73 Rusted Duster

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Karbine

Karbine

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Hi! New here to Forabodiesonly, and actually new to A-bodies altogether! I figured i might be able to get a little help from the forum.
My aunt gave me a '73 225 Duster, and unfortunately the floors are pretty rusted out... I'm going to try and replace them, and i'm minutes from Summit Racing, so getting the part is no problem.

I was just wondering, do you think it would be possible to cut the floor out and replace it as one piece, with the engine, trans, driveshaft, dashboard, and steering wheel still in place? I already have the carpet and seats out of the car, all the way down to metal. I was thinking maybe I could pull the back windows out and get it in there. Or should i get the patch panels and do it that way? Is it even feasible to replace the floors with most of the car still together? I'm going to drop the gas tank, definitely.

Please help! I'd love to get this car back on the road. But these floors are holding me back.
 
Might as well weld in some frame connectors while your at it just before you gut the floor. You can make them easily out of 2x3 rectangle tube with a fishplate at the front. Be sure to get paint in the frame rails while your there. Harbor freight has spot weld cutters. Get 2-3 of em and go to town.
 
Yeah? I have some weldcutter bits. I was just thinking if I'd be able to fish the whole floor in the car.

In that case, i believe i'm just going to take a torch to the seams to "un-glue" them, and then muscle it the rest of the way out.
 
I would do the frame connector's ,hell yes. As for replacement in one piece,IDK,about that one...... Even with frame connector's installed,every bigger piece of floor board removed,makes that floor pan,that much weaker(In my opinion...). Pictures, would help immensely here..
 
I cut the floor pan out of my 68 Dart years ago, then cut a replacement out of a car at the local pick a part and ended up spliting it down the middle because I couldn't get it out of the car. I figured it would drop out of the bottom with all the cutting I did, but it didn't. While the floor was out of my 68 I took some 2x3 tubing and dropped it inside my frame rails. The front and rear frames are not in alignment. You have to cut the tube in about a 1/4 inch wide pie shape and angle it over to the opposite wall of the tubing, then cut a pie shape on the opposite side of the tube, til you can bend it and lign it up with front and rear frames, then weld the notches while in place. When I went to weld the floor back in I had to cut it to match the tubes in the back floor board because the tubes stick up about an inch through the pan.


Be gentle with those spot weld cutters because they can break real easy if you use too much pressure. I used a 3/8 drill to do mine after about 16 spot weld cutters.
 
Thanks for all the input y'all are awesome! I'm gonna work here soon on putting up pictures.

I had definitely planned on strengthening the frame somehow to keep from warping while taking the whole floor out. But if it's best for me to put it some connectors, i'm sure I can find the materials.
 
Thank you,actually not that bad.... wire wheel it,with a 4 " inch grinder(all the rust areas..),post more pictures I don't see a whole floor pan needed here....
 
That's what I was hoping for. I was thinking about just getting the three floor pans from summit, the front driver-side, and the whole passenger side. Thanks again everyone for the input.

I'm going to clean it up more like you said Abodybomber, and i'll post more pictures tomorrow.
 
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