Floor is rusted out of the drivers trunk and drivers side frame rail is not the best-

[Dirty T/A]

But, I have a donor car. The frame rails on it are fine. The drivers side floor in the trunk is solid also.

I already need the rear end and leaf springs off the donor car.

Any links, recomendations, information, ect on making a swap? A how to, or anything else would be great. Still in the basics on my studies of these f-body unibodies.

My car is a 79 T/A and the donor car is an 80 berlinetta, just in case it matters.

[Dirty T/A]

The trunk floor on the Berlinetta is good on the drivers side and rusted through on the passenger side and the floor in the T/A is pretty solid on the passenger side but rusted through on the drivers side. Passenger passenger side frame rail on the T/A isnt bad but the driver side is kinda rough and I would like to replace it. The frame rails are both good on the camaro.

[meissen]

At first I thought this was a thread about my car, but my big hole through the floor pan is on the passenger side... driver side hasn't rusted through completely yet

[mcssmostwanted]

Brian my neighbor welds for his career if you need it patched in. also we have a plasma cutter and miller mig. makes it pretty easy to cut out a donor piece

[Dirty T/A]

Fixed reply #2 to make more sence.

Are there any how to;s, videos, or pictures anyone can share to help me understand what needs done to replace the trunk floor on the drivers side as well as remove the rear frame rails?

Will the rear frame rails, leaf springs and rear end come out all in one piece? I have never attempted anything like this or ever dealt with a unibody car. Seeing and understanding what I am getting into would be helpful.

[whitehawk]

I did a floorpan replace myself in an 87 Grand National. it is not that tough, just time consuming. You need a few tools - a drill with a spot weld cutter bit, a mig welder, a sawzall, air chisel, and a grinder to clean metal. If you can borrow a plasma cutter it would definitely save some time, but the spotweld cutter works good too.

- First thing I would do is go to shermanparts.com and see if you can get the replacement panels. You can use your swap car, but especially for the floorpans and frame rails I would get new pieces. For florpans it is much easier with new parts, since they are usualy designed with a flange that allows you to literally drop it in and it will hang in the right place.
- Disassemble everything. Don't be lazy and try to just move carpet out of the way. Welding gets really hot, so make sure nothing flammable is even close.
- Remove the old floor. On mine we drilled out the old spotwelds and then pried it out. If you are just patching, then a sawzall or plasma cutter would work. Floors are tougher because sometimes you will have to remove seat mounting and seat belt mounting plates. spot weld cutter and air chisel work well for these. On my GN, the seat mount spanned both sides, so we had to pull the whole thing from both floorpans.
- Fit new part - trim it up and test fit it until it is perfect. Don't try to beat it into place. I would leave a 1" or so flage for welding. If you want to do a butt weld that is OK, but it is much tougher to weld. Overlapping amkes it super easey.
- Once fitted, prep it and paint it up. First I would clean both sides you are welding. If you have it fitted, you should know exactly what you are welding. I know most people will tell you to use epoxy primer, but I would prime it with a weld through primer. This will allow you to prime the whole thing both sides, then paint it on the car after welding and you won't have to worry about leaving any bare metal.
- Weld the crap out of it. Puddle weld in the spots you drilled out, then weld the entire perimeter. Try not to burn through! We left a 1" flange and primed both sides with weld through primer.
- Paint, I would hit the whole thing with POR 15. Get it heavy on the welds.
- Sealer - If you are doing a floorpan, get a tube of body sealer - it comes in a tube just like caulk. Caulk it over all your joints, then brush it smooth. Just like the factory did! You can go to the backside and seal inside the overlap too.
- Put it back together.

Hope that helps, if you have any specific questions let me know. On my GN it was two people working about 30 hourse each, so be patient.

Post some pics, too - I might have to do this on my 2nd gen and I am interested to see what I am in for.

-Geoff

[TylerT/AZ28]

make sure not to cut out too much at once and leave some structure to the whole car so it doesnt twist or anything. id say just cut out panels you need and take your time taking them in, then give the seems some sealer or i used special gutter sealant, and then give it a good coat of oil based or something that will keep it protected.