Are the sills/rockers sound? Assuming the edges of the floor along the
front, sides and rear are too "lacey" to flange and overlap the new floor
(nobody gets that lucky!), you might consider cutting along the edge on the
underside along the sill rather than drilling out the spot welds along the
sill in order to avoid weakening it. Then pre-drill the joining lip on the
outer edge of the new floor pan and plug weld it to the inner edge of the
sill/rocker seam. Since there's no trim piece to fit back on like on the
rear wings, the added thickness shouldn't be a problem.
An interesting thing somebody advised me- the bottom edge of the inner sill
shouldn't be butted tight or sealed to the floor. Huh? It seems the little
gap lets the water (convertible, right?) drain out to the holes (the factory
ones, not the rust one...) in the sill strengthener then out the holes in
the rocker (that you shouldn't plug up). That also explained why I couldn't
get the new rocker, inner strengthener, sill and floor to line up tight,
other than general bad fit of replacement panels.
In order to fit the front edge under the bulkhead (firewall) you need to
remove the bolts on the engine side and inside the footwell to allow the tub
to be wedged up about an inch. Be careful not to bend the steering column or
strain the clutch and brake lines. The floor cross member should be
salvageable. The side along the driveshaft tunnel should overlap- you just
trim back the tunnel piece and weld along the edge (example:
http://www.yankeespitfire.com/images/big/pass_rear_06.jpg ). That would
allow you to angle in the floor pan without taking the tub completely off
the frame.
Once you're done, you might want to get some sort of rustproofing inside the
rockers since the paint will cook off from welding.
Good luck!
"Any drive you don't return from on a tow truck was a good one..."
Jon
'77 (mostly) 1500 "Ol' Yeller"
FM66043 7U
Nass #104 VTR #14429
www.yankeespitfire.com
-----Original Message-----
From: spitfires-owner@autox.team.net
[mailto:spitfires-owner@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Matthew Milkevitch
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2003 9:45 AM
To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Floorpan removal/ installation
Fellow Listers;
During the Thanksgiving holiday, I had to opportunity to work on the
floorpans on my '78 Spit. As is typical, several portions of both floorpans
have rust holes, with the portion directly below the driver's feet being
totally rusted out. I am therefore considering totally replacing the left
side (driver's) floorpan, since patching it may be counter-productive. I am
interested in hearing other lister's experiences with floorpan removal and
installation...any tips/tricks and other advice?
Thanks for your help,
Matt Milkevitch
'78 Spitfire
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