Floor Pans

[cbarge]

There are better options over the barrel.
Especially when you have a rare Polara convertible which only 842 were built and gawd only knows how many are left..
Do it once and do it right--but its your car.
I prefer making my own panels,hammer the dimples in and butt weld/grind flush the repair to the point you cannot see the patch.
Air/water tight and being unitized construction structurally tight.

 

[polaratherapy]

Thanks Mr. CBarge greetings from Rockwood, On.
Nice work by the way Eh!
I've opted for the thicker metal and already have it so the barrel is the way I'm going to go.
My patch is a little more substantial, I see from your photos you still have some small holes down on the left side and you must have used other pieces to patch there as well.
I've been cursing who ever did the job(s) before, patch upon patch. So the plan is one maybe two pieces for the front driver side and one patch each for both the rear foot wells.
I was planning a lap weld and not a but weld and then smother it with a sealer.
Did you perhaps meet the former owner at any shows, he's from Sudbury?
Under his tenure Ellie May sat outside in a temp garage for 7 years + on bare ground, so she's had exposure to a lot of cold and damp years.
She will be carpeted and sound dampener underneath once done, so does it really matter!
As long as she's solid, I have so many thing to do to her before even contemplating a safety check. I have a bunch of electrical to do as it was all reconfigured and I'm finding out a lot of the things he did were not fused. He had a fire extinguisher strapped in the passenger well.
Things are all coming to light, thanks for the photos.
PT

 

[cbarge]

Thanks Mr. CBarge greetings from Rockwood, On.
Nice work by the way Eh!
I've opted for the thicker metal and already have it so the barrel is the way I'm going to go.
My patch is a little more substantial, I see from your photos you still have some small holes down on the left side and you must have used other pieces to patch there as well.
I've been cursing who ever did the job(s) before, patch upon patch. So the plan is one maybe two pieces for the front driver side and one patch each for both the rear foot wells.
I was planning a lap weld and not a but weld and then smother it with a sealer.
Did you perhaps meet the former owner at any shows, he's from Sudbury?
Under his tenure Ellie May sat outside in a temp garage for 7 years + on bare ground, so she's had exposure to a lot of cold and damp years.
She will be carpeted and sound dampener underneath once done, so does it really matter!
As long as she's solid, I have so many thing to do to her before even contemplating a safety check. I have a bunch of electrical to do as it was all reconfigured and I'm finding out a lot of the things he did were not fused. He had a fire extinguisher strapped in the passenger well.
Things are all coming to light, thanks for the photos.
PT

Sudbury is 7 hours away north from me so I may not have met the last owner.
The car itself has been known about in the C body world.
Not sure if it is the same car that was owned by a family here in Kingston 20 years ago..

 

[polaratherapy]

When I look the records up, former owners are from Markham, Scarborough, Whitby, Coburg,
Queensville, Bolton, Sharon, Cookstown, Angus and then Sudbury.
She's been passed around.
In the span of 5 years she went through 5 owners from 00/05/10 to 02/06/01

 

[polaratherapy]

When I look the records up, former owners are from Markham, Scarborough, Whitby, Coburg,
Queensville, Bolton, Sharon, Cookstown, Angus and then Sudbury.
She's been passed around.
In the span of 5 years she went through 5 owners from 00/05/10 to 02/06/01

Sorry make that 2 years

 

[BlackandHuge]

a Polara Convertible deserves proper floor pans. dont be a cheap hack, find some solid donor metal from another car and fix it right.

 

[polaratherapy]

I joined this forum to get feedback and I have to say a lot of it has been positive, and there are some skeptics out there too. If I plan on using a piece of metal from a barrel and use it in a way that no one would notice once I'm done and again it looks 10 times better than it was when I got it, that is my choice.
Now that being said, yes I am new to this forum and yes I can ignore some members but I don't think I will share any methods if some are going to be rude and derogatory.
I could reply to some and run right up one side of them and back down the other with some really snazzy expletives, and insult theme like they've never been insulted before, say a few things to really get them fired up but I think this is not allowed on this form.
So to the guy who made the comment that I am a "cheap hack" I will await the new floor pans you plan on gifting me!!!!
Some people have not learned to take all information in, may not know all the circumstances everyone on this forum is in.
I do not plan on being buried in my C-Body.
Some people make me laugh, life is short, we all have a plan until life gets in the way.

Chill

 

[Big_John]

I joined this forum to get feedback and I have to say a lot of it has been positive, and there are some skeptics out there too. If I plan on using a piece of metal from a barrel and use it in a way that no one would notice once I'm done and again it looks 10 times better than it was when I got it, that is my choice.
Now that being said, yes I am new to this forum and yes I can ignore some members but I don't think I will share any methods if some are going to be rude and derogatory.
I could reply to some and run right up one side of them and back down the other with some really snazzy expletives, and insult theme like they've never been insulted before, say a few things to really get them fired up but I think this is not allowed on this form.
So to the guy who made the comment that I am a "cheap hack" I will await the new floor pans you plan on gifting me!!!!
Some people have not learned to take all information in, may not know all the circumstances everyone on this forum is in.
I do not plan on being buried in my C-Body.
Some people make me laugh, life is short, we all have a plan until life gets in the way.

Chill

The "cheap hack" reference was uncalled for and if you'll notice, not from one of us "men with hats" old timers. Don't group us with him.

We're just trying to help and yea, throwing in our two cents about how we think it should be done. But that is what happens when you ask opinions here.

Personally, I hope it comes out OK even though it isn't how I would do my car. As I said, it's your car.

So, continue to post, show us what you are doing... We actually appreciate seeing other's work. For the rude n00b, don't judge us by him and I give this advice, quoted on my avatar; Illegitimi non carborundum.... Don't let the bastards wear you down.

 

[polaratherapy]

The "cheap hack" reference was uncalled for and if you'll notice, not from one of us "men with hats" old timers. Don't group us with him.

We're just trying to help and yea, throwing in our two cents about how we think it should be done. But that is what happens when you ask opinions here.

Personally, I hope it comes out OK even though it isn't how I would do my car. As I said, it's your car.

So, continue to post, show us what you are doing... We actually appreciate seeing other's work. For the rude n00b, don't judge us by him and I give this advice, quoted on my avatar; Illegitimi non carborundum.... Don't let the bastards wear you down.

I'm a hat guy myself as in old timer and bald, I appreciated your initial comments Big John, I had not lumped you in with the newbie with no post at this time.
It was to be expected of having pros and cons on this site, now time will tell if the pros outweigh the cons.
Have a good night

 

[detmatt]

I’ve got a friend that can take sheet metal and make it look like a pile of fall leaves that you’d want to kick through as you walk…

 

[ayilar]

Sudbury is 7 hours away north from me so I may not have met the last owner.
The car itself has been known about in the C body world.
Not sure if it is the same car that was owned by a family here in Kingston 20 years ago..
View attachment 507607
View attachment 507608

Nope, it is not. The red car you posted is in fact DL27G0D230568 -- originally an ER6 red Polara 'vert owned by Gerald Bowers (Gerry) in Kingston, ON. As per a 2012 post by @Fratzog on the old Yahoo board: "318 car that has (now) been converted to a console bucket car using a 68 console. The colour is nothing like any Mopar of the era". AFAIK, the car was redone/modified by Nigel at National Moparts, whom I believe you know. Here are some photos of the car over the years (note the wheels and the antenna on the 2005 pics and in your CarDomain pics, it is the same car):

2005:

2007:

2010 (after it turned blue):


2011:

There is more info here (from when the car was sold in 2015), posted by @Fratzog. I will post the tag in the Last Convertibles thread when I have a chance. (Edit: done!)

 

[shooter65]

Just wanted to throw this out there, you mentioned in your original post about buying floor pans. For future reference, no one makes usable aftermarket body panels for C-Bodies so if you're looking at body panels cut from a parts car, that's good but don't waste your money on aftermarket body panels. They won't fit and won't be the correct 18 guage material.

 

[Big_John]

I’ve got a friend that can take sheet metal and make it look like a pile of fall leaves that you’d want to kick through as you walk…

I read something about a guy rebuilding a Willys coupe that had been really crashed and trashed. He built about half of the body using an English wheel. It was impressive at the very least. I can't find a link to it or I would post it.

The HAMB forum will occasionally have a thread about metal forming and I've seen some stuff (like forming floors) that I would try. Basic cold forming using wooden forms and things like that. Very cool stuff.

This is something I would try doing.

 

[bnz84]

I would think with sturdy enough wood forms (male and female) a shop press could do the job as well. maybe.

 

[polaratherapy]

I would think with sturdy enough wood forms (male and female) a shop press could do the job as well. maybe.

Big John sent me a worthy site to help with my floors using wood forms, between the forms and a good anvil it should come out more than OK.

Thanks PT

 

[ayilar]

@Big_John sent me a worthy site to help with my floors using wood forms, between the forms and a good anvil it should come out more than OK.

@polaratherapy -- glad that your efforts with DL27G0D127970 are paying off!

 

[polaratherapy]

Thanks there Big John, I think I will still go ahead with the drum, double the thickness and compared as to what it is now it will be an upgrade by 10 fold. Half as..d welds and tin patches randomly placed with pop rivets with some goop applied looking a lot like roof patch and then newspaper topping it just doesn't cut it for me. For all I know I will be the last owner and for all we know the next person may even think that it was a great idea to replace the metal with something twice as thick, but thank for pointing out a " what if" I will be posting before and after pics at some point.

Happy New Year

To your dismay Big John, here are a few pics of the floors re done, I didn't bother to grind down the welds seeing that it will be covered with rocker guard, then foil / butyl sound deadener and carpet.
As you say it's my car but I do respect you opinion.
Just to let you know, when I read your replies, I automatically slip into a deep voice in my mind, probably because of your avatar (s ). All I know is if I saw your avatars at let's say Moparfest in a line up for a porta potty, I would surely change lanes if I was behind you. All kidding aside, please tell me that is not your true picture!
The dane is cool, I ran a dog boarding facility for 12 years, had many a dane go through as regulars, bug sucks and nicest dogs, they drop steaming 5 coilers as compared to the weinner dogs I have.

 

[Big_John]

The dane is cool, I ran a dog boarding facility for 12 years, had many a dane go through as regulars, bug sucks and nicest dogs, they drop steaming 5 coilers as compared to the weinner dogs I have.

LOL! There's a story with that dog... He's a rescue and we were told he was Dane and Mastiff mix. The place we got him from liked that we had "Great Dane" and "big dog" experience and kind of pushed us to the front of the list. After having him and talking to a few folks that really know dogs, we've figured he's probably an American Bull Dog. He checks a lot of boxes for that breed. We'll never be real sure though... I'm not going to pay to have his DNA checked.

He's a fantastic dog... Smart with a great disposition.

We have had some Danes though!

This guy was another rescue. Really bad back story, and we got him from a Dane rescue in N. Carolina. He was a great dog for us.

 

[polaratherapy]

LOL! There's a story with that dog... He's a rescue and we were told he was Dane and Mastiff mix. The place we got him from liked that we had "Great Dane" and "big dog" experience and kind of pushed us to the front of the list. After having him and talking to a few folks that really know dogs, we've figured he's probably an American Bull Dog. He checks a lot of boxes for that breed. We'll never be real sure though... I'm not going to pay to have his DNA checked.

He's a fantastic dog... Smart with a great disposition.

View attachment 562724

We have had some Danes though!

View attachment 562725

This guy was another rescue. Really bad back story, and we got him from a Dane rescue in N. Carolina. He was a great dog for us.

View attachment 562726

Every one of them we boarded were no trouble, we had a lady involved with Dane Rescue Canada, not sure if that's the proper name but she had 3 of them and boarded them frequently.
She would pull up to the kennel with her Dodge Caravan, open the side door and all 3 would fly out as they loved coming to the farm, all rear seats removed of course. One of her dogs was actually crossed with a Irish Wolf Hound, so just imagine.

 

[polaratherapy]

Fewwwfff! Glad that's not your real picture in the avatar