Floor Questions

[dekberg]

Morning Everyone. Still very new to all this so forgive my ignorance and lengthy post. I've found the information on here very helpful and like seeing the pictures of everyone's cars. Now that I have my 30 Tudor cleaned out and ready to start replacing boards I have some questions. I am on a very limited budget and this car will not be a driver for quite some time I just need it to be able to move on it's own.
1.All of the bolts holding the floor boards on are rusted and 3 of the 4 I tired taking out so far have broken off. I know I will have to replace the D Nuts but do they simply slide up into the cross members or is it something more difficult? The one that I removed all the way was kind of hard coming out but not sure if it was just rust holding it up or what.
2.On the back floor boards they simply painted top and bottom from what I hear. I know some folks place insulation under the front boards but didn't know if anyone put any kind of insulation or sheeting on the underside of the back ones to help protect them?
3. I have not been able to figure out how the rear floor pan is attached so I can remove. It does have a couple spots where it is rusted through. I see 2 larger bolt on each side I know holds it in but do they attach to something else under the car like the springs? Are there also rivets or screws somewhere that could be rusted down to where I can't see them?
4.Lastly I have all or will make the seat wood but the springs were all shot. Any creative ideas on what to use for seats until I can afford new springs?
Here are a couple pictures of what I started with to where I am now. Sorry for the long post and thanks for all the help and ideas.

 

[CarlG]

... Any creative ideas on what to use for seats until I can afford new springs? ...

When I was a teenager, my '31 Fordor came to me with no seat bottoms. The backs were there and quite good actually. However, lLacking funds to do much of anything on my paper route salary, My Dad made a seat bottom for the front out of a different style seat by altering the shape to fit the frame. For the back seat, we used old sofa cushions for the seat bottom.

For your Tudor front seats, one of the guys in our club has VW seats he gleaned from a salvage yard.

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

Why do you want to remove the rear floor panel?

If the metal doesn't have rust holes and need to be replaced, I'd probably leave the steel panel in place and sandblast it along with the metal around it. My 29 Tudor had dents and surface rust on the rear panel, and I haven't decided if I should remove it. When I looked at it I think it has several spot welds.

 

[dekberg]

Sorry Tom I left out that it does have a couple holes rusted in it behind the hump.

 

[1Tudoor]

Depending on what you're striving towards , you can cut some panels from light steel & pop rivet or tack weld them in , grind , then glass w/ a waterproof filler

 

[dekberg]

Shows how much I don't know cause I didn't even think of that. Would still have to remove it to clean it up for welding. Have to wait till the kids are grown up and gone to do a complete job.

Depending on what you're striving towards , you can cut some panels from light steel & pop rivet or tack weld them in , grind , then glass w/ a waterproof filler

 

[SeaSlugs]

1.All of the bolts holding the floor boards on are rusted and 3 of the 4 I tired taking out so far have broken off. I know I will have to replace the D Nuts but do they simply slide up into the cross members or is it something more difficult? The one that I removed all the way was kind of hard coming out but not sure if it was just rust holding it up or what.

Alot of times I dont even see the floor boards screwed down due to ill fitting boards or broken off screws, floor mat over top and some creative felt keeps it quiet. IF you want to screw them into something, drill out/punch out/grind off the D nuts and tackweld some hex nuts to the bottom. To replace the D nuts you must buy them and peen them over with a hammer granted the D shaped hole in the rails is good.

2.On the back floor boards they simply painted top and bottom from what I hear. I know some folks place insulation under the front boards but didn't know if anyone put any kind of insulation or sheeting on the underside of the back ones to help protect them?

Probably couldnt hurt but could spend your money elsewhere if budget is tight.

3. I have not been able to figure out how the rear floor pan is attached so I can remove. I see 2 larger bolt on each side I know holds it in but do they attach to something else under the car like the springs? Are there also rivets or screws somewhere that could be rusted down to where I can't see them?

I thought they were tackwelded in but not sure - im with th eothers, leave em in place if they are not rusted thru.

4.Lastly I have all or will make the seat wood but the springs were all shot. Any creative ideas on what to use for seats until I can afford new springs?
Here are a couple pictures of what I started with to where I am now. Sorry for the long post and thanks for all the help and ideas.

I looked into this years ago - apparently the old 80's-90's dodge caravan 3rd row seat fits right in size wise - gotta get creative with the mounts. Ive also heard dodge durango 3rd row seats fit easily. Go to a junkyard with a tape measure and wander around. SUV's and minivans ill be your best bets as they are typically removeable so they have a normal seat frame. Sedans and the like are usually the car body and seat foam - not much if any frame.

For the rear seat check 2 door chevy blazers (like 95-05) the seat backs and bottoms are separate pieces that are bolted to the floor but are rather narrow to fit between the wheel wells in those vehicles. The headrests are also removeable pretty easily so keep that in mind. Same with 2 door exploders and early 90's blazers as they didnt care about whiplash much back then haha.

 

[midgetracer]

Not to steal this thread, but the D nuts I have been able to purchase are very hard and do not peen over. I tried tacking them in with the wire feed and they melt away and do not weld. I always drill out the broken off bolts and re-tap them to 12-24 as original. It works great as long as the D nut is still in place.

 

[dekberg]

After doing some more searching on the D Nut part I found some good posts from the past. I'm going to try the solder method (I don't have a welder)and grind the flanges down instead of trying to peen them. Seems easier to me than drilling and trying to re-tap them. It would also save me having to buy a set of taps at the moment.

 

[1Tudoor]

Really like all the patina on your tudoor . Get a suitable American flag to fit the top , an old wooden chair & cut the legs down , some L brackets , & drive it.