WANTED 80 Volare Floor Pan & Front Pillar
- Thread starter Trivium91
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silverd1973
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Nothing is reproduced for these cars in the way of pans or pillar parts. Best to find a cheap rust free 5th ave and harvest it for sheet metal as the floor is the same.
Hmm wonder if anyone on this forum has anything? im in Canada and i would assume most of the cars i would be looking at would be rusted through by now...need something from new mexico or Nevada. I wonder if they will ever start producing parts for the Volare/aspen, its pretty much the only sporty F body that mopar produced.
AJ/FormS
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What else is the same; ie does the front clip swap over?
Im honestly contemplating selling the car just because parts are so hard to find and picking up a trans am or something like that and growing a mustache lol. I dont have the metal skill to start custom manufacturing parts out of my garage. Am i going to have a difficult time finding parts over time? Im not overly worried about the floor or pillar as im sure i would eventually find it but what else might i need down the road?. On the other hand i know how rare the car is, and im hoping one day someone will manufacturer parts. Ill be kicking myself if i sell...
I guess this is partially my fault, i assume a few years of wand washing at the car wash was forcing water into the hood cowl and down that general region. I was always extremely careful with the T tops as those leak from a pressure washer though. I guess its a hose and a microfiber from here on out.
I guess this is partially my fault, i assume a few years of wand washing at the car wash was forcing water into the hood cowl and down that general region. I was always extremely careful with the T tops as those leak from a pressure washer though. I guess its a hose and a microfiber from here on out.
Mikes5thAve
Well-Known Member
I doubt there'd ever be any aftermarket parts available that specific. The demand isn't there.
Even when they were still young enough to be all over the place the only thing available aftermarket was front fenders and rocker panels and I haven't seen those listed in a long time.
Even when they were still young enough to be all over the place the only thing available aftermarket was front fenders and rocker panels and I haven't seen those listed in a long time.
silverd1973
Active Member
Ya I love the cars but get frustrated at finding parts and when you do guys want a fortune for them. Right now I have a three peice nos rear spoiler. with todays prices its most likely in the $1000 range where as 15 years ago it would have been $200-250 range. A nos grille now is $800 to $1200. Thats nuts. Just keep looking your way for a cheap 5th ave you can cut up or go the route of fabricating what you can. Here we use salt but out your way I believe you use sand? May have a better chance of finding something your way for those reasons. I have the complete firewall from a 1982 New yorker in my garage as I was going to put a/c in my 1980 volare as its pretty much the same so Ill have a look at the pillar to see what shape it is in and maybe be able to help you out that way. Not sure how much that would cost to ship it I can cut the pillar down to what you need.
Appreciate it, wouldn't be much for shipping...i have shipping accounts with multiple carriers that i could use. They use road salt with a sand mixture in my area, its pretty rough on the vehicles here. On the bright side, since these are harder to restore maybe one day they will be worth alot more since they are rare. If i did get get something else it would be a trans am since the camaro's of that era are ugly as sin, but either way you slice it yeah trans am's and camaros have tons of aftermarket parts because there were a ton made... and than im just another dude with a trans am like everyone else. Funny story though, my brother in law mistook my volare RR for a trans am, haha ill never forgive him for that.
silverd1973
Active Member
Well her is a picture of the passenger pillar. Lost of rust down at the bottom and and someone had patched the inside floor at one time. Hard to say how it would clean up as I suspect it may be riddled with pinholes once ground down or blasted
Thats the passenger side? it looks about the shape mine is in currently, except i have a hole right through but not much different, except i need the driver side. I guess JIM AZ has one im just waiting for him to get back to me. Im still looking for a floor pan though, he says any M body floor should work. Im assuming i would need a 2 Door M Body, which is actually harder than you think to find. All the M body 2 door cars in Canada that i looked at, people want too much...i guess 2 door fifth avenues and diplomats have become somewhat of a collectible aswell.
Regarding the bottom pillar though, i suspect this area is used to channel water away from the floorboard to the ground through the fender/hood gap and engine cowl/windshield. If they are not treated properly or checked for surface rust regularly, beware! i was naive to think because i dont drive the car in winter and try my best to avoid rainy days that would be enough to preserve this car...i guess i was wrong, car washes can wreak havoc aswell. Check these areas once a season! Ill be treating whats left of mine with POR-15 for the time being.
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Mikes5thAve
Well-Known Member
That rusted area at the bottom of the pillar, the fender traps leaves and gunk there and then it constantly gets wet from water coming down thru that fender-door-cowl gap. I've seen some that have rot in the inside which I would guess is from the cowl starting to leak down there over time.
For the floor someone can correct me if I'm wring but I thoguht the M body coupes are the same wheelbase as the 4 door ones so the M coupe floor would also be different then yours.
For the floor someone can correct me if I'm wring but I thoguht the M body coupes are the same wheelbase as the 4 door ones so the M coupe floor would also be different then yours.
Rattle Trap
Well-Known Member
I just saved a driver side lower. Not sure if the whole thing was good in the area behind the fender or I was just saving it for the rolled shape where it meets the rocker in the jamb. But my most recent experience in shipping a batch of parts from US to NS didn't go so well. Not only was it triple the shipping cost of anywhere I could have sent it in continental US to get it into Canada, but then it sat in Customs for weeks, assuming it was quarantined. Then he said he had to pay an additional $60. I had thought the absurd shipping price covered the customs fees, but apparently not. The package was insured for his full purchase price plus shipping in case it did get lost and we thought it may have when it got stalled. But it did show up and turned out to cost him so much more than it should have. At least it was hard to find parts and not something that would have been easy to source from within your country.
The side where it overlaps the rocker shouldn't be too bad to just hammer shape steel over wood forms. So what if you don't also hammer out the triangle shape back at the door jamb roll. But you could with a recess cut into the wood block, by hammering a socket extension onto the steel and pushing it into the recess. It's labor intensive but I've done that type of work many times before having proper tools.
For the jamb roll itself, I had nothing for the rear jamb and sourced one from a late model back a few years ago. It would be the same concept. I made a carboard template of the shape as it rolled in, and just kept trying it to different cars in the yard until I found one close enough that I could force it the rest of the way. Welded it in and connected it to the rest of what I'd made. I couldn't do the exterior of my quarter panel at the time so painted it to hold for a while. But I couldn't cut the exterior of the quarter off either, until I had the jamb solid again and Something was holding it all to the rocker. I actually filled the metal folds where they remained with weld right to the late model flat steel face I had. Then finished their lower sections back in with Bondo to complete the look. It's functional and even though it wasn't perfect at the time, it got the job done so the next step could begin later. Here's a pic of trial fitting, and also of the finish at that time.
You can probably do this for less than the cost of shipping alone, if you were getting parts from USA right now.
The side where it overlaps the rocker shouldn't be too bad to just hammer shape steel over wood forms. So what if you don't also hammer out the triangle shape back at the door jamb roll. But you could with a recess cut into the wood block, by hammering a socket extension onto the steel and pushing it into the recess. It's labor intensive but I've done that type of work many times before having proper tools.
For the jamb roll itself, I had nothing for the rear jamb and sourced one from a late model back a few years ago. It would be the same concept. I made a carboard template of the shape as it rolled in, and just kept trying it to different cars in the yard until I found one close enough that I could force it the rest of the way. Welded it in and connected it to the rest of what I'd made. I couldn't do the exterior of my quarter panel at the time so painted it to hold for a while. But I couldn't cut the exterior of the quarter off either, until I had the jamb solid again and Something was holding it all to the rocker. I actually filled the metal folds where they remained with weld right to the late model flat steel face I had. Then finished their lower sections back in with Bondo to complete the look. It's functional and even though it wasn't perfect at the time, it got the job done so the next step could begin later. Here's a pic of trial fitting, and also of the finish at that time.
You can probably do this for less than the cost of shipping alone, if you were getting parts from USA right now.
Mikes5thAve
Well-Known Member
A quick note on shipping: Use USPS wherever possible. In the end it's less hassle and if there are any additional fees after it crosses the border they are a fraction of what UPS and Fedex charge.
The same higher cost and additional fees is the same as when something gets shipped the other way also.
The same higher cost and additional fees is the same as when something gets shipped the other way also.
The 2-door and 4-door F & M body floor pans are the same. J-body might be (but not checked). The only difference is 4-speed cars will have a transmission shifter hump to contend with.
4-door cars also have an extension at rear part of floor pan - which is not a common rust item.
Note: M-body cars - do not have the factory installed rust option that F-body cars have - and generally the sheet metal, like frame rails and floor pans, are excellent for donor cars.
The '88-89 M's also use galvanized sheet metal – which some consider even better for parts.
BudW
4-door cars also have an extension at rear part of floor pan - which is not a common rust item.
Note: M-body cars - do not have the factory installed rust option that F-body cars have - and generally the sheet metal, like frame rails and floor pans, are excellent for donor cars.
The '88-89 M's also use galvanized sheet metal – which some consider even better for parts.
BudW
Rattle Trap
Well-Known Member
Found out the hard way that 88-89 floor pan is different from earlier models also. I does fit but is only 100% compatible with column shift cars. Not sure when it changed, but do know 86 still has the console shifter pass thru bulge and correctly located and sized rubber body plugs. If using an 88 or after floor you need your hump and while the front floor pans will occupy identical space they will not appear the same because the tri-rib is missing and there's a huge body plug in their place. Guess somebody finally figured out about all the excess coating material that wasn't draining out and leads to rust in the depths of all the ribs from the top side when they finally dried and cracked back to bare steel.
M-sedan rear pans have the front belt location correct to all. You need to cut your hump behind them if taking the 4" wheelbase difference out of a complete sub assembly with hump. However, the rear floor pan bases seamed behind the front seats need that 4" removed from their front edges that were the seam. Earlier sedans have a flat section in the area you will slice them loose, at least to 84. They were still servicing F parts at that point. the stamping dies for production left that flat spot for trimming parts for their specific intended destination. Some time after that, by 86, the ribs went all the way to the front flat section which is 4" longer to accommodate the sedan /wagon /J wheelbase extension. You just cut them off anyways, and use the shrinking hammer or a little heat and off dolly hammering to flatten them for mating with the rear 1" overlap of the front floor pans. Not even a big deal.
Thanks for all the info guys, i treated the floor pan with POR-15 this weekend, it dried extremely hard and made everything more stiff. For the few areas that had rusted through i used por-15 epoxy putty, it worked really well actually that stuff hardens like steel. Im still on the hunt for a new floorpan as eventually i will probably need one.
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