I have just purchased a Lincoln SP-135 PLUS
I have just purchased a Lincoln SP-135 Plus
Welder and am teaching myself to weld in preparation for repairing the floor pans in my 69 Malibu Conv.
The areas to be repaired are the support brackets and floor at the bench seat mount and the seat belt anchor mount. I have retained the mounting areas but the area to be repaired is about 4" X 24" on either side of the "tunnel".
My question is should I patch this area or should I replace the centre floor pans?. (expensive here in Canada).
My second question is should I remove the gas tank before attempting the repair? I have read several posts pertaining to the replacement of floor pans but no one has mentioned Gas tank removal.
Thanks for your input.
John

I would suggest that if your welding anywhere within sniffing distance of the tank pull it out. But then I get nervous when guys spot weld exhaust pipes near the fuel tank.

If you get all the gas out of the tank it isn't to bad of an operation to remove it. I used a 14 year old kid and a floor jack with a piece of plywood on it to remove mine. I'm not sure about the 68-9 cars but the later cars have a vapor recovery deal that has several hoses and vent lines that run out of the tank as well as the fuel line. Be careful when cutting out panels that you don't cut these lines up. Some go into a canister deal behind the rear seat some all the way to the engine for smog crap. While you have the tank out it is a good time to replace all the old hoses and the wire to the fuel tank sender. I also took the time to clean and paint the fuel tank and replace the straps.

I found it much easier and more efficient to replace the entire floor/braces in the trunk and the pan under the rear seats. My floors were pretty bad. But here I had the avantage of going to Carlisle (sp?) spring swap meet and picking up the panels at a reasonable price. My front pans were in good shape believe it or not and only needed one litle patch under the heel near the gas petal so I was able to fab that one. If your in the hump area it is going to be hard, I would think, to get the compound curves your going to need.
------------------
72 Chevelle and a 70 Chevelle with a crushed roof
ACES # 4051 MCC # 448
TC # 1549 81/70 Cruisers

[This message has been edited by Professor_SS (edited 08-27-2002).]

Johnny,Andrew here,I live about 50-60 miles from you and the best price I have found is from cross canada,it is listed under 708.or online@ crosscanadaparts.com it has pretty much every panel you could ever need.

I would like to hear more comments on removing the gas tank. Im replacing my floor panels as well, im welding from the inside, i can only smell gas if i put my nose to the tank. How do you remove it? once its removed, do the lines drain also? I understand its a precaution, but to everyone who replaced pans, did you remove the tank?, would a body shop do that?

Pull the tank. It's better to remove it than to be lying in a burn unit WISHING you had. There can be no shortcuts when it comes to safety.
I can't speak for body shops. I've seen a lot of shops where safety wasn't a major concern. They take shortcuts for the bottom line. If I were running the shop, the tank would come out.

[This message has been edited by Randy Mosier (edited 09-03-2002).]

Thanks for the tips guys. I pulled the tank. It seems when you have never performed a difficult task, It seems insurmountable. I disconnected the 3 hose clamps and placed a floor jack under the centre of the tank. The 2 bolts in the front of the straps were removed. I crawled out from under & slowly released the pressure on the jack. The tank got held up on the tail pipe but a little prompting from a crow bar freed it.It was a "piece of cake" even without a 14 year old kid.
I will feel a lot safer working on the floor pans.
Once again thanks. It is good to know reliable advice is here for the asking.
John

hey John, get eh 14 year old when you put it back, save you a few trips under and back out from under when reinstalling it http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif

------------------
72 Chevelle and a 70 Chevelle with a crushed roof
ACES # 4051 MCC # 448
TC # 1549 81/70 Cruisers