[Leadhead]

Well I got a nice surprise the other day. I had to cut a piece of floor out so I could cut out the body mount cage nut in the bottom of the firewall. I took the plastic kick panel off so I wouldn't damage it, and...... SURPRISE!!!
I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, seeing the rest of the front floor. I couldn't locate any repop kick panels, so I guess I'll be trying out my fabrication skills. If anyone has any advice, I'm all ears. Thanks.

 

[BlueSS454]

That is going to be far worse than that. There was 3 pieces total. The inner brace is AMD part number 376-3466-4R & 4L and on indefinite back order. Then the inner and outer cowl shoulder will both need to be replaced or repaired.

 

[Leadhead]

Oh great... Restoring this car is like peeling layers of an onion....

 

[Shane 69 Hugger]

Oh great... Restoring this car is like peeling layers of an onion....

And it makes your eyes water too.

 

[drivejunk]

Looks like an opportunity to make fairly easy pieces. To just fix the car. Trouble is usually in determining where to stop, within reason.

 

[123pugsy]

That's a big onion there.

 

[Leadhead]

That is going to be far worse than that. There was 3 pieces total. The inner brace is AMD part number 376-3466-4R & 4L and on indefinite back order. Then the inner and outer cowl shoulder will both need to be replaced or repaired.

Thanks so much for this info! AMD has two parts for this area, 376-3466-R, and 376-3466-4R. They're both showing in stock now. I really appreciate the part #'s. By the looks of the parts, I guess the dash will have to come out. This project started as rear quarters and trunk, and now it's turned into a full blown body off resto.

 

[Leadhead]

Welp, I ordered the two pieces listed above from AMD. They both showed in stock, and with their 4th of July sale, the total was only $176, including shipping. I also had a complete RH side floor pan in the shopping cart that was on sale for $116, but they wanted $199 for truck freight! Yeowww!! I think I'll have to replace just the front RH 1/4 floor piece to avoid that ridiculousness.

 

[drivejunk]

That comes up more and more. I was standing at a 55 Chevy recently with a customer looking at firewalls. He points to a prefab recessed wall pic on web and its $500 so he says can you make that for five hun? Um, um... well, sure. Doing quick math in head its kind of a toss-up. But then OH! Yeah with shipping too its a no brainer. Depends on the situation, parts and people, but you see from this how fabrication can be a good friend now more than ever. There are just a lot of factors to consider but more often than not, on smallish pieces heck yeah if they are available, get 'em. Then just use only as much of the part as needed for the repair. The pieces shown do look fairly complex. Hope they help you pull off the fix with minimal fuss.

 

[Kawickrice]

Last year on Black Friday OPGI had free truck shipping for orders over $299.00
They have free regular shipping of $299.00 or more on every holiday but so far the free truck shipping was on Black Friday.
Last year i did order hood, fender and door all free truck shipping.
This year i need trunk lid, windshield, another door and another fender, on the free truck shipping deal.
I am about 100 miles from NPD so i could go pick up the big stuff if need be but i like the free truck freight when i can get it.

 

[Leadhead]

That comes up more and more. I was standing at a 55 Chevy recently with a customer looking at firewalls. He points to a prefab recessed wall pic on web and its $500 so he says can you make that for five hun? Um, um... well, sure. Doing quick math in head its kind of a toss-up. But then OH! Yeah with shipping too its a no brainer. Depends on the situation, parts and people, but you see from this how fabrication can be a good friend now more than ever. There are just a lot of factors to consider but more often than not, on smallish pieces heck yeah if they are available, get 'em. Then just use only as much of the part as needed for the repair. The pieces shown do look fairly complex. Hope they help you pull off the fix with minimal fuss.

Great advice, thanks! I will definitely only be using a small amount of the panel shown in the upper image of the earlier post. Probably will only use an area slightly bigger than the panel in the lower image. Since they sandwich together, do you think I need to invest in a spot welder, or can I just attach it with my mig welder?

 

[drivejunk]

I am not a welder's welder, just using a MIG for everything asked of me and having little or no experience with resistance welding or TIG and O/A. Or with the skill levels of others here who might also advise on welding.

If your concern is with penetration on multiple layers and/or metal thicknesses, those things are addressed with larger plug weld holes (in my case, maybe 8mm instead of 6) and heat and wire speed settings which are quite individual to the rig. But the important thing while doing is to start the plug weld on the innermost layer so that penetration starts there. Normally for three layers with one being old, I'll not change from the two layer setting. If theres a 16 ga layer, I'll not change from the two layer hole size but will spice up the settings a bit. Four layers of 18 ga or two of 16 ga calls for larger holes plus a hotter setting. For example. In my world. Yours may vary.

 

[Leadhead]

Thank you sir! I appreciate the advice. I was thinking plug welds also.

 

[TechNova]

a standard plug weld hole is 5/16". If doing three layers, the middle layer has 5/16" and the top layer has a 3/8" hole.
I assemble and align the pieces than drill a 1/8" hole in the top two layers, then disassemble to drill larger holes, this assures hole alignment before welding

 

[Leadhead]

a standard plug weld hole is 5/16". If doing three layers, the middle layer has 5/16" and the top layer has a 3/8" hole.
I assemble and align the pieces than drill a 1/8" hole in the top two layers, then disassemble to drill larger holes, this assures hole alignment before welding

Thank you for your reply. I think I'm just doing the two layers, unless I'm missing something. So I would drill a 5/16" hole in the back panel right?

 

[TechNova]

Thank you for your reply. I think I'm just doing the two layers, unless I'm missing something. So I would drill a 5/16" hole in the back panel right?

5/16 hole in the panel on the side you will weld from

 

[Leadhead]

Thanks guys for your help!

 

[Kopfjaeger]

I feel your pain.

 

[Leadhead]

Wow... How do you have the body suspended in the air?

I feel your pain.
View attachment 743600
View attachment 743598
View attachment 743599

 

[Leadhead]

So I cut the passenger front section of the floor out today. Here's what was lying underneath. Parts are on the way, but man, this is a mess.