"
Not trying to hi-jack the thread, but my floor is in similar shape and I have to cut the floors & rockers out. I have never braced a car before. Do you have any more details, such as what to use, where to weld, etc?
Search through posts on chops.Then just copy the bracing that you see. Very much needed before you cut out the floors and the rockers.Or your going to play with hell trying to get doors lined up after.
Hey, When it comes to bracing a vehicle's interior prior to doing any cutting or welding, plan the placement of the braces with what work will need to be done, once you're working inside the vehicle, in mind. Run your fore & aft bracing above the rockers, but not so close to them so as to be in the way when fitting and welding in the new panels. The idea is to keep the lower area of the body from spreading open once the floors and sills are cut away. The roof panel and cant rails as well as the dash and package shelf will hold the upper areas of the body in alignment, however the lower areas of the body will not necessarly stay in alignment once cut out, and the rewelding begins. Heat can really build up in the body once the welding starts, and if the vehicle has a glued in windshileld/backlight can brake if not braced. Too, getting doors to swing in their openings after welding and not bracing can be a real bitch! As for bracing material, 1X1 steel tube is good, but pipe can be used as well. I've even used emt, ridged pipe, Uni-strut and even wood in a pinch. Just make sure it's strong enough to stop any movement in the body openings. Swankey Devils C.C. "Meanwhile, back aboard The Tainted Pork"
Those old Buick heaters are awesome. Though running hoses to the heater core under the car is kinda weird...
Thanks again everyone for the good info! I'll pick up some extra tubing and brace the bejesus out of the interior before I start on the rockers. I think I can pretty much leave the car intact for doing the floorpans (I'm going to do one at a time and get my welding more up to snuff with practice) - then I'll take on the rockers and bracing. I'm a total novice at welding, so it's going to be a while before I put the torch to anything that can be seen.
Not to hijack your thread but I have a quick question. If both the floors and rockers are bad which would you fix first?
Hey, By replacing the rockers first, you can square up the door alignment/openings, and control a good deal of any distortion the heat from the welding may cause. Also, if the vehicle needs to be moved around the shop, once the rockers are welded in, alignment isn't as big a deal even if the pans and kick up sections arn't welded in yet. Swankey Devils C.C. "Meanwhile, back aboard The Tainted Pork"
The Jalopy Journal
