AH CRAP (new floorpan issues)

[DukeGnarley]

well Crap. Things were going so well up until now.

I started by removing the right hand side of the seat support

Then i cut out the section that i wanted to remove

put the old piece on the new piece and traced around it, then cut it so it'd have some extra material for final trimming.

and then here is where it all goes wrong. I set the new piece down on the inside of the car so i could trace the bottom of it with a sharpe. Everything seems to line up well EXCEPT for the portion of the floorpan where the seatbelt mounts. it's off by a good 3 inches or so.

the floorpan is Canadian made and i got it from mustang depot. It was labeled for '64-'73, so maybe they're not all the same? i dunno. since it has been cut, it's obviously too late to return it. anyone have any ideas?

 

[geostang351]

How about drilling a new hole where the hole is suppose to be, then weld a thick washer to the backside of the pan, then weld a nut to that washer. You then have your seat belt bolt to thread to and it has extra support of the washer.

 

[DukeGnarley]

as it turns out i left enough of the original section there to use, and only the lower rear corner of the flat section on the new piece was needed... so i hammed it close to flat and i'm in the process of getting it welded in now.

 

[danny clemens]

Using a hammer and a dolly is about all you can do. I've used several patch panels and they all fit like crap. Some worse than others though. You have to work on all of them that I've put in. I guess if we don't demand better quality we won't get better quality. If somebody started making quality patches they could put people out of business that do it now. I guess I should be happy that at least I can get a panel for my car but I'm not.

 

[BB1966]

When I have done pans I have NEVER removed any of the factory seatbelt mount. I trimmed around it and welded in the new pan,this area is thicker and just a washer will not cut it. BTW the American "made in Canada" Designs sheet metal SUCKS!!!!!

 

[KStang65B]

I don't know if the seatbelt hole is in a different location in a convertible but in my coupe, the hole is back a good 3-4 inches from where it is on yours.

I'd say it would line up exactly in the middle of the stamping on the reproduction pan.

I'd just cut below the stamping if you have enough metal.

I used the Canadian made American Designer pans and they fit well enough to require minimal metal work. The rear seat pans and front seat risers were off quite a bit and required a lot of work.

 

[DukeGnarley]

well i'm in the process of welding and grinding. it's kind of turned into a bit of a mess since i can't keep myself from blowing through. i think in the end it will be.......OK.. but if i decide it sucks i might just order another piece and start over.

 

[1320stang]

Take a piece of copper pipe and hammer it flat. Back the area up that blows thru with this. It'll keep it from blowing thru and the weld won't stick to it. You can bend the copper to back up a curve if you need it.

 

[DukeGnarley]

thanks, i'll give that a shot