W&N Floorpan Fitment Question

[popovm]

Hi all, I’m dealing with an issue in my driver’s side rust repair where the Walloth and Nesch floorpan sits very high when sitting directly on the frame rail. I was expecting to have to massage this panel but having to fold down the sides down around the frame rail by an inch or more seems excessive. Notice in the second pic how it is sitting in the middle of the indentation on the inner sill when it should be about an inch lower. 
 

Before I start folding this thing down around the frame rail, am I missing anything here? Is my frame rail where it supports the floor pan too high and I should bend that down? It is pretty beat looking. I could get pics of that if needed. Maybe it’s just hammer time…

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Son of Marty]

Make sure it's not the frame rail that's bent up.

 

 

[popovm]

4 minutes ago, Son of Marty said:

Make sure it's not the frame rail that's bent up.

 

 

I think that must be what it is. I am going to work it down a bit. 

[Son of Marty]

Never done the measurement but I would think that with the car level from side to side place a level across the trans tunnel and measure down to the right side rail and match the left to it.

[popovm]

27 minutes ago, Son of Marty said:

Never done the measurement but I would think that with the car level from side to side place a level across the trans tunnel and measure down to the right side rail and match the left to it.

smart. Definitely going to do that. 

[2002iii]

I think your almost there, just a little more to go  and it should slide down and butt up nicely with old rear floors. I would suggest using a piece of 2x4 and BFH ( Big frickin Hammer) to massage it gently into place with out beating it up to much. A little finesse with BFH goes a long way, go slow and measure twice  cut once.

[BarneyT]

Not enough pictures to really tell what the deal is, it’s not the repair panel it’s flat… My only suggestion would be to check it against the other side and see if the frame rail seems bent up. We used to have a saying at work… Even on Sesame Street they can tell which one of these is not like the other. 

[Mikepelly]

while you are there, be sure to coat the inside of the frame rail with por15 or something similar. You should also hammer out any dents in the frame rail.   These are simple steps as when you have access.

 

[Dudeland]

I just finished doing this exact job.  

 

The floor bit is not at all close to where it needs to be. I had to really struggle to get the part fitting where the transmission was.  It was not helped by the fact that I have a 5 speed, and the tunnel was beaten to hell. 

 

I couldn't get it to tuck up correctly by the pedal, to the point where I split the steel, so BFH, weld, BFH, weld.

 

FYI,the stuff on the bottom of the floor pans will get you high AF when you weld.  Do yourself a favour and get one of these respirators to help with the fumes.  I kid you not.... high AF.   Get your workspace well ventilated, and do a bit at a time. 

 

 

ML00995 - LOCK 8 Equipment

LOCK8.CA

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ML00995 LPR-100™ Half Mask Respirator w/ Nuisance OV Relief, M/L

 

 

 

 

 

 

[popovm]

Thanks all! Headed down to the garage now to do some measuring and some whackin with a hammer. 
 

@2002iii, thanks for the encouragement and validation that things should more or less line up. 
 

@BarneyT, sorry for the lack of photos and thank you for chiming in even with them absent. I’ll measure. I suspect the passenger side frame rail is not exactly where Franz put it in ‘76 but it looks less beat than the driver’s side. 
 

@Mikepelly, totally on the same page. Before I weld in the pan I have some of the Eastwood Internal Frame stuff that I will be using and then I’ll then be shooting Cavity wax on top of that. 
 

@Dudeland, yes, been following your stuff, thanks for posting about it! It helps to see photos of someone else doing it. 

[popovm]

Measured and the passenger frame rail is about the same height as the drivers side when measuring up from a straight edge placed on the sill and exhaust. 
 

I decided to embrace my inner redneck and break out the lumber and ratchet strap. The board was braced against fixed points fore and aft and then I cranked down ratchet strap to pull down on the frame rail. Feels slightly sketchy with the stored energy but it’s no strut spring. 
 

 

It seems to be doing the trick. I am able to get the side along the sill much closer than before. Now some of the remnants of the old floor are holding it up. Going to start slowly trimming things away and getting things lined up. 
 

[D.martijn]

I do remember when fitting my replacement floor that I needed to bend up the edge at the side of the transmission a bit more to have it line up with the existing panel.

 

For stripping the paint that's on the W&N panel, I've found using acetone does very quick work stripping it off!

[Son of Marty]

That's what engineers call pre load, the rest of us call it making the f#cker fit.

[popovm]

Update and a question:

 

I was able to move the rail down a little bit. When the pan is clamped down to the rail, the sides are still between a half inch to a full inch away too high from where they need to be. Pics below. 
 

Do you all think I should keep trying to bend the frame rail down or try bending the sides of the floorpan down instead? Or maybe weld to frame rail start working things into place and welding as I go along? I imagine I will need to split the flange at the front to do this and the alignment might get messy all around.
 

I’d love to get this as good looking as possible but also trying to be realistic given what I am working with. Thanks for all ya’lls help. These might be dumb questions but it’s a bit crazy making when you’re in the car and the sheet metal is doing everything except what you want it to. 

 

Pan against the rail. The tail end isn’t flush. Not sure what I am going to do with that yet. 

 

 

Right and left side on the interior of the car with pan just resting on the rail and without pushing the sides down. 
 

 

Left and right pushed down (which obviously makes the opposite side pop up even more). The right looks pretty dang good. I could start welding that in if I felt like it wouldn’t weld me into a corner later on. Might just need to start somewhere. 

 

 

Edited January 21 by popovm

[D.martijn]

I know when I first made a patch panel (now several years ago) I pushed the patch panel too far down along the sill making the floor sit a little too low compared to the other side. In the end I later on cut it all out and replaced if with the W&N floor 😊

 

I did need to push the floor down to the rail as well, I had my brother inside of the car, using his weight to spot weld the floor to the rail. 

 

Is it just the end of the frame rail section that is sticking up?