OMF - Oh, My Floors!

[Mark Ascher]

George,

The car appears to be a refugee from the midwest or eastern US. I would get under and check the condition of the frame as well.
Very common for these to be rusted at the front, behind the front wheels.

The convertible body can be braced by welding and/or bolting tubing from the lock pillar (rear door jamb) to the hinge pillar.
Check out the Restoration forum, there should be pics there of this done to a number of converts that were restored.

Mark

[Polishmeatballpizza]

George,

The car appears to be a refugee from the midwest or eastern US. I would get under and check the condition of the frame as well.
Very common for these to be rusted at the front, behind the front wheels.

The convertible body can be braced by welding and/or bolting tubing from the lock pillar (rear door jamb) to the hinge pillar.
Check out the Restoration forum, there should be pics there of this done to a number of converts that were restored.

Mark

Would keeping the doors closed do the sane thing, as far as bracing?
Even if I'm just cutting small sections, I still need to brace it?

[Mark Ascher]

George,

I think just from improved access it would be much better with doors off. Braces should be installed before removing from the frame.
With the swiss cheese floors in your car, a one piece pan would save a lot of time and aggravation. The kick panel areas will need work,
but as others here have said, all that can and has been done before.

Mark

[Polishmeatballpizza]

Instead of replacing the whole floor pan, I'm thinking of just doing the sections. I know it's more work,  however, I don't feel comfortable doing the whole pan. Saw an article where they drilled holes from the bottom around the frame members, to locate the sections to cut.

One quote I got was $3500.

[Buick_65]

In my experience, less is better.  When we did the trunk in my car we bought the patch panel and only used about 1/3 of it to repair the areas needed.  Left more of the original sheet metal in place and resulted in less total weld area.

[Rollaround]

Unless your going for a concourse restoration, I also think less is better. A very wise man once told me, never cut out more than you need to.
How's the trunk and how are the body mount brackets just behind the rear wheels?
I started with a project similar to yours, I'll try to post some pictures of my efforts tonight.     

[Brian]

I have learned from experience the absolute best and easiest way to replace the floor is to find a parts car (like a 4-dr special) and cut the floor out along with the braces in one big piece.  Put it in your car, then peel back a small tab over each brace to access it so you can weld it to the stub of the original brace still attached to the inside of the rocker panel.  I did it to 2 65s and it is way better than trying to put in the aftermarket floor pans.  The hard work with the aftermarket pans is spot welding them to the braces.  I found that the contour of the aftermarket pans didn't always follow the braces perfectly and had the beat on and massage them to touch the braces so they could be spot welded. 

[Rollaround]

George, my floors were rusty with some daylight showing through however my rockers, bracing, upper toe area and tunnel were sound. I think most of my  floor rust issues were the result of water leakage, the convertible curse. I elected to use patch panels because, I had never done it before. As Brian mentioned they do need fitting. After some trail and error I was able to maintain firm panel to brace contact.
Mine is a very slow moving project, it gets over run by so many other things. I have no set timeline, this is truly the hobby part for me and I have another 65 to drive.
Your project may come down to your comfort level doing the work (you need tools and a welder) and when you want to drive your car. So $3500 might not be to bad for labor and materials if it gets the car on the road quicker.