Novice Builders '67 Camaro, "Ol' Bucket"

[Eric67]

Well, here’s what I started with… Nothing special, but a nice driver, and fun to drive at the time.



Shortly after I bought it, I replaced the bushings around the body and suspension. One of the subframe nuts broke free. It was the left front one, and the bolt never tightened up. I drove the car around like this for a few years as a nice cruiser.

A couple summers ago, I managed to spin a rod bearing, so the engine came out. Now was a good time to fix that subframe nut. So I peeled back the carpet to cut a hole in the drivers toeboard, and spied a line of rust at the floorpan to firewall seam. Uh-Oh. I peeled back the carpet on the passenger side, more rust. I pulled the back seat, and found a bunch of rot. Oops… This is also when I discovered the TERIBLE job that the guy I had put the trunk in years ago had done. Now I’ve got to fix his work too.

Here We Go!!!

I started disassembling the car and about that time, I stumbled across this site. With all the beautiful cars around here, it’s easier to keep motivated. With the helpful assistance of another member, I decided to install a one piece floor myself.

Now… I’m definitely no body guy and had never welded anything before in my life, so there was one hell of a learning curve.

Let’s see how this goes!

[Eric67]

Here's the culprit.



And the rotten floor.



When I picked all the seam sealer out from between the floor and firewall, there was nearly an inch gap between the two. It was pretty much just the rockers holding the bottom of the car together!!

[rixtrix1]

Definitely got some work to do, but it's not that hard. gotta find where the water's getting in( maybe rot under the windshield?). Good uck with your project!

[rixtrix1]

Oops, bad typing. Meant to say Good Luck!

[Eric67]

Thanks!

I've got the car fully apart and am sealing up everywhere the water can get in. There was some leakage around the base of the windshield which rotted away the top of the dashboard, and in the lower left corner of the rear window. Both areas will be fixed.

Thanks to my brother Dan, for helping me muscle the floor into position!







I took the advice of an experienced body guy and braced the car when the floor was out. It was a bit of a pain to work around at first, but hopefully it held everything together!

[1971CHEVELLE]

Looks good keep us posted