1969 Roadrunner Full Restoration

torredcuda said:
Why are you saving the tunnel? I would just buy the full floor pan and do it right rather than have to splice in and weld separate drivers and passenger pans.
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Good point sir!

The intent was to attemp to salvage as much original sheetmetal as possible, keep as much rigidity as possible and save the $209.99 (before tax and shipping) for the Shifter Tunnel since the original one seems to be in good shape. Moreover, the Left and Right Floor Pans are $509.98 (before tax and shipping whereas the complete Floor Pan is $549.99 (before tax and shipping)

By saving the tunnel, I figure I save about $240 (before tax and shipping).

I'm still debating this approach.

Thank you for the recommendations!!!

Semper Fi
Sabre_3
 
The four speed tunnel is just tack welded on and easily removed and reused. The only rust in my floor pan was the drivers footwear but some previous owner changed it to a four speed by splicing in a 3' x 4' section from another car instead of just cutting a hole and adding the four speed hump. Like you i have to always keep the budget in mind but this was one area I decided to spend the extra money and buy the one piece front floor pan as it just makes for a much nicer job.
 
torredcuda said:
The four speed tunnel is just tack welded on and easily removed and reused. The only rust in my floor pan was the drivers footwear but some previous owner changed it to a four speed by splicing in a 3' x 4' section from another car instead of just cutting a hole and adding the four speed hump. Like you i have to always keep the budget in mind but this was one area I decided to spend the extra money and buy the one piece front floor pan as it just makes for a much nicer job.
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Sounds like the right approach!

Thank you so much for the guidance!!

I'll post pics when I get the full floor pan in
 
Ok...I’ve got updates!

It's been a hot minute or three. I purchase a 1969 Coronet (more on that for B-Bodies only), purchased more parts from Clay & Sons Mopar Salvage and opend up the trunk frame rails. I also shot some temporary rattle-can primer to protect the clead up and exposed metal from the floor pan removal and trunk sheet metal removal process.

Take a peek:

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Passenger's Side: Cleaned up Seat Support Bracket and Frame Rails.

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Passenger's Side: Temporary Rattle Can Primer to protect exposed metal and prevent rust.

I wanted to open up the trunk frame rails to see how the interior looks.

Here's what it looked like before I started:

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Trunk Area: Missing the cross brace.

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Trunk Area: I'm a novice, so I mark where the frame rails are.

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Trunk Area - Passenger's Side: Old sheet metal issues out, grinding down spots welds and busting rust until it shines once again.

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Trunk Area: Temporarily encapsulated with rattle can primer until I can get the car media blasted.

Let me know what you think!

Semper Fi
Sabre_3

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Ok, hard at it again yesterday.

This time I targeted the Driver's Side back seat area. Unfortunately, I didn't reach my goal of getting the inner frame rails in rattle can temporary primer. However, will get-r-done this weekend!

Take a peek!

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Driver's Side Rear Back Seat Foot Pan: taped out my cut lines so I make nice straight cuts and avoid structural frame rails.

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Driver's Side Rear Back Seat Floor Pan: carefully removed. I decided to keep the lateral cross member temporarily because I see still have to move the car around the shop and trailer the car to get it professionally dipped or media blasted (still deciding on which path to take) and want as much structural integrity in the car as possible.

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Driver's Side Rear Back Seat Floor Pan: Taped up and ready to be removed.

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Driver's Side Rear Back Seat Floor Pan: Removed. I cleaned the frame rails and Removed about one inch of solidified dirt and debris that accumulated at the bottom of the frame rails.

I will carefully expose the spot welds, remove the rotten sheet metal from the frame rails, remove the rust from the top and inner frame rails, inspect the inner and outer frame rails, and temporarily encapsulate the exposed metal with rattle can primer.

Stamp and repeat for Passenger's side Back Seat area.

Hopefully, we're heading in the right direction.

Let me know what you think!

Semper Fi
Sabre_3
 
Instead of using temporary rattle can primer and taping, you can save yourself a lot of time and effort by using a weld through primer.
 
IMO if you are going to have it dipped or sandblasted there is no need for any primer as there will very little if any surface rust forming and it will be taken off when you dip or blast anyway - save your money.
 
quikbird said:
Does “gentle” persuasion include using a ford tool? ( a bfh)
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That’s a good one! Sometimes a little “gentle” persuasion does require the right tool, especially in a Ford workshop. Many ct ford dealers emphasize using genuine Ford tools to ensure precision and care during repairs, proving that even “gentle” persuasion works best with the right equipment.
 
Ok....I’ve got updates...

So now that I have most of the floor pans and trunk pan sheets metal removed and the frame rails opened up, exposed and exposing what frame work needs repaired and replaced; I'm starting to correct some sheetmetal issues on the car.

I figured starting off small and build confidence before I dive into the difficult stuff.

As a result, I decided to start on correcting an issue with the Roadrunner's Lower core support. It looked like someone, in the past, hooked a tow hook or tied into the lower core support (Driver's Side) and bent the lower support.

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Driver's Side Lower Core Support - Bent and Torn Sheetmetal.

It took a bit of time, (almost 4 days) working with hammers and Dollies to mirror as closely as possible the lower core support framing on the Passenger's side.

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Passenger's Side Lower Core Support - I used this as the model for the Driver's side.

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Driver's Side Core Support - I had to make two relief cuts to allow for the sheetmetal movement. I will weld the relief cuts tomorrow.

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Driver's Side Lower Core Support (Engine Compartment View). The lower core support sheetmetal was significantly distorted. I tried to carefully straighten and move the sheetmetal the best I could. I will weld the overlapping sheetmetal tomorrow.

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Driver's Side Lower Core Support- I have a little hammer and dolly work to do to close the relief cut gap. I'll finish and weld it up tomorrow.

I have the same challenge in the trunk area. I'll start on that after I wrap this repair up.

Let me know what you think and if I'm heading down the right path!

Semper Fi
Sabre_3
 
torredcuda said:
IMO if you are going to have it dipped or sandblasted there is no need for any primer as there will very little if any surface rust forming and it will be taken off when you dip or blast anyway - save your money.
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Good point!

I just wanted to see something new being applied to the car

Semper Fi
Sabre_3
 
David James said:
That’s a good one! Sometimes a little “gentle” persuasion does require the right tool, especially in a Ford workshop. Many ct ford dealers emphasize using genuine Ford tools to ensure precision and care during repairs, proving that even “gentle” persuasion works best with the right equipment.
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I used a 5 Lbs "Ford Tool" a lot to move the sheetmetal: particularly around the 90 degree bends that needed to be slightly moved.

Good Times!

Semper Fi
Sabre_3
 
Not sure what you have for bodywork tools but if you don`t have a hammer and dolly set invest in one, even a cheap Harbor Freight set would be fine and it will make metal working easier A little heat with a propane or map gas torch will help with the stubborn areas but sometimes a relief cut is neccesary. I also have a few random small chunks of metal, old brake dies and pieces of thick steel, for different shapes and areas where a standard dolly doesn`t work.
 
Sabre_3 said:
Driver's Side Core Support - I had to make two relief cuts to allow for the sheetmetal movement. I will weld the relief cuts tomorrow.

View attachment 39536
Driver's Side Lower Core Support (Engine Compartment View). The lower core support sheetmetal was significantly distorted. I tried to carefully straighten and move the sheetmetal the best I could. I will weld the overlapping sheetmetal tomorrow.



Let me know what you think and if I'm heading down the right path!

Semper Fi
Sabre_3
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Not sure if you finished with this area but to me it looks like the area around the hole is sill bent and needs to be straightened out a bit more?
 
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