Progress Thread Floor pan repair/build thread

[sav22rem22]

The bar was likely not placed correctly, it's Easley done if you don't check your work. Just replace anything that looks damaged along with the retainer springs that hold the shoes on, they don't take much abuse.
pull the opposite drum to make sure everything is correct on both sides.

Which way would the spring on the bar face on the passenger side? I see the drivers side spring was facing towards the front of the car but I’m not entirely sure. I’ll have to completely disassemble the passenger side drum tomorrow since half of it fell apart. Looks awfully irritating lol

 

[JasonRP]

Which way would the spring on the bar face on the passenger side? I see the drivers side spring was facing towards the front of the car but I’m not entirely sure. I’ll have to completely disassemble the passenger side drum tomorrow since half of it fell apart. Looks awfully irritating lol

Hey, hopefully this is helpful. When I do drums, I can never find this info, I figured I'd send it along so you'll have it!

 

[sav22rem22]

Hey, hopefully this is helpful. When I do drums, I can never find this info, I figured I'd send it along so you'll have it!

Thanks I appreciate it. Unfortunately something beyond my comprehension is messed up. I’ll make a quick update

 

[sav22rem22]

So another update. I got a whole new hardware kit and new brake shoes since one was tweaked and the others brake pad material was falling apart. The backing plate got pretty messed up when the brake bar got mangled. So did just about everything. The contact points that the shoes sit on on the right side are pretty messed up. When I put everything back together following all instructions carefully, only one side of the shoes would line up. When making the other side line up, the other would pop out of line. Basically, the little notch that sits up against the wheel cylinder would only line up on one side. I’m not sure how I would go about fixing that. The car is going to have to sit until the guy who last took the brakes apart gets back from mustang week. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing and drum brakes are pretty foreign to me but something just seems wrong

 

[90sickfox]

If the adjuster is screwed all the way in it will make the shoes do that. It needs to be screwed out until there is only drag on the drum. Takes a bunch of putting g the drum on, spinning it by hand back and forth, taking it off, screwing the adjuster out, and repeat.

You may need a new backing plate. If you do the axle will need to be removed to replace it.

 

[sav22rem22]

If the adjuster is screwed all the way in it will make the shoes do that. It needs to be screwed out until there is only drag on the drum. Takes a bunch of putting g the drum on, spinning it by hand back and forth, taking it off, screwing the adjuster out, and repeat.

You may need a new backing plate. If you do the axle will need to be removed to replace it.

I couldn’t even fit the self adjuster in between the bottom of the shoes where it’s supposed to go. Once I put the bar with the spring in the middle thats when everything starts going crazy. I cobbled it back together and limped it home. Very unhappy that I even had to do that to begin with and will be getting it fixed for free by the guy who messed it up

 

[sav22rem22]

Well finally another update. The guy fixed them for free (obviously) however they still feel spongy and feel like they need to be bled desperately. I haven’t driven the car much since I’m waiting to have some time to finish cleaning the pans up and install sound deadening. Windshield is leaking very badly so I’m having safe lite come out and put a new one in so I’ll have it freshly sealed up. I now hear a ticking noise coming from the engine that seems to speed up with rpm which is awesome. Slowly but surely the car will go back together. I also had to take some time off of working on it because I came down with COVID.

 

[Flyboy60]

Well finally another update. The guy fixed them for free (obviously) however they still feel spongy and feel like they need to be bled desperately. I haven’t driven the car much since I’m waiting to have some time to finish cleaning the pans up and install sound deadening. Windshield is leaking very badly so I’m having safe lite come out and put a new one in so I’ll have it freshly sealed up. I now hear a ticking noise coming from the engine that seems to speed up with rpm which is awesome. Slowly but surely the car will go back together. I also had to take some time off of working on it because I came down with COVID.

Anymore updates?

 

[sav22rem22]

Anymore updates?

Yes, finally. I got the windshield sealed up and had the seams by the firewall sealed up so no more water intrusion. I also had a new bumper and fender thrown on since my bumper was damaged in the process of my brakes failing lol. I finally just got it back today as the guy doesn’t have an official shop he just does the work out of his own garage. Now everything is sealed up and good to go but of course now that they’ve been messing around under the dash trying to find where the leaks were coming from, my windshield wipers will not turn off, my turn signals don’t work (not sure if they work outside of the car haven’t checked but I don’t see any blinking or hear any blinkers working) and all of my warning lights like low fuel, check oil, low coolant, etc all randomly turn on at the same time while driving and then turn off a few seconds later. Other than these little gremlins the car is finally ready for reassembly with some upgrades to the interior and some good sound deadening thrown in.

 

[sav22rem22]

Another update, fixed the turn signals and the windshield wipers not turning off. There were just some loose wires on the back of the MF switch. However I have no idea why the dummy lights all turn on at the same time then turn back off. I also have even more bad news which seems to be a common theme, even after the guy said he checked and no water was intruding, i just ran the water hose over the bottom of the windshield and cowl area, and on the passenger side in the very back corner behind the computer, there is still water intruding and pooling up. I’m starting to really get frustrated. If anyone has any ideas on what could be the issue, please let me know. The guy said there was no rust in the cowl either.

 

[limp]

When you water test, have a friend help.. One inside looking for the leak, one outside with the hose
Do NOT use pressure, just let it run out of the hose end
Main thing here is start low and work up... Have some patience and do not be in a hurry..
I would start below the WS, maybe on the firewall.. Work on each area for a while before moving up.
Remember that water flows downhill.......
Journeyman Auto Glass installer back in the day here.....

 

[sav22rem22]

When you water test, have a friend help.. One inside looking for the leak, one outside with the hose
Do NOT use pressure, just let it run out of the hose end
Main thing here is start low and work up... Have some patience and do not be in a hurry..
I would start below the WS, maybe on the firewall.. Work on each area for a while before moving up.
Remember that water flows downhill.......
Journeyman Auto Glass installer back in the day here.....

I spent some time earlier today doing exactly this. Found the culprits on both the passenger and driver side. Driver side looks like it’s coming from some cracked seam sealer by the fender apron/cowl where it meets up with the firewall. Drivers side had some bad rust in a really strange spot straight above the door hinge and I was able to verify that it was rotted through because my screwdriver poked straight through. In the first picture, I circled the water that was dripping down and it’s a weird angle but if you tilt the picture a little bit you can see the seam seam sealer and that’s almost right above the computer. In the second picture, you can see my screw driver saying hello from under the dash and out through the apron

 

[sav22rem22]

Finally another update. I ended up bringing the car back to the guy and showed him what I was talking about. Two months later he says he found rust on both sides and patched it and sealed it but in the process the windshield that I just had put in late last year got cracked. He’s now waiting on someone to come out in a new one.

So I’m still hesitant to order any parts for the car since I haven’t seen with my own two eyes that it’s fixed and not leaking anymore. However as soon as I get it back and confirm it’s good I’ll be ordering new firewall insulation since the old took on so much water and became a disgusting smelly brick like thing. I’ll also be ordering some Kilmat 80 mil and sound deadening as much as I can. I’ll be sure to update as I go and try to document as much as I can

 

[sav22rem22]

So finally I got the car back. Good news and bad news. The leak seems to have finally been conquered. Ran a water hose for a while over both problem areas and zero water made it through. Now the interior restoration can continue, that is if I had the car still. I didn’t mention it in my last update but I had a new rack and pump with new hoses ordered and had him throw those on before getting the car back.

Upon receiving the car immediately it was obvious that the steering was super jerky or “shuddery” is the best way I can describe it. The new pump was whining way louder than any pump should since I know they all typically whine a little even brand new or reman. I brought it back to his house the next day after noticing the fluid was super brown already and the shuddering had gotten worse. I already made another post regarding this though so I won’t go into too much detail. I’m super frustrated as the car has been at this guys place since a little before Christmas and I need to have the new carpet in while it’s still hot so I can let it flatten in the sun and before that new sound deadening needs to go in. I also noticed my ignition switch needs to be go ahead and be replaced as my turn signals or even really any indicator as well as the dummy lights don’t work unless I grab the bundle of wires coming from the ignition switch and jiggle them. Great. It’s also now exhibiting slow cranking when hot which I figured was the battery but as the car cooled down overnight it turned right over super quick. It didn’t have this issue before.

Aside from all the frustrating issues I am excited to get going again. I’ve missed working on the car and in the end I’m sure it’ll all be worth it.

 

[sav22rem22]

Small update: I think I mentioned some time ago that after having the subframe connectors and new fuel and brake lines and the rust on the floor fixed that there was a rattle on the passenger side down by the seat, well I figured out where that’s coming from. I don’t have a picture of it but the subframe connectors is just barely touching the floor pan where the big drain plug is. I’m not exactly sure what to do about that. I could always shove something in between them to isolate them but what would I use? Would it also be possible to just slightly jack up the pan just enough to force some clearance? Other than that I’m about to order an evaporator core so that way that job can be done when the dash comes out to do the firewall insulation. Does anyone know what else will have to come out of the car to put the new firewall insulation in? I also figured out the issue of the dummy lights randomly turning on and off. The ignition switch has finally met its demise.

Also, I’m planning on re dying all the grey plastic interior pieces with either LMRs opal grey or an SEM equivalent since I like the look of the lighter grey a bit better. Does anyone have any good steps to prep the plastics?

I also need to clean and prep the floor pans for the kilmat to go in. Does anyone have a good way to do this? After about a year or just working on it the exposed pans have gotten pretty nasty

 

[sav22rem22]

Another very small update: I never ended up figuring out what to do about the subframe connector rubbing against the floor pan so that’s unresolved. I put the new ignition switch in the other day and the car is working perfectly again. I decided today that I’d finally put the new dimmer switch in so I could drive the car at night without the gauges flickering. I thought the one I bought came with the dome light feature but of course even though advertised on eBay as working 100% OEM, it didn’t have the feature. Should’ve known better. I took it out and cleaned the old one the best I could and slapped it back in. Upon reassembling I ran into an extremely frustrating issue.

The cluster bezel won’t sit against the dash far enough. That means I can’t get the column bezels on because I can’t put them far enough back to sit over the key cylinder. This has been an issue since I got the car back in 2019 after replacing the heater core it never went back on right. Honestly clueless on what to do about it. I’ll attach some pictures below.

Other than that however I’m just waiting for my next few days off to pull the dash and replace the evaporator core and the firewall insulation at the same time. Not looking forward to it. However after that’s done then sound deadening will go in and the car will go back together.

If I push the column bezel hard enough against the cluster bezel it will line up but as soon as I let it go the cluster bezel will push it back out of place.

 

[sav22rem22]

Bad news: thought the guy had officially fixed the rust in the covered parts of the cowl. I have the entire dash out for new firewall insulation and sound deadening to be put in. I peaked under the upper insulation that covers the underside of the cowl and found this at the seam. This is right against where the cowl and side structure meet up. Not only that but we got some bad rain and I found that the car is most definitely still leaking very badly on the passenger side seam. I’ll probably be looking into a rolling chassis as I don’t have the skills or tools to fix this and I’ve already paid twice to have this “fixed”

 

[rednotch]

Bad news: thought the guy had officially fixed the rust in the covered parts of the cowl. I have the entire dash out for new firewall insulation and sound deadening to be put in. I peaked under the upper insulation that covers the underside of the cowl and found this at the seam. This is right against where the cowl and side structure meet up. Not only that but we got some bad rain and I found that the car is most definitely still leaking very badly on the passenger side seam. I’ll probably be looking into a rolling chassis as I don’t have the skills or tools to fix this and I’ve already paid twice to have this “fixed”

Stop going to that dude...... Buy a cheap 135amp welder and find some scrap metal... Welding isn't hard just take some time screwing around on scrap to learn. small rust patches in areaS like that doesnt need to be perfect. A patch welded in and seam sealer or even panel bond will work... a trick I like to use on areas like that when its just a small section is to cut it out with a whole saw, then a Patch panel is super easy to make using the same saw on fresh metal...

For the drain plug/ subframe. Seam sealer, silicone or panel bond between the two metal surfaces should knock the noise out... I had to reseal the plugs on mine anyway after patching it. and used panel bond on them in my 93 its bonded to the pan and subframe connector under it now lol, that car had some cracks and rot in the passenger rear pan near the drain plug from a leaking quarter window. And its no show car so I overlapped a 1/2 pan cut from the front seat brace to the rear kicker, cut out about 1" less then the patch, set it with panel bond and the subframe connectors lining up the seat bolts then welded the 1" over lap. Most people would never notice it unless pointed out once the over lap was seam sealed.

 

[sav22rem22]

Smallish update: so I debated for a while on what to do and I’ve settled on both a temporary and a permanent solution. Hopefully within the next year I should have my shop built with the appropriate wiring for a good welder and obviously concrete floors so I can weld without setting my yard on fire. Once that’s done I’m going to go in from the top and cut out all the rusty metal and patch new in as per the above suggestion.

For now however, I took a wire brush and got all the flaky rust off that area and turns out that none of it is any deeper than mild surface rust. So for temporary I bought some por15 rust converter and some por15 patch for the busted seam sealer on the passenger side. I coated the ugly driver side in the por15 and patched the busted seam sealer on the passenger side.

I also found out that the pedal rack was broken in two places where the thin metal had snapped. And in my attempt to remove the clutch quadrant I broke one of the welded on studs clean off for the steering column brace that attaches to the top of the pedal rack and to the firewall.

I’ll have another pedal rack and brace by next week when I get back from my much needed vacation and assembly will finally continue on the car starting with new firewall insulation finally going in and then the sound deadening and noico foam barrier. Using some of the last hot North Carolina days of this year to also heat up the new carpet in the sun to help it take shape.

 

[limp]

Hey, hopefully this is helpful. When I do drums, I can never find this info, I figured I'd send it along so you'll have it!

The secret to doing rear drum brakes is to do one side at a time so you can use the other side for a reference....