Here’s an update on the floorpan project in the Travelall, starting with a detour to Brian’s garage where Bennett and I worked on the carburetor in an effort to get the Hudson running right. We pulled it off, put it back on, and he was able to get the car out of the garage and turned around so that the exhaust was pointed out the door. Then it started running poorly again. So we pulled the carb back off and found a bunch of water inside. I got under the car and drained about a half a gallon of gas out of the tank but found no water in the pan. Bennett cleaned the jets and reassembled the carb, and we put it back on the engine. This time we were able to get it to run reliably enough to take a test drive, and Bennett had a big smile on his face.

Back in my driveway, I transferred a paper template to cardboard and test-fit it in the truck, making adjustments until everything sat in the cavity just right. Then I transferred that to metal, cutting out of 18 ga. steel and repeating the process until it fit in the cavity, butting up against the edges of the original floorpan. I was originally thinking I might try to rent a beadroller and replicate the corrugated channels in the original floorpan, but time and money killed that plan quickly. So I got the welder out, dialed it in, and started tacking the floor in. Over the next three nights I got it welded solidly in place, and cut and bent a second section for the toeboard moving upwards to the firewall. That section took some more time to get in place, and I burned through a few places, but with the aid of a copper welding backer I was able to fill those areas and grind it all flat. Underneath I put a section of 1/2″ bar across the pan to take the place of the original corrugation and welded the perimeter of the pan.

I’ve got a small section bent and ready to weld in at the base of the A pillar, which will seal up the cab corner, and then I have to revisit the seat base triangle and adjust the bends there (or bend a new one) to replace the original.