Floor/Tunnel Supports

[Greg Harris]

I'm sure this has been done before but I took the difficult road of fabricating new floor support channels, as some previous owner took my '65 Vert rock crawling and twisted them all up. Everything was a mangled, rusted mess under there. I used 18ga steel, which is heavier than the original. Not pro-level craftsmanship, but I think they will work. I copied the geometry of the original supports the best I could, but mine were so twisted up that they aren't a perfect match. In addition, the repro floor pans don't have quite the same geometry as the originals, so getting the supports to mate to the repro floors has been a challenge. Progress is progress, though. I'll take it.

If anyone's interested, It took a combination of a sheet brake, press brake, welding, joggling and fitting to make semi-passable copies of these. I shot them with weld-thru primer getting ready to fit them to the tunnel cover for spacing, then mark the pans for plug welds.

[66vairguy]

I am impressed. That is some serious work. What about the rocker areas and internal rocker support? Convertibles tend to have issues with this rocker area and I've only seen one post of someone doing the rocker repair correctly.

[Greg Harris]

I am impressed. That is some serious work. What about the rocker areas and internal rocker support? Convertibles tend to have issues with this rocker area and I've only seen one post of someone doing the rocker repair correctly.

Surprisingly, the rockers are solid. The very front end cap of the driver's side rocker is completely gone and had a patch pop-riveted over it. There was a lot of debris and scale in there but everything is still intact. I'll treat with some Ospho in there, then fabricate and weld-in a new end cap. I'll reproduce the factory hole for the rubber plug. Already have 3 new plugs for them.

[66vairguy]

If the rockers are solid they it worth putting the effort into.

BTW --- instead of installing sheet metal screws in the new tunnel rails for the belly pan, you might consider riv nuts and screws. It is on my upcoming summer project list. I bought this tool at Harbor Freight https://www.harborfreight.com/10-in-pro ... 58078.html

I ordered stainless steel riv nuts on Amazon.

[Lane66Monza]

That HF riv nut tool is great when installing 1/4" or larger riv nuts and you have the room to use the tool.

I found the Marson Riv Nut tool 3939302 to be a bettter tool when installing 12-32 or smaller riv nuts and needing to use a riv nut tool in cramped areas.

I suggest that 8-32 or 10-32 stainless riv nuts, bolts and lock washers be used in this application, if #8 hex head sheet metal screws are not to be used. Putting the riv nuts in before mounting the rails/supports might be wise since pulling stainless riv nut might be next to impossible. If you go with aluminum or Grade 2 steel riv nuts, paint the outside of the riv nut squeeze area lightly and install wet to keep corrosion away. Paint the entire installed riv nut OD after installation. Use anti-seize on the bolts you use.

8-32 riv nuts source (1 of many)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/166465365453?c ... gJk4fD_BwE

Marson 39302 Riv Nut Installation Kit (best price I found today)
https://www.jbtools.com/marson-39302-th ... n-plastic/?
wi=off&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIopruo_a2gwMVMoNaBR0VEwZcEAQYGCABEgLwhvD_BwE

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