I just bought two of the pans, 1 piece w/bucket seat brkts already welded in place, from www.nationalpartsdepot.com Since they are only 90 miles from me, truck freight was very cheap since I went to the truck depot to get the items in Tampa. I bought two floor pans, two trunk pans, 1 floor pan that goes under the rear seat (1-piece) from their Chevelle catalog. Fit and finish was excellent. I did not have to do any trimming or alterations. I believe NPD has a warehouse in the Carolinas.
pans George I need pass. toe board front and rear pans and pan under rear seat, drivers front pan and pan under seat. I thought it would be easier and cheaper to cut the complete floor from a donor car that is right down the street. than to purchase the parts and pay shipping. I am buying the never started rebuilt 455 that is in the car anyways so I thought I could do a package deal and get the whole car. Any advice is appreciated, This is my first and only frame off resto. I've had the GS longer than my wife and we started dating when I was 16. If I am better off to buy new then tell me now. The GS is FAMILY so I don't mind paying for (her). Thanks for any input. Also I'm not subscribed right now but I would like to contribute. send my your paypal in a PM. Email is still messed up. And a big thank you to Flynbuick :TU: , He is an outstanding fellow.thanks Jim Tim
Ok, no problem. I have done this (change qtrs, drop panels, trunk floors, floor pans) many times. I would never suggest to anyone to do a "cut and remove" from a donor car unless you can not buy the parts new. See this site page and you will see what I have done to this 70 GS455 convertible. Car was very close to being a parts car but after thorough evaluation, it was saveable by someone who could do their own work. See this http://www.buickperformance.com/70GSConv.htm There you will see what I have done, last 6-7 pics shows the 1 piece floor pan. Since you live in NC, you can drive to NPD to get the parts. If I were you, this is what I would do: 1. Buy the other car and keep what you need from it such as the engine, trans etc. 2. Sell the rest to someone who needs the shell, rolling chassis or part it out. 3. Use funds from sale proceeds to purchase new metal parts. You will need to buy some tools to do the work you want to do. I don't know what your tool inventory contains or your mechanical abilities. 1. MIG welder with gas and auto-darkening helmet, good welder gloves 2. Air shears 3. Die grinder and 4" 90 degree grinder to smooth welds 4. Good drill motor and 5/16" bullet tip titanium drill bit to drill out the 100's of spot welds holding the pans to supports 5. 4 and 6" wire brush wheels for drill motor to clean supports and areas to be welded 6. SEM Weld-thru primer (can buy at Sherwin Williams) auto paint supply stores. 7. 1 gallon of phosphoric acid to treat supports and any other rusted metal areas. 8. Some seam seal ( I use polyurethane sealer, will attach pics) 9. Buy Cleco pliers and retaining pins. These are great for attaching panels (they hold them in place so you can welded) You can get them from www.racerpartswholesale.com 10. You may need to buy/replace the two floor supports. Those can be bought from NPD. Be prepared to spend a lot and I do mean a lot of time drilling out the spot welds. There are more than you want to know. Don't be surprised if you do some cussing too. They are not easy to see but when you apply some uplifting pressure on the surrounding metal area, the spot weld will show as a dimple. You want to use the drill with the bullet tip to drill each weld. You don't want to drill thru the supports because you will then have many holes to weld shut. You will be in for some fun when you try to remove the 45 degree interior supports that are covered by the rear armrest panels, Those have many spot welds and need to be removed in order to install the 1-piece rear pan. I believe the toe boards are available from NPD or any other A-body supplier. You can also try www.tabcobodyparts.com for metal parts. They carry the supports. Due to your description of floor problems, make sure you cowl is in good condition. Something caused your pans to rust. Also, carefully evaluate what you have before you begin doing your work. If you are going to have someone else do the work, don't be suprised to get quotes of $1000 to the floor pans. There is mucho work to do the job right. Also, don't expect to do it in a weekend. I did mine over 4-5 weekends. Do a thorough inspection of your car and then do a final determination of what you want as a finished car and what it costs to get there. I know of many people that get this "idea" I can buy a $4000-5000 GS or similar and then spend $5-7 k and have a $25-30k car.....not going to happen. If you are doing a body off resto, expect to spend $12-16k on parts and then don't include your labor. If you have to sub-out the labor add another $10-12k. Don't want to discourage you, just want to let you know what can happen if you don't do most of the work yourself. Sometimes, people who do this, in the end say, "I just should have bought one already done" All depends what your time is worth and how much pleasure/pain you want to enjoy rebuilding/restoring your car.
This is the seam sealer I use. Not correct for concours cars but this works wonders. It stays flexible and it is black. Easily painted. Get it at Home Depot.
