I
replaced the floor in my 71. It was a p.i.t.a. But since I think I
have more time than brains I went about this method. Here is a
link.
How I
did it:
1. Remove old.
2. Buy new 3 piece kit paying attention to
price.
3. Fully welded all butt/overlap seams.
Spot welded every 2 inches all points where the floor layed over a
supporting brace.
4. Fabricate extra pieces to cover holes on each
side next to the wheel well housing, from trunk floor up and over to the seat
back.
5. Lots of grinding on imperfect
welds. I think my wire feed welder is a POS.
6. Some bondo and sanding to make it look
smooth.
7. Seam sealer.
8. Trunk paint.
9. Probably spent 80 hours on it. I could
not make a living fixing trunk floors.
How I
would do it again:
1. Remove old.
2. Buy new kit that extends further up
the back wall and further up and over the rear axle hump. Don't worry if
it costs $100 more it will be a better and easier fit, it will look better, and
even if your time is only worth $5 an hour it will still pay for itself.
(When you buy quality - what?)
3. Tack all butt/overlap seams and do not
worry about 100% of the joint being welded. Spot welded every 2 inches all
spots where the floor layed over a supporting brace.
4. Grinding really bad welds but
don't worry about the rest. If you buy a welder buy a good one.
Borrow a good one from a buddy and try it first. (When you buy quality
you only cry once.)
5. Dont bondo. Go around the new panel
seams with seam sealer and leave it.
6. Trunk paint.
7. I estimate this would only take 40 hours
to do a trunk. and would look very good to 95% of the population. It is
not unusual to see seam sealer on joints on cars and I think it would slip by
most people. Of course this would not look as perfect and you would still
know etc... I would do it this way if I were just making a neat car really
nice.
The
biggest problem you might have is the fact that all the original metal you
weld may be 1/2 rusted away. You take nice new weldable thicker trunk
panels and try to weld them to this thin worn out stuff and you might burn
through every inch. Maybe my car was to rusty for this to be
easy.
When
it is done it is nice to have a trunk floor that stuff does not fall through
:)
Good
luck,
Mark
71
SS
-----Original Message-----Howdy
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2002 12:12 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Chevelle-List] Trunk Floor Replacement
How difficult is it to replace the trunk floor in a 66 Chevelle ? Time and material wise ?
Thanks...John
