LS1Formulation

iTrader: (13)

I did this awhile ago, but I never made a post about it. This mod is only possible with a donor car, so if you have any pull your own yards around that have F-bodies in them, you're good to go. Or if you find people parting them out on marketplace, etc. I was in a yard hunting for something else and ran across a wrecked V6 'Bird that I snagged the bumper cover from. While I was doing that, I had the idea that I could do a nearly factory looking trap door mod using the sheetmetal from this wreck. So I went and grabbed my angle grinder and went to work. I cut a way larger piece of the floor than I needed to, just because I wanted to make sure I had enough to work with. After that, I took it back and determined where I wanted to cut the floor. I think the L-shape cuts I typically see look like hack jobs, so I determined where the floor bracing was located and cut up flush with that. It's offset from the fuel sender, but the finished product looks cleaner. I took the piece I cut from the floor and laid it on top of my donor sheetmetal and traced a line about 1" larger in all directions on the donor panel. After this, I cut the donor panel to size and cleaned up the edges. Then I laid it in my car where it fit, and used a drill with a stop collar to drill holes around the perimeter. Once the holes were drilled, I drilled the holes in the floor of the car large enough to install 1/4-20 rivnuts. ( Yes, some of them by the bracing are on the edge, they are still solidly mounted. ) I went to Menard's and got some high quality weatherstripping and laid it around the hole and popped holes through the center for bolts. After this, I bolted it down and the result looks great. If it wasn't going to be covered by carpet, I'd paint it to match, but I'm not concerned with that. It looks way better than a piece of unshaped sheetmetal.

dw456post

That cover is NOT going to blow off or rattle !!!

G Atsma

NICE job on that!

LS1Formulation

iTrader: (13)

Thanks! I'm thinking about just going to the yards on a regular basis when they get 4th gens in and cutting the floors out to sell to people wanting to do the mod. They don't show up that often, but as far as I know, there's no difference in any F-body pan in that area of the floor. I'd just cut a big enough piece so it would work for any year and any sender location.