[DeTomaso] Dropped floor pans

Fri Nov 5 17:53:21 EDT 2010

Great Response, Dan.  Thanks!

Well, I started my recon on what the plan was for tomorrow morning.  I get
up hours before my wife, so I was hoping to have the old floor out before
she even gets up (she loves it when I'm dirty, but that is another story).
 I took measurements based on what Dan said and realized that there is a
major structural member that runs between where my seat mount holes are and
the where the floor pan meets the center console.  I thought the pan would
just drop in and tie into the frame.. There is no way I'm going to cut the
frame.  Is my drop pan ill conceived?  Wilkenson's phone is on a fast busy
signal the past hour.

On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 3:24 PM, Daniel C Jones <daniel.c.jones2 at gmail.com>wrote:

> > Do I just cut out the area around the parking brake?
>
> For Kirk's pans, that's what I did.  The pans also have to be cut.  I
> assume
> he leaves them uncut in case someone removes the parking brake for seat
> clearance.  After cutting the floor pans from the car, we took measurements
> and notched the drop pans for clearance.  Once the pans were installed, I
> made cardboard templates to come up with filler pieces to box the area.
> The back of the pans are sloped but the cut we made was vertical so
> triangular
> filler pieces are needed underneath (along with rectangular plates to cap
> them
> off).  Some of the pieces were made from the notch that was cut out from
> the
> drop pans but I still ended up needing additional metal.
>
> > Has anybody reduced the forward facing/passenger side corner of the
> parking
> > brake box to add more seat space?
>
> In my case, the clearance issue was not fore-and-aft, it was side-to-side.
>
> > Should I wait until I reduce my firewall hump to mount the seats?
>
> I didn't.  Kirk's pans come with heavy u-channels that are welded to the
> pans.
>
> > Any advice on the best way to install one of these is greatly
> appreciated.
>
> I'll try to update the write up I did when I installed the first set of
> pans
> on the red Pantera.  For now, there's some discussion here:
>
>
> http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=8170058552&f=7350045562&m=428106782&r=4691056595#4691056595
>
> > I'm hoping to use an air cutter/grinder for the task but have a saws all
> > if I need it.
>
> I used a large diameter cut off wheel to cut slots that allowed me to
> insert
> the sawz-all.  The sawz-all is faster and much cleaner as it doesn't spit
> metal grindings everywhere.  Remove the seats, console and bulkhead cover,
> along with the carpet and sound deadening.  The center gauge panel needs to
> be loose (sometimes gets hung up on the radio) and you'll want to tape
> around
> the edges.  I covered the doors with furniture pads and we had various
> towels
> and welding blankets covering everything else.  If your headliner is still
> in,
> you'll want to cover that as well.  You'll need a helper to hold the gauge
> panel out of the way and to watch so the saw does not cut through the
> vacuum
> hardline underneath.  Helps to have a good strong drop light, too.
>
> You'll need to clean the undercoating off the bottom side, back about an
> inch,
> wherever you will be welding (so it doesn't melt and catch on fire).  I
> used a
> high speed wire brush wheel to do that (messy).  I cleaned the rest of the
> floor pans and sills (interior side) down to bare metal using 3M Roloc and
> sanding discs.  You'll need to measure the pans to figure out where to cut.
> We intentionally cut a little short then trimmed to fit.  A floor jack or
> someone underneth pushing on the floor with a hammer handle can be used to
> level the floor.  We used a body hammer and dolly in a few places.  With
> the pans in place, I made cardboard templates and fashioned the required
> filler pieces to tie the pans into the cut frame rails and to cover the
> parking brake.
>
> Once everything was welded in, I cleaned all the burnt paint off using more
> of
> the 3M pads and smoothed the welds using 3M sanding discs.  Any place on
> the
> pans where there was still paint got scuffed with red 3M Schotchbrite pads.
> The old seam sealer was removed in many places.  I then vacuumed up the
> mess
> and used wax remover and degreaser.  If there are any rusty spots, clean
> the
> rust off (wire brush and 3M rotary pads) and use phosporic acid (PPG DX-533
> aluminum cleaner or similar) to get the rust out of the pores.  You can
> also
> treat with Duro Extend.  We pulled out the welding blankets, cleaned and
> taped
> off the interior and exterior of the car for spray painting.  You can also
> use
> SEM Sheild or similar paint which can be brushed on.  Once everything was
> clean, a friend sprayed the bare metal with epoxy primer (requires a
> breathing
> mask) both on top and underneath (multiple coats).  We sealed the welds
> with
> seam sealer.  On the underside, we followed up with 3M undercoating.
>
> > The new pan has an overlhanging lip on all sides except the door side
> > (right side).
>
> The pans I used had lips on two sides.
>
> > which I plan to cut from the bottom of the car.
>
> My pans were different but nearly all of my cuts were from the top.
>
> >From the inside of the car, there seems to be a small horizontal ledge
> along
> > the center console floor line that would work as a support for the left
> side
> > of the pan.
>
> Yes.
>
> >From the inside, the rear area by the firewall does not have a well
> defined
> >lip.
>
> There's a lip at the top of the sloped portion in the car.  Kirk's pans
> hang there.
>
> > The door side of the new pan has no overhang on the pan, so it seems I
> will
> > have to leave enough metal to push down and wrap under the pan.
>
> Mine were flush on that side.
>
> > Is it best to cut the rest from the top or bottom
>
> Top.
>
> > Should I leave overlap tabs anywhere for strength?
>
> The pans I installed go in flush on two sides and have a lip on the other
> two.  They use up the entire space and there's lttle wiggle room.
>
> > What is the best thing to do around my parking brake, which it appears
> would
> > require cutting out a section of the new pan.
>
> Measure and notch the pan.
>
> > Has anybody modified their parking brake box to not stick out in the
> cabin
> > as much?  That really bugs me.
>
> That would be nice but wasn't in the cards for me.
>
> Dan Jones
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-- 
Rob DuMoulin
904.476.8744
rob at dumoulins.net