PursuitSpecial
New Member
It's high time I start fixing the rust issues in the trunk and quarters of my car. I don't feel comfortable hanging 28 gallons of gas on rusty metal so I decided to cut out all the rust and fabricate some patch panels to provide structural rigidity to the frame and gas tank braces. They don't make replacement pans for formal c bodies, so I had to get creative. I don't have much experience with sheet metal fab, this was my first big project, but my dad gave me some pointers since he used to build race cars.
I bought a really cheap English wheel and bead roller to form some basic curves and channels, used 18 ga sheets and cut the main pans into several easily workable pieces with a plasma cutter that covered the majority of the rusted out metal. I shaped them as best as I could to match the contours, cut out the old floor, coated the exposed inner frame rails in tannic acid rust converter for long term protection, and started welding them in. An air chisel comes in very handy for peeling the old spot welded metal off the frame. I drilled a series of holes in my new pans and plug welded them to the frame and gas tank braces, using self-threading sheet metal screws to pull the metal tight up against the structure when welding. I hammered the metal edges to bring them together and tack welded the sheets every 1 to 3 inches. I tried to find spray paint at walmart that matched the color of the car and the best I got was this brick red that looks way lighter and orange-y than the cap suggested. I topped it off with some seam sealer, shining a light from underneath to find all the cracks and seal them up. It's definitely not pretty but I can jump in the trunk and the metal doesn't flex so it has greatly improved the rigidity in the rear, the gas tank should be well supported now. My next project is gonna be fixing the unsightly rusted quarter bottoms.
I bought a really cheap English wheel and bead roller to form some basic curves and channels, used 18 ga sheets and cut the main pans into several easily workable pieces with a plasma cutter that covered the majority of the rusted out metal. I shaped them as best as I could to match the contours, cut out the old floor, coated the exposed inner frame rails in tannic acid rust converter for long term protection, and started welding them in. An air chisel comes in very handy for peeling the old spot welded metal off the frame. I drilled a series of holes in my new pans and plug welded them to the frame and gas tank braces, using self-threading sheet metal screws to pull the metal tight up against the structure when welding. I hammered the metal edges to bring them together and tack welded the sheets every 1 to 3 inches. I tried to find spray paint at walmart that matched the color of the car and the best I got was this brick red that looks way lighter and orange-y than the cap suggested. I topped it off with some seam sealer, shining a light from underneath to find all the cracks and seal them up. It's definitely not pretty but I can jump in the trunk and the metal doesn't flex so it has greatly improved the rigidity in the rear, the gas tank should be well supported now. My next project is gonna be fixing the unsightly rusted quarter bottoms.
