Body / Glass: floor seam?

[dnevin]

I pulled the seat and started removing the "undercoating" on the floor of my 53 Champion Coupe. When I got to the area near the back of the front seat, I noticed a seam that runs across the floor. The seam extends over the top of the rocker panel area. Is this factory, or is it (as I suspect) a replacement panel?


The hole in the bottom of the pic is the back bolt hole for the front seat, so the top of the pic is the towards the back of the car.

Thanks in advance.

[rockne10]

I'm having a hard time trying to determine the perspective of your photo. It resembles nothing I remember in my '53 C. Could you post one showing a bit more of the surrounding area?

[dnevin]

Sorry about that--it was perfectly plain to me.

here's a bigger view showing the area shown in the above photo in red.

[Jeff_H]

I don't remember if my '53 K had a seam like that or not. I'd have to check the pictures. Does it look like factory spot welds ? From your picture, I would think so. A body shop or other replacement back in the day likely would have been done with a torch; either a butt weld or brazing. If done in the last 30yrs or so more likely with a MIG welder. Those methods would leave a tell-tale look that does not match your seam.

IMO it looks too much like a factory seam to be a panel replacement. The likely reason for a factory seam there would be that the sheet of steel used in the stamping die was too short so they simply spot welded an extension onto it.

EDIT: Just noticed you have the uncommon 2 spoke steering wheel in your car. I think that means its a C3 trim?? No wide stainless mouldings on the windshield and no belt line trim either. Probably no rear seat armrests and maybe even no armrests on the doors. Not too many of those around. Most C's seem to be the C5 trim.

[dnevin]

Jeff--once I get it cleaned up a bit more and take a better pic.

You nailed it. It is a C3 trim. Narrow stainless around the windshield, no belt line trim, no rear seat armrests. It does have front armrests. It had the rubber mat flooring, no heat, no defrost, no turn signals, no radio. It did have a hill holder and overdrive as the only options.

[1954khardtop]

Dave,
I don't know if you got an answer yet, but yes, that is a factory seam. I'm cleaning up the floor on mine right now, and it has the same seam from the foot well out to the rocker panel.

[dnevin]

Thanks Dwight. I'll keep it there then as I patch in a few spots.

Man, this floor is really solid overall--just a couple of spots where it is rusted through. Am I'm going to lose my CASO badge of honor by not just covering it with POR-15 and calling it done?

(Can't help myself--gotta do one of my lifetime dream cars "right")

[1954khardtop]

Mine are pretty solid too. They have a few small holes and a couple of thin spots, but don't need total replacement. I'm going to borrow Jerry Forresters idea and paint them with bedliner after repair. That old black stuff is a pain to get off, isn't it?

[52 Ragtop]

IF the holes are small, (for pinholes NOT gaping ones) POR 15 makes a floor patch that I used on a Pontiac Lemans, I was "shocked" how well the stuff worked, and very solid.



Jim

[dnevin]

Thanks Jim and Dwight. There are 3 small areas that have rusted through, and some of the area around that is pitted. So since I have to patch regardless, I'm going to buy some panels from classic enterprises, cut the rusted places out well past the pits and make it "good as new." At least that's the plan.

Fortunately, the rockers and the pillar base support look great. Of course, I'm sure they will be surprises as I go.

One big surprise--it only took me a weekend to get the "tar" out of the main floorboard area (I didn't bother to remove it from inside the trunk or the inner rear wheel arches.) I thought that would be a big struggle, but a heat gun and a flexible putty knife made short work of it.

Getting ready to remove the glass and dash. I'm going to check into getting the car media blasted (soda, etc.) which will save me a lot of time. I am wondering--I plan on pulling the engine, the under hood wiring (will be replacing the entire harness), the hood and the front fenders (the area around the battery has a lot of surface rust from the acid). I'm 99% certain that I will be doing a color change: should I pull the doors and the rear fenders while I'm at it?