floors, rockers and braces

[chevy57]

Guys,

I am in need of some assistence. My wife's uncle gave me a 56 thunderbird. The car was pretty rough. He had cut the floors rockers and braces out of the car in 1978. He purchased new sheetmetal and started to pop riveted the braces to the floor pans and trimmed them. The problem for me is that I don't know where to locate the stuff because he cut all of the references away. For example I assume the 90 degree lip on the floor pans should line up with the bend on the inner rockers. Is this correct? What is the correct sequence for welding these parts in? Braces to floors then floors to rockers or braces to rockers then floors? Does anyone have pictures of this in process? Should the braces line up with the bottom edge of the rockers or do they fall where they fall based on the floor pan bend followng the bend on the inner rocker? Thank you in advance for your help.

Chevy 57

 

[gbhrps]

Chevy 57,
You aren't going to get all of the answers you need here. Lots of measurements and pictures needed to be taken before the floors and stiffeners were removed, and most likely the car needed to be removed from the frame and supported at all mounting points on a rotisserie, as well as having angle iron braces attached to the top door openings from the A pillar to the B pillar. If any of these measurements change while repairs are being made, your doors may not longer fit the openings. All is not lost, though. You need to find a bird that is on a rotisserie and take loads of digital pictures and measurements of the floor pans inside and underneath the car. Is it possible for you to get another car on a hoist to get your answers? Can you find a shop not far from you that restores small birds, and maybe has one on a rotisserie? Depending on where you are located, our shop is about an hour out of Detroit on the Canadian side, and we have a 57 on the rotisserie right now. I'm not the expert, but I've seen enough jobs come into the shop where an amateur removed the floor pans or part of the rocker panels, only to create a nightmare we've had to correct, and it took hours. My advice is to get as much information as you can before you go any further. Good luck!

 

[chevy57]

I have tried a few of your recommendations. There is a shop locally that is doing a 57 bird. I went and looked at it and took a bunch of digital photos. the problem is I am not confident that this car is right either. I say that because I noticed that they installed one of the floor braces correctly and the other side upside down. I am pretty sure that the floor pans should be welded to the top of the floor brace. They have one side welded to the top and one to the bottom. I did find a good set of photos of a 55 body on the birdbrains website. This has been helpful. I was hoping the people on this site would have some ditital photos available or possibly someone in the process could compare measurements with me. Is a 57 the same as a 56 with respect to the floor pans and rockers?