floor pans, quarter panels, and rockers

[kegkicker9]

Has anyone ever installed any these parts onto their car?? I just bought all of these parts to put onto my car and I was wondering if there was anything special I should know about before I go about putting these new panels in.

Thanks for any help!!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I did it on a 1968 Ford Mustang coupe and it's a pain!!! Remember to do one piece at a time and properly brace the body before removing things. You also need to be sure to square the openings and take critical measurements before disassembly to be sure the dimensions stay the same. ( I worked on new heater channels and lower quarters on a 65 VW Bug with a neighbor and he welded it when I wasn't there. Sure enough, the door no longer fit!)You will need to remove any body lead with a torch on low heat first, but wear eye protection as uneven heating will tend to cause it to pop and spit lead at you. A propane torch works fine for this as it tends not to overheat the area unless you leave it there too long. This warps things like the roof which will be impossible to get perfect again if it becomes warped. You will also need to remove the quarter windows, back window and interior trim before you get started, and be sure to protect the windshield and door glass from flying sparks that will imbed themselves in the glass-don't ask me how I know!!! There is a ton more I could post, but this should get you started. Good luck!

 

[kegkicker9]

Thanks, the car right now is gutted inside, because I have to do the floors, so its all set and ready to go. has anyone ever actually used that POR-15 paint on their cars??? I was thinking about painting my floors and rockers with it after I put them in.

 

[Pounder]

A friend of mine and I gutted my 87 Cutlass Supreme and put a floor in including rear frame rails and repaired body mount positions on car.....it was a nightmare for the longest time. Sandblasting, cleaning, scrapping and the never ending grinding. Although against my better judgement we decided to rebuild floor with sheet metal patches. Buying the floor pans is a better way to go. My car is done now and the floor is undercoated and painted inside and underneath for rust protection because I really dont want to do that again.

Pounder

 

[betsy84]

if you're replacing the floors because they are rusty, either Tremclad (or Rustoleum as you call it in the US) would be fine, POR15 is intened to go over rust. As for rockers, you should really be replacing inner and outer if either is rusty and that's the reason for replacing... also, when you do the quarters, I assume that's due to rust either around the wheel lip or behind the rear wheel housing opening, in which case the inner wheel housing probably has a hole where water has gotten in and rotted the quarter panel out. In the case of the quarter panel, what I would do is cut out the damaged parts, strip the rest to make sure it's ok (then epoxy primer it) replace inner and outer wheel housings, then weld the quarter panel skin over top of the old one, this way you dont have to worry about flexing or anything like that. The car should be sitting on the suspension whenever you're aligning panels especially if they are welded on so they are lined up properly.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

My Cutlass has required 14 small patch panels to get it rust free, and it also had rust on the floor. I am not proud of this, but I ground down the rust and acid etched it on the driver's side floor and the rust had only 3 small pinholes that went through. Then I put fiberglass resin and mat over it. I did this 3 years ago ( and never put the car back together-yet) and it still is rust free. I can see through the resin since I did not paint it and it all looks good. I did , however, weld in my patches on the exterior of the car.

 

[1979hurst]

i put rockers full floor pans and lower qtrs on my hurst/olds the one in my sig.
what I did is install one piece at a time and that way you can see if the body moves and etc.. or you can weld in braces across the door jamb area and you should have no problems

 

[xitabl442]

I suggest a good weld-through primer wherever the new panels overlap the old. Most of the primers that I've used are easier to weld-through if they are able to dry for an hour or so. POR-15 is a good product, but is intended for metal with a lot of "tooth" (i.e. rust or sand blasted) .
The bulk of the lead in the quarters can be removed with a coarse grinding disc and finish up with a stiff wire wheel on a drill or air grinder. As stated the torch works but will do considerable damage.
Get yourself a box of 1/4" hex head self-drilling sheetmetal screws and drill adapter to hold the panels down and together.
If you don't already have one, I'd urge you to buy a Roloc adapter and suitable diegrinder, or drill if you don't have an air compressor. You will be doing alot of grinding and there is a wide variety of sanding, grinding and cleaning discs for them.
Hint: Don't sandblast onto outer sheetmetal panels or you'll warp the panel, unless it has a stiff bodyline or shape to it. Even then, stay within a half inch or so to limit the chance of warpage.