BOTCHED FLOOR REPAIR

3/16  inch thick steel bars had been welded between the inner sills and the transmission tunnel.  These are about 1/8 inch above the floor surface.  I don't know how the restorer expected to bolt down the seat rails.  Other repairs consisted of screwing aluminum sheets over the rusted floor panels.

Here, the steel plate and aluminum sheet have been removed.

Welding new floors and body panels:

After cutting out the old floor, the new floor panel was marked 1/2 inch larger than the resulting opening and welded in.  A silver colored "WeldThru" paint was sprayed over both surfaces to protect the 1/2" area between welds.  The floor was welded above and below.  Then the floor cross member was bolted down through the floor and welded to place.

Cutting out the bad body panels:

The body panels were cut out within an inch or so from the spot welded flanges.   This is the rear fender to the side of the trunk (boot). You can see the weatherstrip at the top.  The flange was finished with a grinding wheel to better visualize the spot welds.

Spot welds are cut out with special drill bit from Eastwood.

A seam cutting knife (again from Eastwood) is used to cut through the panel flange.  It is very hard and sharp and the top is tapped with a mallet.

This is after the remaining fender panel piece is cut away from the trunk (boot) flange.

Finally the remnants of the old spot welds are ground down.

Grinding off the fender flange covering the tail light mount.

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