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.