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12/20/23 Over the past week I’ve been working on the replacement of the drivers side floor and lower inner cowl (kick panel), removing the rusted out metal and fitting the new panels in place. Pretty much a repeat of the passengers side with a few issues on it’s own.

Again the support’s looked good and the floor section fit pretty well as well as the lower inner cowl. A little massaging of the corner just like I did on the passenger’s side was necessary, but I got a tight fitting corner.

Prior to installing, I wanted to cut an access in the panel for the master cylinder. In order to cut a sufficient hole the cut would go over two of the beads that strengthen the panel. I cut out the two ends and moved them over about 2” so the cover plate would sit on flat metal so I can use a gasket.

First issue I ran across, was the existing floor had a crack which extended under the seat riser (drivers side) corner, necessitating cutting out more of the riser to replace the bad metal. The second was the inner to outer cowl is going to need a bit of work as I spotted some rusted thru areas on the lower portion. I’m sure I can just replace the rusted thru areas as the rest of the cowl area seems solid. The third issue is the lower portion of the outer cowl has a few pin holes which will need to be cut out and replaced. My can of worms seems like it is bottomless. I might just order another patch panel for it.

The next issue I ran across was the two half’s did not meet in the middle. They probably saved half a buck a panel, by not giving me that extra 1/2” I needed so the two half’s meet. I was able to patch in the remainder metal so the joints are decent.

The inner Cowl butt joint gave me a bit of grief. Apparently I did not cut enough out to get to good metal, as I kept blowing holes in the existing cowl. After fruitlessly battling with it for the better part of an hour, I ended up cutting out a an additional 2”x3” section and patching it in. It still has a pin hole or two but I’m so afraid of blowing another hole that I don’t dare attempt to fix it. I need to remove the outer cowl in that area so I may attempt to fix it then.

At this point the floor is completely welded in place, and the welds on top have been dressed. I still need to cleanup the welds underneath but the floor in installed. It’s perfectly flat from the passengers side to the drivers side. I’m really happy with the results.