Floorpan replacement, the right way

If you remember way back to the Premiere issue of Legendary Ford Magazine (November 2003), our very first tech story was entitled "Floorpan Resto." That piece was about coating your slightly rusty floorpans with a miracle cure rust "paint" called POR-15. Well, this here story is a whole 'nother ball game. This tech article is all about what to do when your car's floor boards are beyond the reach of even mighty POR-15.

If the thought of carving up and replacing rusty old floors scares the daylights out of you, let us help put your mind at ease with this project We're working with Jeff Farina of Grumpy's Garage, and Jeff's going to show us the ropes. Jeff's car is a '64 T-Bird. The car is in pretty good shape, other than the driver's side front floor. Seems a boat load of moisture slowly turned the sheetmetal into a cancerous mess, finally rotting through. A fairly common problem. And a pretty easy fix. It's work, y es, but it's not as tough as you think.

Floor rigidity is key, and there's really no substitute for floorpan replacement. All this talk about Fusor structural adhesives is well and good, and may work in certain smaller rusted out areas. But when you're dealing with a large section of metal that needs replacing, especially in a unibody like the Thunderbird, why mess around? The unibody construction of these cars relies heavily on every major steel panel for structural integrity, so welding in a new section is really the only way to go.

Plus, there's numerous advantages. Peace of mind, safety, resale value, etc., all add up, and considering we replaced this floorpan section in a little over 4 hours, we figure it was well worth the effort. There's a few tools involved, and if you can't beg, borrow, or steal them, rental is always an option.

Complete article now available in issue #7 of Legendary Ford Magazine

To read this 4-page article in its entirety and much more visit Legendary Ford Magazine online and subscribe today!

Note: SuperMotors has a business affiliation with Legendary Ford Magazine, which provides Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury articles and content to SuperMotors.

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