A couple things to look for on a/m floors

[HawkX66]

Overall I'm extremely happy with my sheet metal, but I thought it might help a few guys to see a couple differences/mistakes with the stampings on my Dynacorn floor pan.
The first problem isn't that big a deal, but it's kind of a pain now that I painted the floor. I should have mocked EVERYTHING up. Not just the obvious things. It turned out that the fuel line mount under the door was too close to the pinch weld. I'll have to drill the spot welds and move it out slightly.




The second problem I consider a relatively big one. It bugs me every time I look at it so I have to fix it... They took a short cut and didn't install the plates around the rear seat belt mounts under the floor. It causes a problem for mounting the brake line that goes there. Now I'll have to move mine from my original floor to the new one. I think the hardest part will be dimpling the floor where the brake mount bolt goes. The a/m pan doesn't have the dimple either. Not that hard, but it's more time that I shouldn't have had to spend if the manufacturer got the details right.

Original plate:



Dimple from the inside view. You can see where the mount bolt pierced it at some point. Someone probably forgot to use a washer. I suspect they dimpled it so the bolt wouldn't rip the rear seat.




A/M:

[cook_dw]

Yeah that cup isnt even close to being correct either..  You are doing the right thing..  A correct restoration is all in the details..   

BTW thanks for post these pics..

[HawkX66]

Yeah that cup isnt even close to being correct either..  You are doing the right thing..  A correct restoration is all in the details..   

BTW thanks for post these pics..

It would forever bug me if I didn't do it... I was planning on waiting because it isn't a make or break detail, but I figure it's much easier while it's on the rotisserie. I think I know what I'm working on tonight lol. Now let's see if I can sneak out the garage. With any luck she'll be a roller sometime in September. That's the plan anyhow...

Now here's another question, how should I make the dimple? I'm thinking I could use a ballpeen hammer like a drift pin and use something on the inside of the car to soften the blow. Maybe a little heat? It seems like it would make a nice rounded dimple about the right size.

[ko-lek-tor]

Great job there Dave. Hurry, I could use the rotisserie to fix all the screwed up things on my car. Would like this done before the guy moves to much forward

Use a large socket on the inside side of floor pan for the dimple. Match the size with the original. Use the ball side of ballpeen and strike the face (I think this what you already said. Another trick that may possibly done without the wife holding the socket (usually ends in a screaming match,cause the Mrs. don't understand what you are trying to accomplish,lol). Take a small socket, small enough that a bolt, large enough to go through existing bolt hole, and long enough to go through the sm. socket, hole in floor, along with the large socket. Use a large washer, like a fender washer on large socket end and a  suitable on the other end of bolt. Bolt should have threads all the way to the sheet metal or close. Put a nut that holds everything snug in place (decide which end you will tighten from). Warm in a circular pattern the area just around the hole were you will want metal to move. After heat, vice grip one end of bolt to keep from turning and use a wrench to tighten bolt drawing the small socket into the larger socket's cavity creating a dimple.

[HawkX66]

Thanks Bentley. I suspect you're going to be finished long before me now that you have a new body man! I like the idea of the socket, but I think I might have to get a little creative. It's not exactly a dimple that I need to create. It's a little longer than it is wide. I might just dimple it and be done, but if I can get the shape right, I'd rather do that. I like the idea of pulling the sockets together too, but unfortunately there isn't an existing hole where the dimple needs to go.
I got some done tonight, but do we ever get as much done as we'd like? Uhhh, no... I need to create the dimple, prime, weld and paint. All in all, it's coming out pretty well and going too smooth. What's wrong? I just have them resting in place for now. I thought I screwed up at first when I realized they were pointing in the same direction. The a/m pan pointed away from one another, factory mounts both pointed toward the driver's side.

[sixt9x33rs]

Great detail Hawk. I would not have a clue to do what you are doing.

[HawkX66]

Great detail Hawk. I would not have a clue to do what you are doing.

Thanks a lot. Don't kid yourself though. If I can do it you could do it. I just figure things out as I go and try get things as close as I can.
I spent a little while today and created the dimple I needed to. I tried a couple of things and ended up using several techniques to get it right. I started with body tools, but I didn't like the shape it was creating. I ended up using a blunt drift pin and a air chisel with a blunt tip. It took some time to do it without breaking through, but it worked and looks great. I'm looking forward to getting a minute one night this week to weld the bracket on and close this part of the project...

[HawkX66]

Over all I'm pretty happy with how it came out... I'm going to touch them up a little more before I shoot my final coat of black on the full floor pan. To mount them, I drilled holes through the floor pan so I was welding thin metal to thick gauge instead of vice versa. Much easier... I had my son push on the spot I was welding so they fit nice and flush.

[HawkX66]

A while back I was really sweating what I thought was a defect in my a/m floor. Turns out it was nothing. Take a look at these pics and you should see what I'm talking about. When I installed my carpet, I did it without any sound deadener. I kind of freaked when I saw the space under my rear seat tunnel. I thought for sure it wasn't formed right. I finally got around to stripping my interior back out and I was able to match up my original tunnel only to find they're an exact match. I didn't remember the underlayment being stretched out when I disassembled it, but I've seen a few pics that show me it actually holds up the carpet in that area.
The first pic shows what I was worried about. The seat doesn’t follow the lines of the tunnel. The second pic is my original tunnel laid on my new tunnel. The next is my floor originally, but the angle doesn’t tell me what’s really going on. Finally the last pic is of another 69 that shows a good shot of how the underlayment is stretched out.