body mounting braces/brackets?

[woodytwoshoes]

Hi, ive ordered new floor pans for the front , right and left as the metal around the body mounts is rusted out. Do i also need new parts for the body mounts to go through? Is there a brace or bracket that also welds on?
Thanks,
Dave

[woodytwoshoes]

Looking at Surplus Supply , has lots of parts. has anyone dealt with them? good place to order from?
Thanks,
Dave

[JimNolan]

Dave,
   More than likely you won't be able to save the braces. EMS out of Ohio has about everything you could need to replace metal in a 57. It's good stuff. I had to replace every one of mine. The guy that welded mine in said they were the best fitting metal pieces he'd ever used. Jim

[RICH MUISE]

I agree with Jim...go ems whenever you can. Most likely you will have a problem with the floor braces as Jim mentioned, but there is a good chance it will be only at the ends of the braces where they weld on to the inner rocker panel. If I remember correctly ems has both the full floor braces and replacement ends also.Also check your inner rockers for rust where the braces weld on.
you may want to check out www.wurthitdesigns.com. He has a nice photo layout of floor pan replacement on a 57 he did...lots of good pics. The link to it is in between photos of magazines he was featured in.

[RICH MUISE]

Woody...couple of suggestions: First, be real careful when cutting out your old floorpan not to cut thru to the floor braces. Determine where they are before you start cutting and when cutting the sheetmetal directly over the braces don't go all the way Thru the floorpan. It is best to leave a strip of the old floorpan just a little wider then the brace, then you can use a spot weld removal tool or grind away the spot welds to the brace and use a chisel to separate the old strip from the brace. Once you get that far you can determine if the whole brace needs to be replaced, the ends replaced, or with a little luck just rust treatment.
I'd also recommend working one area at a time to reduce the chance of anything moving on you.
If you end up getting into the braces and inner rockerpanel take a lot of measurements before you start cutting into them.
You are probably not going to save the old body mounts also, and in fact they should be replaced anyways because the 50 year old rubber has probably long tuned into rock. Bag and tag the bolts and washers with their specific location, because they do differ from one location to another, and you may find the the originals had differing quantities of washers at certain locations because this is where the factory shimmed the body to level up with the frame. Dennis carpenter is the manufacturer of the body mount kits that everybody sells. The parts can also be purchased separately if you elect not to go with the full kit. (kit is approx. $200.) any questions just ask. I just recently went thru this on mine   Rich