Finally Finished Welding the Floorpan

A welcome change in the weather occurred this past Sunday.  The temperatures in Texas dropped from a daily high of around 105 degrees to 90 degrees.   Without the hot garage to fight against, I decided it was time to get moving on the Mustang.  This involved taking today and tomorrow off work to dedicate to the project.

On Sunday, I welded in the passenger side seat riser.  Before welding the riser in place, I sanded the inside and floorboard which would be covered by the seat riser.  I coated them both with Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator and then Satin Chassis Black.  This might not be necessary but I wanted to keep the inside protected as the originals were not and were filled with rust when I removed them from the Mustang.

I started off the morning today by installing the driver side seat riser.  I had already painted it like the passenger side on Sunday.  I used the same installation approach as with the floorpan by fitting the panel and then drilling holes to plug weld the seat riser into place.  Each of the seat risers had about 40 holes in them about 2-3 inches apart.

With the seat risers in place, I turned my attention to the rear section of the floorpan under the rear seat.  The new floorpan did not extend all the way to the rocker panels.  The driver side was close enough to work the metal to get it to fit.  However, the passenger side was at least a 1/4" and there was no way to get it to fit without a fair amount of modification.

To make the passenger side fit, I cut off the end of the floorpan which welds to the rocker panel.  I placed the cut directly over the frame rail.  This would allow me to weld it to the rocker panel and then fill the cut area with weld.  The job was not too difficult as the frail rail flange made welding the gap closed much easier.

With everything welded, I started the process of grinding down all of my welds.  There are a few which a placed two far into a corner to grind down.  This bothers me a little but there is nothing to do about it.  Additionally, only I'll know as I'm going to coat the floor with sound deadener and you will never see it.

I worked from 8AM to 5PM on the Mustang so it was definitely a long day.  Tomorrow, I think I'll work on stripping the area behind the dash.

Reshaping and Welding the Front Floor Tunnel Area

The Dynacorn full floorboard does not align perfectly at the front of the transmission tunnel.  This was fairly obvious when I completed welding the floorboard to the rocker panels.  I continued welding the new floor to the toe boards on each side saving this project for later.  As you can see below, there is about a 3/4" gap between the reproduction transmission tunnel and lower firewall panel.

I used a small torch to heat the sides transmission tunnel on the floorboard.  I then used a hammer and dolly to reshape it to match the vehicle.  As the panels lined up properly, I welded about half way up the tunnel.

In order to continue to contour the sides of the panel, I had to make two cuts in the floorboard.  I made the cuts at about an inch down on each side.  This allowed me to continue working on the alignment on the sides of the tunnel.  Once those were complete, I then worked on the top and welded from the center out.

Once all of my plug welds were done, the cut areas needed work.  Since I had too much metal on the floorboard tunnel, I had a slight overlap where I cut the panels.  I used a cutoff wheel to take off the overlap leaving me a good gap to reweld the panel. 

I finished up my welding and then used my grinder on those welds and the welds I'd not finished up from the driver floorboard.  The front part of the floor is now complete.  There are some alignment problems at the back and I'll handle those in the furture.

I've not painted the front of the floorboard.  I plan to do this tomorrow or in the next few days. 

Rear Seat Divider Project

Large projects like the replacement of the floorboard are difficult.  They challenge your motivation.  After working all day, there is never enough progress.  I've been delaying working on the floorboard because of this and the heat (over 40 days straight over 100 degrees).  However, today, I resumed work.

I'll often start with something new and small to get my interest going again.  This time the project was creating a metal seat divider.  The one in the Mustang was made from Masonite by a previous owner.  The panel was cut poorly and I felt I could do better.

The metal divider allows me to apply Dynamat to the panel and get better sound deadening.  Additionally, I read adding a piece of metal in this area helps to stiffen the chassis.  I'll search for the article and post it if I can locate it again.

Anyway, I purchased a piece of 16 gauge metal cut to 38" by 17" for $19.05.  I made a carboard template to make sure no mistakes were made when I cut the metal panel.  I designed the shape to completely cover the opening between the rear seat and trunk.

Once the panel was cut, I drilled a few holes for 1/4" bolts to mount the panel in place.  I then painted the panel and installed it in the car.  I'll apply Dynamat to the panel and the floor once the floorboard installation is complete. 

Driver Side Transmission Tunnel Welding

I expected the driver side of the tunnel to be a little easier to shape to match the underlying transmission crossmember... I was wrong.  I used the same hammer and dolley technique with some heat.  I tried to work it as slowly as possible but it was a little over 1/2" off along the lower edge of the tunnel.

I performed all the welds along the toe board and up the transmission tunnel.  I've not ground them down at this point.  I should go ahead and do it but I'm taking a break for now.  It is 100 degrees it feels like a suana welding out there in the garage. 

Welding Tunnel Area of Floorboard

I worked on the Mustang for a few hours this morning.

Last weekend, I welded up the passenger side of the floorpan to the rocker panel. After welding, I ground down the welds and top coated with some red primer.

This weekend I wanted to work on the tunnel area of the floorpan. This section fits the worst of the entire floorpan. The floorpan does not match up to the contour of the transmission crossmember. As a result, I'd need to work the metal a little to get it to fit.

I started today by screwing through the holes in the driver side of the floorpan to attach it to the rocker panel. I then tacked the top, center of the floorpan tunnel in place. I used a blow torch to heat up the metal on the floor and used a hammer and dolley to stretch the metal to fit the crossmember contour.

When I started, the floorpan was about 1/4" - 1/2" from the crossmember. To stretch it, I heated the metal, placed the metalwork side of the dolley on the floor, and then hit the backside with a hammer. The contour of the dolley matched up with the crossmember which formed the floor just right.

I welded up the passenger side of the tunnell and toe board. I then welded the driver side of the floorpan to the rocker panel. I still need to work on the driver side portion of the tunnel and the toe board. I'm saving this portion of the job for another day.