Technical Floor replacement Help

I finally decided to get rid of the dry rotted carpet on my 1950 cadillac series 61 sedan. I knew the floors were rotted but now I cant believe Ive been driving it around for a year like this. Somebody pop riveted on some aluminum sheet to cover the "bad spots". Its really all bad. Swiss cheese.

I have been messing around MIG welding for about a year and Im pretty comfortable with welding and grinding. This will be my first time welding on a car and doing a floor replacement. I could use some guidance.

Firstly, after pulling up the carpet and foam, theres this kind of tar paper glued down everywhere. Looks to be original from the factory. Most peels up pretty easily but it does leave a gluey tarry residue. Any reccomendations to remove it? I was thinking of putting a wire wheel on the angle grinder and going to town.

Secondly, the base of where the inner and outer rockers meet is toasted and pretty much gone.

What order would you approach this? Rockers first so I have fresh metal for the floors? I will try and post pics but its hard from a phone, it frequently says the image is too large to upload. Thanks in advance.

 

If you cant sandblast the floors at least get in there with a wire wheel or grinder and get a zip wheel and cut out all the rust until you find solid sheet metal.

It's not hard,just hard work and the floors are a good place to hone your welding skills. HRP

 

This type of abrasive wheel would do it, if you know someone who can lend one to you. Note the wire attachments are for body caulk, etc., and the rubber eraser is for vinyl stripe and glue removal from painted surfaces.

I think I'd want the rockers and inner rockers to be in place, so you have something to fasten the fabricated floor pan.

 

Pull the seats, and at least cover the door panels and dash in plastic and plenty of tape. Unhook the battery.

Grind the hell out of the top and bottom of the floor. Use evaporust or a similar product to neutralize any remaining rust in the pits. See what's left.

Not sute if patch panels are available for your car. Use the HAMB resources and see if there's someone in your area with a bead roller that is willing to make some panels for a reasonable fee, or a bunch of beer.

 

Protect the glass and any chrome from flying sparks during cutting and welding.

 

I think I'd try a heat gun and a scraper of some sort before using a wire wheel. A wire wheel is going to scatter that stuff everywhere. Good luck.

 

Please cover the glass too. When I did floors, I removed the seats, carpet and covered the glass. Sparks are going to fly when you grind down the welds.

Be prepared to wash everything including headliner when done.

 

C O V E R T H E GLASS !!!

Secondly, the base of where the inner and outer rockers meet is toasted and pretty much gone.

This ^^^ will cause you the most grief.
That needs to be repaired first. So its not secondly at all and requires higher skill than floor pans. its lots of planning bracing, care and precision .

 

If the patch panels are not available a cheap bead roller from one of the off shore company's and a sheet of 20 gauge steel will work, HRP

 

Once you get the tar scraped off,(heat helps) Lacquer thinner will take off the residue.

 

Give a call to EMS for the sheetmetal to see if he has some for it , I did and I also had some from a competitior , big difference in quality and fit ! this is almost as bad as my 50 poncho

 

Thanks everyone. They do have patch panels for the floors and rockers thankfully. Cheap ones so we'll see about fit.

If I remove the outer and inner rocker, how should I go about bracing? Where should I run the braces?

 

Fender 1325, I had the same problem with pictures go to where it say edit and there should be a # there.Mine say 100 I reduce it to 50 once and then when the 100 pops up again I reduce it to 50 again. Then I can post a picture here.I hope this helps.Bruce.