Hey all,
i have an '83 parts car that will be going to the crusher soon.When cleaning it out I noticed the floors and rockers aren't rusted at all! Pretty rare for the coast of Maine.
What is the best/easiest method of cutting them out.I would like to put them in my rusty '86.
Should I break down and buy a dremel tool?
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philvo '86 245 218k,'90 240 198k,'87 SAAB 900 SPG 213k

Use an air chisel with a cuting bit if you have access to an air compressor. They can be had cheap ($40) for a cheap ocasional use tool. It will mangle things a bit, just cut out more than you need and trim it down to size when you are ready to install. A 3" air powered abrasive cut off tool will also work, but you will need a fair sized compressor or start and stop often to let the compressor catch up. A dremel will take you all summer if you plan on cutting out a significant portion of the floor. The quickest way would be a plasma cutter. If availaible you could also use a cutting torch. I've done a few this way as well. Just have an extra person or two standing around to put out the undercoating fires...


Eric

Phil,

If you have a sir compressor, power sheers will do the job. If you don t have access to the a.comp then a heavy duty grinder will do it. They definitely can be rented... I would drill a series of holes connecting the dots -so to speak. Work on different sides of the car, every so many inches covered, to avoid warpage! What good is a totally warped/fucked piece of floor? To cut out a perfect floor pan... now that has some value to some crazy Brick Head. Other than that, the plasma cutter is the way to go (may be able to rent that too).

Peace, Jon

If you have an air compressor, get a 3" cut-off tool. Like a dremel but only more powerfull. They are pretty cheap, ~ $20 at Harbor Freight, Lowes, Home Depot......

Wear eye protection and don't catch the grass on fire.

Dan

Like MittenHed, I would recommend a plasma cutter or a die grinder. A Dremel may do the job, but I killed one once upon a time using it for sustained cutting. Just FYI.

Keith
--
1983 245 Turbo, 165K miles; 1987 244 DL, 272K miles; 1980 244 DL (RIP); 1966 Ford Bronco- straight six, three-on-the-tree, NO frills

I imagine that a Dremel tool would do the job, but it might take a while. Not the best way to spend black fly season grinding out floor panels. Check around. You might be able to find a welder who can plasma arc the parts out. It wouldn't take very long. You might be able to rent (or even buy) an angle grinder, kind of a bigger more powerful Dremel. A couple of cutting wheels and a few hours would do the job.