[ShaunyMac]

Hey everyone. I'm a new member here & I recently bought a 71 Nova 2 door. I've decided to fully restore the interior. The previous owner patched some of the areas before. I've taken out the front & back seats. I'm trying to figure out if I should get a complete floor pan or just the left & right pans. The largest floor pans I've seen are 20" by 62". I'm not sure if it's worth doing both the left & the right side or doing a full floor. I took some pictures of the entire area. All help & opinions are greatly appreciated.

 

[1963 white nova]

Hey everyone. I'm a new member here & I recently bought a 71 Nova 2 door. I've decided to fully restore the interior. The previous owner patched some of the areas before. I've taken out the front & back seats. I'm trying to figure out if I should get a complete floor pan or just the left & right pans. The largest floor pans I've seen are 20" by 62". I'm not sure if it's worth doing both the left & the right side or doing a full floor. I took some pictures of the entire area. All help & opinions are greatly appreciated.

i would go ahead and buy the full one piece floor pan.im gonna have to do the same thing to my 63.

 

[ShaunyMac]

Would anyone happen to know the weight of a full floor pan? & would it be wise to do it at home or have it professionally done?

 

[Tommy]

Looks like typical rust issues in the footwells front and rear. I personally would buy the left/right side full length floor pans and cut those sections out. The reason for that is I like to leave as much original sheetmetal in the car as possible. If your car is going to be a driver and not a concours restoration you can do it yourself if you have the tools and can weld. I am a amatuer welder but have done floor pans before. I would not cut the entire sides out or the entire floor itself. I would cut as little as possible out and make the new sections slightly bigger (overlap) and weld them in top and bottom then clean up the welds and seam seal it.... Hope this helps .



Tommy

 

[Stashum]

also take a very close look at how far forward a full pan goes. looks like you have some rust in the toeboard area, which will not come with a full floor. I think floor pans halves come with part of the toeboard.... take a close look at some pictures of parts. you will probably have to fabricate some of the toebord either way.... so it's just your preference.

 

[ShaunyMac]

Thanks for all the input guys. I found floor pans that had measurements of 63" by 20". Hopefully that will cover it. Should I bother buying replacement floor braces while I'm at it?

 

[walkerjay]

Looks like typical rust issues in the footwells front and rear. I personally would buy the left/right side full length floor pans and cut those sections out. The reason for that is I like to leave as much original sheetmetal in the car as possible. If your car is going to be a driver and not a concours restoration you can do it yourself if you have the tools and can weld. I am a amatuer welder but have done floor pans before. I would not cut the entire sides out or the entire floor itself. I would cut as little as possible out and make the new sections slightly bigger (overlap) and weld them in top and bottom then clean up the welds and seam seal it.... Hope this helps .
Tommy

+1. You have some good original metal there. Tunnel looks good. Only replace what you need. If your braces are solid, why not clean them up and leave them...? I did my right front and it was rusted out just shy of about where yours looks to be. My new goodmark pan was able to reach that area.

 

[Tommy]

You shouldn't need any bracing. Almost all 3rd Gen novas rot in the same place as yours has. There are a ton of threads here about pan replacement, do some searching and you should find a lot of useful information. You asked about the weight and size of the full pan section, I had one for a 67 Camaro (project that I bought and never finished) and it was huge and it was very heavy. I would not want to take on the task of removing the entire floor and getting that thing back inside. I really think it is more than I could do correctly.


Tommy

 

[firebird77clone]

It just occured to me, so I thought I'd ask..

how the hell DO you get a full floor into the car? Pull a front or rear window?

 

[tnblkc230wz]

The area around the front brace looks solid still. If it is in good shape, I wouldn't replace them. If it is rusted or rotted, then you have to. It will be easier to cut out the front and rear sections and patch them in.

The rear braces may need to be replaced based on the condition of the rear floor area.

I agree with the section approach. Just make sure you get the halves with the toe boards. Goodmark's panels will cover 3/4 or so of the rusted toe board.

 

[NIGHTSHADE]

The full pan starts at the seem under foot in the front and ends behind the back seat.

Too much and too little. It goes much farther back then you need it to and not forward enough to get the base of the firewall.

With the tunnel and hump in good shape, all you need are the side pans. Get them and save yourself about $500 that could be used elsewhere.

 

[corvettelar]

I have to agree with everyone here that you should just replace the areas that need it. You are going to need the toe board area which shermanparts.com sells along with all the other sheet metal you might need. If you were to replace the whole floor it would install from the bottom of the car since you would have removed all of the old one. I am doing my floors right now because of a combination of rust issues and prior owner cutting out areas for a roll bar install. I am using full right and left halves along with toe boards and subfraame mounts from a donor car, lots of fun:devil: good luck

 

[ShaunyMac]

So I have both left & right full floor pans. What do I use to cut the old floor out of the car?

 

[bonehead71]

So I have both left & right full floor pans. What do I use to cut the old floor out of the car?

go get a good spotweld cutter and a good cutoff tool... trust me when i say that the spotweld cutter will pay for itself..use that to drill out the spotwelds. i use a permanent felt tip pen to mark where i am goint to cut on the trans tunnel then you can make your cut there with the cutoff tool. it also may be a little easier to cut in into smaller sections when you take the old one out, just remember to not cut out too much of the old floor out. .
wear safety glasses with the cutoff tool...i have had those 3 in disc explode on me before.... not very fun!

 

[bonehead71]

It just occured to me, so I thought I'd ask..

how the hell DO you get a full floor into the car? Pull a front or rear window?

cut the old one out and it should come up from the bottom

 

[ShaunyMac]

go get a good spotweld cutter and a good cutoff tool... trust me when i say that the spotweld cutter will pay for itself..use that to drill out the spotwelds. i use a permanent felt tip pen to mark where i am goint to cut on the trans tunnel then you can make your cut there with the cutoff tool. it also may be a little easier to cut in into smaller sections when you take the old one out, just remember to not cut out too much of the old floor out. .
wear safety glasses with the cutoff tool...i have had those 3 in disc explode on me before.... not very fun!

What kind of tool do I need to cut out the existing floor? A jigsaw?

 

[JRouche]

Jig saw will work, problem is the short blade, cant get the foot of the saw in close enough with all the irregularities of the floor. Sawzall is my preferred saw, right behind my plasma. I can chop a car in half fast with the sawzall, but more precise with the plasma JR

Um, for example, if the floor is bare of any insulation, and the spot welds are cut already I can cut an entire floor out in prolly 5 to 10 minutes with the plasma. Gonna take prolly 30 minutes with the sawzall. I do love the plasma. Umm, hot knife through butter ...

 

[68chevyll]

Hey everyone. I'm a new member here & I recently bought a 71 Nova 2 door. I've decided to fully restore the interior. The previous owner patched some of the areas before. I've taken out the front & back seats. I'm trying to figure out if I should get a complete floor pan or just the left & right pans. The largest floor pans I've seen are 20" by 62". I'm not sure if it's worth doing both the left & the right side or doing a full floor. I took some pictures of the entire area. All help & opinions are greatly appreciated.

Go with full pans. U wont regret it!!!

 

[ShaunyMac]

Alright, this weekend I bought a sawzall & cut out the rusted areas of the floor. And man, do my wrists ache lol. I know I have to get toe boards as well. The only issue I have is trying to cut out the left hand toe board area & the back part of the drivers side seat area. You'll see in the pictures. What size socket is used to get the front seat belt bolts undone? Also, my dad is under the impression we should just get the pieces we need from the new floor pans & just weld it in rather than cutting out the old full floor side then welding it in. Which should I do? Let me know if the job I did is decent or not, thanks.

Drivers side seat area

Drivers side foot area

Drivers side toe area

Passenger side foot area

Passenger side toe area

Passenger side seat area

Passenger side seat area again

Passenger side toe area

Here are pictures of the full floor pans I ordered that came with partial tunnel.

 

[tnblkc230wz]

It looks like you got the floor halves without the tow boards. I don't know if it is too late to get the ones with toe boards. Make sure your cut the part of the panels you need and weld them into the good parts of your floor. It also looks like you need to cut a little more of your floor. You want to make sure your you are clear of all the rot.

IMO get a cut off wheel and a 4.5 inch angle grinder. You can get a cutting disk for the grinder for the heavy cutting and trim with the cut off wheel. You can also use stripper pads and wire wheels on the grinder to get rid of any rust and strip the surface prior to welding.

You can get both of these tools cheap at Harbor Freight.

Prep your lap joints with weld through primer and seal all seams with seam sealer for a lasting repair.