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Randy Pflanzer
Technology Professionals Consortium
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   What's New?
 
  02/01/13 - Reformatted web page.

 

Floor Pans

In order to get the body positioned correctly and as far down on the frame as it will go, I decided to install the rear floor pans now.  That will allow me to see that the body is all the way down and if not, where it is hitting.  The first step is to trim the edges so each pan sits on top of the frame rails and doesn't overlap with anything.

Next, I used a hole saw to cut holes in the corners so I could find the edges of the pan.  Using actual measurements through the holes, I scribed cut lines and cut the floor out in sections until I was happy with the fit.  I then drilled holes along the edge and clecoed the pan in place so I could remove the body.

After removing the body from the frame, I prepped the body underside by using a sanding disk and roughing up the edges of the opening so the fiberglass filler would have something to grip.

I also roughed up the edge of the floor pan.

I mixed up a batch of fiberglass filler and used it to butter the floor pan into place.  I used the clecoes to hold it while it dried.  I also mixed up some additional batches and used them to fill tin the gaps around the entire opening.  Once dried, I used my sanding disk to smooth out the edges both inside and outside.

On the front pans, the right one goes in basically just like the rear pans.  I cut out an opening that matched the location of the pan, roughed up the edges, and glassed the pan in place. 

The right pan requires some modification.  First, I decided to modify my right front pan to expand the foot box.  This will allow me to move the gas pedal over to the right and will give me more space for the brake/clutch pedals.  I can do this because my SB engine gives me the space for this.  While the body was on the frame, I measured how much space I had to expand the box and determined that I could add 11" to the height and 5" to the width.

I trimmed off the corner where the box was angled to the left.  My plan is to extend the pan as if it was straight.

Second, I cut the opening in the firewall, square with the floor pan, that allows for the new box to be built.

I then attached the floor pan to the body with some fiberglass filler and let it set overnight to harden.  What I was left with was a rectangular opening in the end of the floor pan for the expanded foot box.

Next step is to build out and fiberglass the foot box expansion.  That work begins on the next page.