I bought a rear floor pan patch panel a while back. Maybe I can get $10 on eBay for it because the part really sucks. It's good for practice welding but not much more. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to cut pieces out of a floor pan patch. I guess I am supposed to patch my floor pan patch panel with more patches? :angry:

http://i8.tinypic.com/287drma.jpg

So I put that POS away and bought a half floor pan to cut sections from. I hate to say what this part cost me with shipping. That was supposed to be a better part. The embossings in the panel are way short of the original. Since the metal is thinner and steel panels get their strength from shape, this part is not wonderful either. Since it lacks shape, it lacks strength. It's also unsuited to cut sections from. Here's a photo of the original panel up against a section from the reproduction part. Holly cow, do they have no idea how deep these reinforcement ribs are supposed to be? It makes a floor patch look like crap! It is not close to original and sure as hell not worth the price.

http://i2.tinypic.com/287451c.jpg

I need one more floor patch for the front right side. Can anyone tell me who makes a panel that will be close to correct and from which repair parts can be cut?

Sorry for ranting, :mad: but these crapolla metal parts in the repro market is getting a bit old. :sad: Thank God I'm not replacing a whole quarter or I would surely come unglued. My heart goes out to you guys and gals dealing with that.

Anyway, /rantmode=off Who makes a front patch panel that will follow the original floor ribs close enough to make a first class job out of a patch? Thanks! :beers:

If you find out who makes any correct fitting panels, I'd like to know. I had one decent quarter of the two I bought, and that one still reqired some work. Not looking forward to replacing anything else.

Should go with the full,one-piece floor IMO. Its a bit more costly,but at the end of the day,its not that much more work, and its a MUCH better end result. If you look at the "ribs" on the bottom of full floor, you see that they are pretty defined- not at all like the panel in your pic.

BTW,MaryBeth is right...all panels require some tweaking....even GM NOS versions-ask me how I know. Sheetmetal repair is not for the faint of wallet or heart!



http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b339/belairbobs/69floorsin3.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b339/belairbobs/pufffloor.jpg:thumbsup:

Sorry to say I must agree with BelairBob...I needed to replace the 2 rear sections of my 68. I started out with the 2 patch panels..fit like crap. Then I bought the full drivers side section, cut the old section of the drivers side out and tried to make full section work...not even close. I finally got p#$$ed off and cut the whole thing out and replaced with full floor pan. I'm fortunate to have a sheet metal supplier and hour away so a quick trip in the truck and the problem is solved and looks and fits great. I just keep thinking of all the money I have wasted on patch panels for the floor when I should have just put the full floor pan in to start with. Live and learn I guess. Check out the pictures in my photo bucket and you will see what I mean.

Good Luck:thumbsup:

to do it again i too would get a full, one piece floor. i think between the supply and the time savings it would probably offset the cost difference.

You know the old story about the guy who tossed $20 down the outhouse hole. He wasn't going down there again for just a quarter. The rest of the floor is done and I have only a small section of the front to complete. I've also been so unhappy with every !#$%^!#% panel I've bought that the idea of cutting out the entire floor and testing an ill-fitting repro with no turning back scares me to death. So what should, woulda and whatever, I am not changing my mostly solid floor for Taiwan junk. So I'm looking for the nicest part available for the front right side short of a full floor to cut patches from. If I have to hammer form it myself, let me know. At least I take my aggravation out with the hammer then. I'm only looking at 8" x 8" but that spot does include two of these embosssed ribs. Thanks!

I guess I can understand your frustration..been there and done that. I would suggest maybe looking for someone who is parting out a car that might have that section of floor in good shape and is willing to cut it out for a small fee.

CPO Deep has a good point...You might want to seek out a decent, rust -free GM version,since it looks like you bought the US-made versions,and the stamping was still not satisfactory. I'd suggest Chambers Chevrolet in AZ,or maybe even Jimmies Bowtie. I bought a rust-free door for a 69 prior to the repops coming out. They sometimes part out sheetmetal from donor cars for this purpose. It won't be cheap,but might save you some bleeding knuckles hammering out your own! :clonk:

Yep, they all require something. There is a difference between tweeking and beating the snot out of something too make it fit. I have been at both ends of the spectrum with quarters. Finally a point where I can weld.
BTW...how can these guys get away with selling this stuff? Let me guess...we all keep buying it...

Well said !

I still fall back on this basic premise though. We all assume (myself included) that a GM panel should go right on with no adjustments... no need to hammer, beat,twist,etc... It just ain't so! Pure fallacy and legend. You'd still be cussing a $1500 GM panel almost to the same degree as your "good" repop version..trust me on this one. Having installed both high dollar NOS and the more everyday repops, the bottom line is this: Most of us (me too) are not body and fender experts by trade. Once we get involved in the sheetmetal portion of the resto,all of us become painfully aware of why professionals are able to charge such a great deal of money to do the job.They make it look easy. :thumbsup:

I'll never forget how I once fussed to get a GM quarter to fit correctly, when a metal man walked over during the process,twisted the quarter about 1/4 inch,tacked it into place and all was good! Amazing! I would have been there all day and then some. :clonk:

As a result, if the panel does not "fall on" to the car , the parts are labelled "junk",foreign crap,etc.etc... Yes some repros are better than others,but no panel is a cake walk.Don't let anyone tell you differently,because they either have no experience, or have hired someone to do the work for them! :)

Those ribs can be taken away and reshaped, I agree it sucks when you buy panels and they don't fit right. But it's not that hard to reshape them, actuall I thought it would be a bear, but after this old body man showed me, it's really easy to reshape them, theres a little about it on my web site, if it will help.

Rob

Just because people above have mentioned the full floor pan is a better stamping do not assume that it will match if you cut it up to use for patch panels. If you buy the full floor pan use the whole piece, do not cut patches from it and assume they will line up with the original. I would not assume that it will match the original floor pan either as far as the ribs shapes and locations. I also heard it mentioned from dynacorn that the replacement full floor pan is thicker than the original in order to strengthen for the convertibles.

I just finished installing that very pan shown in the picture. I put in the left rear panel, and will be doing the right rear as well. I was a bit aggravated at first, but not because I thought the panel was junk. After cutting out the floor, I was able to get the panel to fit quite well with some work with the grinder. I butt welded it in place, and after much more work, grinding and painting, I am very happy with the result. I agree there is a bit of a different in the grooves, but once it's installed and welded up, it looks mighty good. Besides, my car was undercoated when I bought it, and I wasn';t interested in removing all that black stuff and repainting, so after applying the undercoating to the new section, you can't tell the difference. Also provides a good surface for Fatmat, and then it's covered up on the inside anyway.
I do agree however, that if I had it to do over again, I would seriously consider installing the whole pan. Just wasn't sure initially if that was a job I wanted to tackle, and besides, my floor wasn't that bad to begin with.
Sincerely,
rj

I got the left/ride sides off ebay and they fit pretty well without much tweaking at all.

http://www.j-dogs.com/Camaro/images/IMG_3006.JPG
http://www.j-dogs.com/Camaro/images/IMG_3008.JPG
http://www.j-dogs.com/Camaro/images/IMG_3009.JPG

Are those butt welds, or overlapped, Is that two half panels, or 4 1/4 floor panels? Wasn't that seat bracket a whole lot of fun getting it off???haha.Looks like you did a good job of a very unpleasant task. How does it look from underneath?
Thanks
rj

I have to say, I have never been afraid to tackle most any job, whether it's cars or anything else, and I'm usually pretty good at it all, maybe cause I'm so particular. It all seems to come relatively easy to me to figure out how something works or how to fix something, but I have to say also that when I see the pictures of some of the things the guys on this website tackle, and how they turn out so well, I'm frequently amazed at the work you guys do, and the phenomenal end results. We should all be very proud of what we accomplish with our Camaros. You don't see anyone with a Honda, Toyota, etc. doing this stuff I don't think.
Great work guys
rj

Are those butt welds, or overlapped, Is that two half panels, or 4 1/4 floor panels? Wasn't that seat bracket a whole lot of fun getting it off???haha.Looks like you did a good job of a very unpleasant task. How does it look from underneath?
Thanks
rj


They're all butt welds. They are 2 half panels. On the driver side we decided since under the seat bracket was solid just to do up to it, and then behind it in 2 pieces since it looked like a real PITA to get to. On the passenger side, we decided to do it in 1 piece, it was about the same amount of work. The bottom looks great, all the welds were ground down and its gonna get seam sealed/POR'd in the next few weeks.

great, looks good. Thanks for the info
rj

These were done with patch panels off ebay. I forget who the seller was, I actually think it was a mustang parts place. :o

http://www.j-dogs.com/Camaro/images/IMG_3080.JPG
http://www.j-dogs.com/Camaro/images/IMG_3082.JPG

Looks like you did a nice job
rj