I was taking the bolts out of my front bench seat so I could take it out and remove the build sheet. I was tearing carpet up and on the pass side floors (the worst part of the car) I can see the body bushing that is under the body brace. Will a new brace and floor pan remedy this problem? My rockers and rear floors seem to be ok although my pass rocker has a hole in it so I will replace that too I guess. I have full floor replacements however so I am going to use them. The front floor brace looks OK so I am going to leave it I think. This car gets more depressing everytime I look at it! I now need Toe pans, full floors, trunk pans, 1/4s inner/outer wheel tubs....and God knows what else. Oh yeah, a frame too. Before I get the "buy another car" story...please just tell me what I need to do in order to fix this spot.

Thanks guys!! graemlins/thumbsup.gif


EDIT: I just gave my floor pans what for with the business end of a craftsman wrench while I was taking the seat track bolts loose. The floors are crunchy and have holes right above my floor braces. The rear pans still have factory paint on them with the acception of 1 hole on the pass side (go figure). Under the seats seem fine. So...my trouble areas are....

</font> The toe pans along the seem of the kick panel area
The toe panel to floor pan seem
The metal above the floor braces</font>

So, it looks like the floors are going to a 6 to fix on a scale of 1-10. 10 being the hardest.
I'm still looking into tubbing my car to make less work for the trunk.

Anyway, just thought I'd update. Thanks! graemlins/waving.gif

Replacing that brace without taking the body off the frame can be done, but it won't be done "right".

I did mine by cutting the floor out all the way across where the brace was, then put the new one in from the top, but you've really got to be able to use the old floor to get the brace lined up so you can use the brace to line the new floors up.. and if the floor is in place, you can't get at the end of the brace to properly weld it to the rockers.

I'm not really happy with how well it's attached to the rocker panels; I got a good bead all the way across the bottom and partway up the sides, but I couldn't get at the top once I had the floors in.

If I had to do it all over again, I think I would have taken the body off the frame specifically to do this part of the pans.

You need to lift the body off the frame just high enough to get access to the braces. Yes you can remove the braces with the car on the frame but it will look halfa$$ed. Lift it up to do it properly. All I did was slide 4x4s across the frame. Yenko the only cure for that rusty brace is replace it.

Now if you do a search on floor replacement you will find tons of info. Plus Ive wrote a step by step detail to you on how to do it, please try and find it, if not I might retype it...Eric

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/sevt_chevelles/vwp?.dir=/70+Chevelle+Project&.src=bc&.dnm=floor+install.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/sevt_chevelles/lst%3f%26.dir =/70%2bChevelle%2bProject%26.src=bc%26.view=t (http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/sevt_chevelles/vwp?.dir=/70+Chevelle+Project&.src=bc&.dnm=floor+install.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/sevt_chevelles/lst%3f%26.dir=/70%2bChevelle%2bProject%26.src=bc%26.view=t)
If you look at this pic it shows how far the full floor from the paddock goes up. So you might not need the toe pans. The toe pans ONLY include about two more inches of metal on firewall. Meanig most of the toe pan was part of the floor board I order, making the toe pan a waste of money since most of it was part of the floor

"I now need Toe pans, full floors, trunk pans, 1/4s inner/outer wheel tubs....and God knows what else. Oh yeah, a frame too. "

Sheesh...I know you didn't want to hear it- BUT you should start with a better car. Sheetmetal replacement is one thing, but sheetmetal replacement AND a rusted out frame is another. If you want to build a car from a scratch, why not just buy a kit car? I am not saying ALL rusty Chevy's should be scrapped; things like a 1/4 replacement and a couple of front or rear floor pan patches aren't a catastrophe and somewhat common. BUT when you are doing 3/4 replacement of everything on the ENTIRE CAR, IMHO, it just defies any sort of logic. SOrry, and good luck to you- I am sure sevt_chevelles article has everything you need....

graemlins/clonk.gif

Hey Eric, Thanks a bunch for taking the time to explain this stuff me to over and over! graemlins/thumbsup.gif I actually have all that stuff you wrote for me printed out. Thanks to your first post(s) I know about the floor braces...how to replace em etc... My concern was that Body mount under the front floor brace. When replacing the brace do you just weld a nut to it and then put the floor over it and voila instant body mount? Before you waste your time explaining something again to me that you have already done before (appreciated, but not necessary since you explained it very well the first time) I hope that didn't come across wrong. I was just concerned about that brace and mount. Thanks!

Yenko the new braces come with cage nuts preweld on the brace. No second guessing on where to weld a new nut since its already there. You can even reuse your old bolts if you want since the nuts are the same size as the originals, but I say buy new ones