Just got my '68 home from OK City, and the first thing that I did was to pull out the carpet and seats to check for cancer. Sure enough it has some.

LH side pretty much needs new whole new pan. Front section pretty much all gone, and rear had a crappy repair before. RH side has rust forming in rear section, and a small hole in front. The whole pan has been drilled on over time. Looks like someone started to put a floor shift in, and also attempted to put different seats in. Starting to resemble swiss cheese.

Anyway, I think that I will do it right and order a new floor pan including hump.

From previous experience, whom would you recommend that I get the pan from, and would you hire out a body shop to do the work?

I got my floor pans from www.millsupply.com. They were pricey at about $230.00 apiece, including shipping. Put car on jackstands & removed drive shaft. Placed a long, (6 foot) 4 x 4 on a floorjack in the driveshaft tunnel. Did this to maintain the shape of the tunnel because I removed both pans at the same time. Removed seats, carpet, etc. Removed seat brace & pads for bucket seats. These are spotwelded in so had to use a pilot type drill to remove as much of the weld as possible & then chisled them off the rest of the way. (Lots of welds, a real PIA) I did this to reuse the braces. Had to fabricate a rear brace bacause it was just too rusty. I then used a sawsall to remove the old pans, being very careful not to saw thru the Ebrake cable, speedo cable, tranny crossmember, & exhaust. I then preped the new pans by painting them, and the remaining floor with Rustoleums "Rusty Metal Primer". For those that can afford it POR 15. I laid a thick bead of caulk around the holes in my floor & placed the pans over it. After some Mallet adjustments I was satisfied with the fit so I then pop riveted the pans in place. I had to do some cutting & bending under the pedals because that pan didn't quite fit to the firewall properly. Passenger side was perfect. I then borrowed one of those 115 volt welders & had my stepson weld them and the seat braces in permanately. I then ran another thick bead of caulk over the outside edge of the new floorpans & put carpet, kick panels, doorsills, Etc. back in. It is now VERY solid & should last another 25 years. Jon

Thanks you so much Jon for the very informative post. Just one more question if I may.

I went to Mill Supply under the following link El Camino Pan (http://www.rustrepair.com/app2/onlinecat.htm?p=sm) and I'm wanting to know if the 2 halves come together to form a new tranny hump? As I mentioned in my post it sort of resembles swiss cheese. There is no rust, just numerous holes, which could be filled easily. That seems to be a very good price from Mill Supply.

I did this on a 5th gen & no they did not form the tunnel. They came as 2 halves & had to be welded to my existing tunnel. www.ecparts.com has a better deal on your floor pans & is closer to your location. Might be cheaper than Mill supply. You could use a fiberglass patch of some kind to fill in the holes on your "hump". After all no one will see it so it doesnt have to be perfect. You can get a fiberglass patch kit from your local autozone & just follow the directions. Sets up hard as metal. Jon

Sorry, That should read www.ecparts.net. Jon

I ended up ordering them from oldcarnetwork.com for $300 with shipping. I hope they work out well. I will post a follow up after they arrive.

:D

Michael, After you cut your old pans out, you'll look at that gaping hole in your Elky & wonder," what in the %$#% did I just do" Trust me, after you install the new ones you'll be able to hold a square dance on them. Jon

I just got new floor pans for our '69 el Camino and the contour at the back differs from what is in the car. Some catalogues list the pans as being the same for el Caminos from '64-'72. Could it be that I have '68 -'72 hardtop pans? :(

Keith, I would think that the 68 to 72 Chevelle would have the same floor pan as your El. On the other hand I don't see the 64 to 67 as being the same as third gen. I may be completely wrong here as I am by no means an expert, but my common sense tells me that second gen floorpans are not the same as third gen. Maybe someone with more knowledge than I have, will chime in with a definitive answer. Jon

I just set the passenger side pan in place over the old one. At the back outside corner the old one has a big radius whereas the new one has almost a square corner. I'm thinking that all the 115" wheel base cars used the same floor pan from '64-'72. They just don't match and I don't want to start patching things together. The carpet certainly isn't going to fit the new contour. I'll have to get back with my supplier to see what he actually sent me. Someone here must have changed out the pans. I'd like to know what they used. The ones that I have meet down the centreline of the car and look excellent in every other respect.. HELP. :(

Keith,

I'm am currently restoring a '71 elky and had to replace my floor pan.

Before I purchased them I talked to several suppliers and a couple of classic car rebuilders and I was always told the same thing. "The floor pans are a couple of inches shorter for the elky" (At least with the complete pan). I had to replace mine with a full pan which included the transmission hump. It fit's well and looks good except that it's just a little shorter behind the seat. The pan is just long enough to reach to the rear support brace so you'll have to add a piece of metal between the main floor pan, and the rear floor pan under the bed floor. The only way you'll be able to see it is to take up the removable panel or crawl underneath the car. I still have a long way to go, but I think it'll look fine when I'm done, and I don't think anyone will know the difference unless I tell them. Dan, '71 SS