My 70 Plymouth Belvedere Resto

[justacruzr2]

Next phase.......the passenger compartment floor from the rear bulkhead to the firewall. These pix are what it looked like before I started. Holes in the floor are visible around where the front seat bolts to the floor as well as holes in the front floor and left and right firewall areas. Also, the crossmember needs the same type of work as the rear frame rails did.

 

[justacruzr2]

The first repairs to the floor were at the sides. The area just in front of the wheelhouses and just in front of the floor hump (the one that runs side to side). They appear as the small shiny squares in the pix. Also the wiring shields which are those long strips of stamped sheetmetal that have notches stamped in them. They have tabs that are pinch welded to the floor. Several of them were broke and needed repair. Those wiring shields are bent over flat after the wiring is installed and are covered by the carpet.

In these pix the holes in the floor where the seat bolts have been repaired. And the repair of the sides of the front crossmember (this one is for the floor not the engine) has been done. Like the repair of the uni-body frame at the back of the car, I had to take measurements of what was left of the original piece and have them made by that same metal shop. They did some good work. At this point I hadn't completely opened up the front floor for replacement. I only cut out enough of the floor to get full access to the repair area.

Here I have cut the old rusted portion of the floor away. I used the replacement floor panel to trace a line around it and then cut the floor out about 1" smaller than the trace line. This would be the welding lip. In the second pic that black line you see around the opening about 1" above it is the trace line.

And views of the sides. One other thing worth mentioning is that I loosened the torsion bar adjusting bolts all the way before I cut the old sections of the crossmember away so as to relieve tension on the crossmember.

 

[justacruzr2]

Continued from above. These pics are a view of the crossmember repair from underneath.

And here I have "stepped" the edges of the original floor and sandblasted and primered the area in preparation for the new floor panels.

More tomorrow. Thanks for watching.

 

[zdeckich]

Amazing work so far!!

 

[justacruzr2]

Amazing work so far!!

Thanks for the compliment.

 

[Clutch]

I'm actually liking that it's a 4 door it reminds me of a picture in Hurst heritage of the taxi conversions they did some time between 68 and 70 on Mopars

 

[Clutch]

I so need to take a picture of my neighbors car for you in the early 90s it was his bracket car and was 8 in points E-town had him run it at Maple Grove for them that year now it's hidden from the town in his garage off the road sence the late 90s that's it I'm going across the street

I told you I would and I did because I thaught you would like to see it the first picture is way back when the car was a daily and a bracket car it was taken at Maple Grove

and the way it is now

just last night he helped me bead my brakes and he told me he wants to put it back on the road I shore hope so I'll have someone to race

 

[justacruzr2]

Here the firewall repairs have been done and the new floor pans have been riveted in place to keep them from moving while welding. Like the quarterpanels, they will be removed and filled in when finished.

 

[justacruzr2]

Here the edges have been welded, the rivets removed and filled in, the access hole in the floor has been cut and holes have been made to weld the floor pan to the crossmember. I used a pinch weld cutting tool (actually a small hole saw available from Eastwood) to make these holes.

Here, the floor pan is now welded to the crossmember.

And finally, the welds have been ground flush. This wraps up repairs to the mid section of the car so tomorrow will be the start of repairs to the front. At this point I did not sandblast and prime the floor yet (and still haven't) like when I did the back of the car. I want to wait until I have removed the engine and trans and do the floor, engine compartment and underside of the car together. And that is waiting for me to finish final detailing of the back of the car. I will have some pictures of where I'm at on that right after I post the work on the front of the car. Stay tuned and thanks for watching.

 

[justacruzr2]

I'm actually liking that it's a 4 door it reminds me of a picture in Hurst heritage of the taxi conversions they did some time between 68 and 70 on Mopars

It's funny you mention that 'cause I have toyed with the idea of doing this as a taxi or police car but have finally decided to leave it be as original. Besides, I would have to find something like a 383 if I did it as a police car. Doubt they would have caught many crooks with a 6 banger. HaHa!!!