update on my project

[Joe Flanagan]

[teardrop puller]

someone took your floor,

Looking good!!!

kai

[Allan Faust]

Looking good Joe, got any more pics of the floor supports, rockers, and floor that you could post or PM or send me via email? (I've got a vested interest in this subject).

Allan

[Joe Flanagan]

Allan,

I'll try to send you what I have later today.

[Johnny S]

Joe, where did you find the new body supports? The Plymouth Doctor or ???

[Rodney Bullock]

That is some good clean work! The cuts are right on. I will be doing the same on my studebaker later this month is that mig welder easy to use? Does it use gas? I am in the market for one. Is that one good for beginners?

[Don Coatney]

That is some good clean work! The cuts are right on. I will be doing the same on my studebaker later this month is that mig welder easy to use? Does it use gas? I am in the market for one. Is that one good for beginners?

Rodney;

Joe lives just across the bridge from you. You should pay him a visit.

[Joe Flanagan]

Johnny,

Those are the original floor supports. They were pretty well rusted but I used a grinder to get out what I could and hit the tougher stuff with a sandblaster. I also neutralized what was left with a phosphoric acid solution called Picklex 20. The black stuff you see in the picture is called Zero Rust.

Rodney,

The MIG I bought from a forum member about four years ago. It's really beat but it works very well. The only advice I can give you is to practice. You'll make plenty of mistakes but that's the best way to learn. There is a video you can get too, which will help a great deal. My MIG is an off brand and I have learned to work around its limitations. I would get a good basic unit and I wouldn't skimp on it because I've heard even experienced welders can have problems with lousy equipment. I can send you a great basic instruction I found on another web site that explains how to use a MIG and offers all kinds of neat tips and tricks.

Joe

[teardrop puller]

Joe

What is the site?

kai

[Joe Flanagan]

Kai,

The site is www.autobodystore.com. Go to "Classroom," I believe, and there's a section called "Basics of Basics." The part on MIGs is written by a guy named Martin SR who does body work for a living. I followed his instructions and it makes a huge difference. There is also a lot of good information there for guys who are dealing with rust, paint, and metal repair. Aside from this site, that one is the only one I frequent when it comes to my project.

[teardrop puller]

thanks Joe

kai

[bob_amos]

Joe, Do you ever have your work cut out for you!! (Pun intended) Seriously though, looks like you are making progress.

[bob westphal]

Here are some shots of my floor replacement. The sill panels & side toe panels are from Plymouth Doc. I made the rest from sheet metal. I first riveted the pieces in & then tack welded them with a MIG flux.

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[Chester Brzostowski]

Rodney;

Joe lives just across the bridge from you. You should pay him a visit.

Rodney..., Don's right maybe you and I. and Jim should drop buy some weekend and say Hello to Joe.... in Alexandria

Chet...

[Joe Flanagan]

Bob,

Boy does that look clean. And very familiar. I had no idea that Plymouth Doc made those pieces. As it is, I'm going to have to try and make those holes and indents for the rubber sill mats. Wish I'd been paying attention. I used tappet screws to temporarily attach my sheet metal. Then I cut all around it with a cutoff wheel so my opening would be exact. Today I was underneath the car on my back with the sandblaster, hitting areas I couldn't get with a wire brush. I'll be glad when this is over.

Chet, Rodney, and Jim, I'd welcome a visit any time. My car's not much to look at at the moment but if you bring your own we could get the neighborhood talking. Don Coatney, aren't you due to revisit the DC area sometime too?

[Rodney Bullock]

I'm looking at your work and it's stunning, My studebaker is in the same conditon as your car, I have some good areas however there are two main parts that are terrible. Classic enterprise sells patch panels and floors for my car and I am waiting on there catalog now. I just took all my doors off today. My hands are very sore and my arms are weak, I had to use the impact driver on each screw. now I am ready for the mig machine. I will get mine from eastwood company. I think I can do the job as I did welding in high school, what I need to learn is how to set up the machine to get the wire inserted.As far as chet, jim and I coming over I would be honored and if we can get Don the more the better.

[Rodney Bullock]

Here is a look at my floor lots of work however I got lots of time:)

[Rodney Bullock]

My problem is my inner and outer rocker panels are bad, I have seen from my other projects that I have to replace the inner rocker first then tie the floor in and then weld the outer rocker in place. The only question I have for you is what did you use to cut away the bad metal, your cut is very clean and precise.

[bmt47p-15]

I feel your pain! My floor before!

My floor after! I bought rockers from a nice guy on eBay, made the rest from sheel metal!

[Allan Faust]

Darn winter weather.... I gotta wait until next spring until I can work on mine..... oh well, I'll build my rotisserie this winter and then I'll have fun (with everyone showing me the way to do it right..... )

[Joe Flanagan]

Rodney,

What I use to do my cutting is a very thin disk on a DeWalt grinder (4 1/2"). A sharp pencil and a framing square helps. I know what you mean about getting the doors off. That's how I discovered what an impact driver was.

Regarding the inner and outer rockers, yes, they are done separately. Inner goes on first. Your floor supports are tied to the inner rocker and the outer basically just attaches to the inner. Looking at your pictures, it seems to me you will need a sandblaster to deal with some of that rust. The side walls look sound, but with pretty heavy rust. I would try blasting them. My car also had very bad rust. I had to just take it a little bit at a time. Sometimes I'd spend a couple of days just fabricating some individual piece and blasting the area around it so I could weld to something clean and sound. I have a bunch of pictures of the process on Photobucket. I'll try to post a link. I use a gas MIG, by the way.

BMT47, nice job. Did you do anything with the back side of your welds? Very neat work.

[Joe Flanagan]

Here's how it looked when I started:

[Joe Flanagan]

These are the inner rockers in place.

[Joe Flanagan]

Welding in the inner rockers:

[Joe Flanagan]

This shows where the rocker ties in to the front corner of the car and the front floor support. The kick panel in this photo has been rebuilt also because the rust had gone up into that area as well. It was just cut and paste with a lot of blasting in between.