Topic: a bit of work on my 77 TA

[Schroeder]

Full 74-76 pan.


incorrect 74-76 portion cut out and correct 77 portion of pan put in.



Rear underseat pan with small patch on wall that comes down to pan.  I hope I can still mount my rear seat backing correctly.




Still gotta weld the toe board welds down




Outside and under the car.




I have one question at the moment, the welds on the outside/underside of the car have some little pitting in them where the weld did not naturally fill in to the same exact depth.  I prefer to not go over the entire weld on the entire pan around it all.  Should I just take a thimble full of bondo and rub it in the pits in the welds under the car?  Or is this kinda a half @$$ way of doing things?   

This was all butt-welded in.  Made it take FOREVER and was stressful, but my welding skills have significantly improved from all this!  If anyone needs the mid pan I cut out for a 74-76 let me know.  I'm gonna be putting it up for sale this week sometime.

[JupiterBandit]

Fantastic Job. You are ahead of me now.

As for the weld. You can either use the metal Bondo and smooth it out or you an hit it with the welder.

On mine I am going to try hitting it with the welder first and see what happens

[Elz]

I would use seam sealer.

[Schroeder]

I would use seam sealer.

You would use seam sealer on the outside of the car Elz?

I think you may end up looking into other options Jupiter.  I tried hitting some of my little pits with the welder.  It's hard to get them.  Sometimes they're very difficult to fill or you creat other little pin prick divets.  I am thinking of using bondo.  It won't take much, like I said, a couple thimble fulls if that.  Any large irregularities or unevenness I am going to fill with the welder, but the little pin pricks are hard to get.  So the bondo is looking more friendly.

[Elz]

I would use seam sealer.

You would use seam sealer on the outside of the car Elz?

I think you may end up looking into other options Jupiter.  I tried hitting some of my little pits with the welder.  It's hard to get them.  Sometimes they're very difficult to fill or you creat other little pin prick divets.  I am thinking of using bondo.  It won't take much, like I said, a couple thimble fulls if that.  Any large irregularities or unevenness I am going to fill with the welder, but the little pin pricks are hard to get.  So the bondo is looking more friendly.

Yes I would use seam sealer (3M 08308). If you feel like you have to smooth it out with filler I would still not use Bondo. Fiberglass filler is what you put over welds first. That is mainly on an area where you would want to smooth out an exterior panel like a quarter patch. "Bondo" or Body filler is the last thing I would use on the underside.

[JupiterBandit]

I'd use seam sealer on the rocker seam.

As for the butt weld along the tranny tunnel and so forth I've seen all the top shops smooth the whole bottom of the car out with body filler. They didn't use fiberglass. I'd  use a light weight body filler and then sand it down smooth. If they are just pin holes use a finishing glaze. make sure you spray a sealer primer on the bottom after your finished. You don't want moisture absorbing into the filler.

[Elz]

If you want to smooth out your welds on the floor I would strongly suggest using Fiberglas filler first. Regular lightweight filler next to straighten and feather.

[JupiterBandit]

problem with fiberglass is it doesnt fill pin holes well

[Elz]

The fiberglass filler is just used for the first layer over the weld, there isn't a need to feather it out, just grind and shape a little, then use lightweight body filler to feather and straighten. The fiberglass is for filling pinholes in welds and holds up much better to moister than body filler. This is if you feel you have to straighten the underside of your car. Me personally, if it was a car I was going to drive, I wouldn't feel that comfortable with body filler on my floors with the possible flexing. Maybe some other guys on here have done it and had good luck?

[Schroeder]

The fiberglass filler is just used for the first layer over the weld, there isn't a need to feather it out, just grind and shape a little, then use lightweight body filler to feather and straighten. The fiberglass is for filling pinholes in welds and holds up much better to moister than body filler. This is if you feel you have to straighten the underside of your car. Me personally, if it was a car I was going to drive, I wouldn't feel that comfortable with body filler on my floors with the possible flexing. Maybe some other guys on here have done it and had good luck?

Are you guys talking about a fiberglass body filler like this?

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_x_22987847-P_x_x?cm_mmc=ACQ-_-Google-_-enhancedRM-_-22987847&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=22987847&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}&gclid=CLGQnp3jgLQCFYs7MgodgQEAbA#utm_source=acq&utm_medium=google&utm_campaign=enhancedrm&utm_content=22987847

I also like the seam sealer idea.  I may finally be taking you up on your offer to borrow your gun Elz.  Does your seam sealer get hard?  I'm using a different 3m sealer on the inside of the car.

[Elz]

That may be right but the picture looks wrong. This is what I use, you can also get it in a smaller can because you wouldn't need a gallon. http://www.google.com/shopping/product/17007639055399557030?q=fiberglass%20filler&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bpcl=39580677&biw=1265&bih=702&sa=X&ei=fvu9UM-FOYqU2wXxqYG4Ag&ved=0CHAQ8wIwAg#ps-sellers

The seam sealer gets like a hard rubber. If you want to use my gun just send me a pm with your address and I will send it to you. You can put this over primer and it sets up fast and is paintable in I think about a half hour.

[Schroeder]

Driver side floor pan, rear underseat, and toe boards in.  Here is the full floor pan close up.




Rust bullet undercoat applied with seam sealer put on the weld seams.  Notice some of my patches around the AC box entry.



Epoxy Applied.  Sorry some of the pics are hazy.  This epoxy paint really fogged up the shop, and the camera shows it.



Inside

[Elz]

Looks great. Nice work man!

[Schroeder]

Special thanks to JupiterBandit for helping me out with welding and fitment issues and to Elz for helping me out with alllllllllll sorts of rust-proofing, base-coating, and top-coating questions.  I wanted to be sure I got the painting and sealing portion right so as to prevent this extensive job of replacing pans from ever being done again!

Couldn't have done this portion of the car without your guys' knowledge.  Thanks for all the other info and advice the rest of you have offered as well. 

Next up are the doors.  I'm going to remove them from the car, clean them out, re-grease window tracks, properly align windows in doors, repair hinges (new bushings), and do anything else to them that I see fit.  Then, after the interior is all reinstalled I suppose re-doing and prettying-up the rear end comes next!

[JupiterBandit]

I'm impressed. Very nice work!