where is the best place to buy floor pans for my 1965 acadian,ive looked at early-birds in alberta,e-bay,chevy 2 only,is there any difference,one better then the other.
I buy my sheet metal from a guy near Minneapolis. Great guy to deal with and he's a first gen Nova guy to boot, so he will understand what you need. He lives a few miles from our very own Dr CAS, an American member here on Canadian Poncho.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
ok im about to start replacing the floor on the drivers side,also the under floor seat brace,any one got pics of replacing the brace,instructions.......
I don't think you can see the pictures unless you sign up as a member. I would highly recommend that you do. This guy did a great write up.
I added some pictures of my own to his thread. If you have questions, I will gladly help however I can. I really enjoyed doing my pans. The following year I did another set in a Nova for a man from Winnipeg.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
wow,those pics are just like mine,hope mine turns out as nice.
Hey carl did you weld your under floor seat brace to the floor first or after the floor was in,also seat belt pads,and im going to guess you removed your floor right to the kicker panel and installed like the factory floor,plug welded to the kicker.......................
I'm at work still. If you don't mind I'll answer in detail tonight! They tolerate my little "peeks" on here but may frown on long answers while I should be working!!!
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Ok, I'll try to answer with pictures as much as I can-
I cut out the original pan only up to the seam that would be under the drivers heel, the one that runs from the outer sill to the tunnel. I had to do a very small patch forward of that on the driver's side only, about 1" X 16". The repro pan did go all the way forward and a couple of inches up the toe board but I liked the idea of keeping the factory seam. Looking at your pictures I think you will need to go farther forward.
The brace under the floor that runs from the sill to the tunnel under the seat was welded on later. I first fitted the pan so that I could butt weld it all the way around. Then I traced the brace out on the underside of the floor with a marker. At the same time, I did all the traciing where anything would have to be welded to the new pan. Then I took the pan out, flipped it over, marked where I wanted all the holes for plug welding and drilled holes. Don't make the holes too small. I think I first did 1/4" or 5/16" and those were too small. Seems to me 3/8" worked the best for a proper weld.
I welded the seat belt pads on in a similar way to the factory. It appeared to me that they just kind of held them in place and welded! They were not done perfectly straight, to say the least. Most of the floors I look at are like that from the factory.
It's too late for you to do now, but I took measurements for my seat track mounting holes from the old pan before I cut it out. I measured from the screw holes in the sill, the ones the carpet retaining plate use.
When I was welding, I made sure I had spark protection surrounding the interior so as not to get marks on glass, door panels etc.
Use the whole pan, don't be tempted to cheat. Other than at that front seam, I trimmed NONE of the repro pan away. Where it needed trimming, I trimmed the old floor to enlarge the opening.
Make sure you support well under the car. I had blocks under the sills and crossmembers as much as I could. Also, I did NOT kneel on the sill when I worked. I had heard it is very weak when the pan is cut out.
I will likely add more later as I think of more stuff.
-- Edited by Carl Stevenson on Wednesday 16th of March 2011 07:15:48 PM
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I'll keep posting as I think of stuff, if for no other reason, maybe someone else on here is tackling the same job.
You have been told that if possible, it's best to cut out one side at a time, for structural reasons?
When I was welding in the new pan, I kept closing the door to make sure I was not having any sagging problems with the body. I reasoned if the door closed properly it still must all be correct. Likely a post car is more solid than a hardtop anyway though.
-- Edited by Carl Stevenson on Wednesday 16th of March 2011 09:54:23 PM
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
yep its alot of work,i've had the floor in and out 50 times,i think i finally at the point where i have 3/4" over lap at the tunnel and fire wall,and have to decide weather to continue cutting and then but weld or keep it over laped. Also do you have any pics of the rear of the pan were it meets the rear frame rail,is it a good fit,it apears i have an 1/8" gap,or it could just be my eyes full of acadian decay RUST....
