Several years ago I wound up with a chopped 34 coupe. It had been in a storage facility for quite a while before I got it. From the looks of things the car was worked on quite a while ago. Everything is solid. But they used flat sheet metal to replace the floor pan so as you can imagine it tends to oil can when you climb around in it. I am thinking of welding some shallow channel irons to stiffen the floor and also provide seat anchors. I was thinking on the topside inside the cab. Anybody else have to deal with something similar? -Don
Maybe weld braces under floor and connect to something like main body subrails or what your car has that is workable. Even mounts off of frame that you could bolt braces to. You DO NOT want to mount on top of things sheet metal as in a wreck the seat bolts could possibly rip through the sheet and then you and your passenger is really in a bad way.
Always use large washers on your bolts holding your seat mounts as well.better to be always use overkill. Using bracing you are better to spread the force over a wide area than minimal small area.
You know, another thing is if your floors are oil canning they used the wrong gauge of metal for building a floor. I would remove and use thicker gauge. You could bead roll some support in as well. This maybe way overkill but I had a '31 A pick up and previous guy channelled cab. Floor was 3/16". Talk about solid. Great for cab mounting as well.
Thanks. I figured if I was to put the channels inside the cab, I would still bolt through them to something larger under the floor. It is easier to access the topside since the cab is empty right now. But easier doesnt always mean good so I am just polling the crowd.
My Dad's favorite word is solidify. You have the opportunity to do it solid and right. Yours and your passenger(s) safety is the most important element.
Easier to weld from on top, but they'd be better on the bottom, you would hate humps in the floor when you put down a mat or rug.
Pictures go along ways towards this stuff. You said coupe,, then cab and other talk of trucks. 3/16 plate floor pan- Not a good thing. Easy to see what your supposed to have but not sure what your missing. The tunnel and hard turn really really stiffen up the rear. The front sets on a lot of square inches of frame. The ribs could be welded on without much fuss
3/16 made it a solid floor Not much worry on rust through. But it had no give with the cab flexing I have never used that thick for flooring but I guess he tried to kill two birds with one stone. Floor and cab mounts.
Maybe a sort of built in blow proof floor for the clutch. Heck , maybe he had it all figured out in his head. I don't know.
I sold my channeled '31 Cabriolet to a young guy that relied on an Industrial weldor for advice, so the Iron worker recommended getting that 1/8" aluminum sheet firewall out of there, (I had braked it in 3 places, oxy-acet welded in seams where it butted up, it was Hot Rod Magazine quality.) Professional Weldor then solidly welded in a sheet (flat) of 1/8" cold rolled steel, after trimming the cowl behind the hood shelf! Cut off hood lace shelf and flat steel firewall looked like an English Bull behind a detailed flathead! Buyer was 2 months late on paying the balance, (his older brother was a friend, so I extended li'l bro 'credit') Screw it. I repossessed the car. Had to cut the Armored Firewall out, and graft in part of another cowl. Grrrrr... Went to the Industrial Weldor's shop, my aluminum firewall was leaning against the wall, in one piece. He was gonna charge me for it...I told him who and what, so he said "Take it..."
Not sure if anyone makes reproduction floor pans but I would look for some and do it right. If you can't find the right ones for it, I saw a 40 coupe one time that someone had installed a Mustang floor pans in it. Different shaped car, but floor pans from a lot of vehicles could be made to fit. Nice thing was it had mounts for bucket seats, so it was easy to add seats.
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