The back half of that rusty mess got cut out and replaced about a month ago (forgot to update here). Here'* a picture. That metal is from a $35 96 Buick Park Avenue hood from the junkyard. It was really too thin to weld, but we got it to be very solid.

The front bracket for the seat was definitely salvageable (actually we cut it out and cleaned up the rust inside of it, put Chassis Saver on it, then just welded it back on haha). The back one, not so much, as seen from the above picture. So that'* replaced by a piece of angle iron stitch welding onto the seat assembly. Then bolts through the new floor to hold it down.

PA inspection is tomorrow so I'm hoping for the best ...

Cool project you have going there, those floorboard pics scare me though, I have had water in my floorboards a few times due to my motorized trunk latch not pulling the trunk down far enough for the trunk seal to keep the water out, so I am afraid to see how bad my floorboards are, I guess I should inspect them sooner rather than later..

Hope you do not run into any other surprises, keep the pics coming!

Thanks! I see you drive a 96 Buick Park Avenue haha. Sorry for using one as a donor! But sadly some must die so others can live. Rust is my enemy so I'll be fixing the front half of the mess as soon as I can.

Any tips on where to find a floor pan for this car? Junkyard is my first idea, but 1) I might not be able to find one in good shape and 2) how can I cut it out? Do you think buying 16 ga sheet metal and getting it to fit is a better idea? There'* a ditch that the e-brake cable goes into so if I went that direction, I'd have to fab up that ditch, too.

Here'* the obscenely rusty e-brake ditch on the driver'* side that I'm not looking forward to. Good news is the e-brake still does its job (parking).

i would rather use new metal than anything from the junk yard. couldnt see your pic but angle grinder with cut off wheels is the best i have found for thinner metals because you can cut a strait line better than snips and the plasma is expensive. i have one at work and by the time you get it set and set up you arent really gaining anything over a angle grinder for just a small project or two

Sorry, I had trouble with that Dropbox link. Here'* the picture.

Yeah I used both an angle grinder and a plasma cutter to get out the old floor. The angle grinder is great, and only $15 at Harbor Freight!

I probably will just go for new metal, does 16 gauge sound about right? I suppose we can fab up this e-brake "ditch" (don't know what to call it) with a little creativity and patience. Ideas on where to get the metal?

Btw, she did not pass Pennsylvania inspection today -- need new muffler -- but the floor did! Happy days!

i dont know much about gauges but if you take what you are working on to the metal place you can just get the same thing. as far as the part for the e brake i think i would cut it out and reuse it, if the hole is rusted just replace that little part of it. it would be difficult to make the rest without the fab tools

one thing to keep in mind with the liner, is it will be much louder driving. (i assume you have noticed that driving without it already though). the carpet has lots of noise deading foam underneath.

Great, that'* a good idea Justin. Hopefully it is reusable -- although it being lower than the rest of the floor means it had gathered water from the leaks that the car had for years.

Jason, I know! It'* pretty funny how loud it is. The current muffler (that I now have to replace) is a glasspack cherry bomb. Just my opinion, but I think she sounds pretty darn good

wouldnt be impossible to make if you had to. but if you made the curved part with some pliers and a vice and then welded it to the flat part it would be possible. im sure it would be tough to get the angle right.