After completing the disk brake conversion on the Ranch Wagon, we pulled the seats out and the rubber floor mats and discovered that the left front and rear floor pans were pretty bad. The rear one worse that the front one. So, in cutting out the old rear pan (being VERY careful not to cut through the floor brace where 2 body mounts go) I encountered the factory heat shield above the muffler. The front flange of this heat shield is spot welded to a solid part of the front floor pan, but I couldn't get an air chisel in there to cut the spot welds so I had to cut the heat shield with a body panel saw to get the floor section out. My question is; do I really need to weld this heat shield back to the new floor pan? There seems to be about 2" clearance between the top of the muffler and bottom of the floor. The heat shield is in the last photo. Here are some pictures of the work;
Thanks
Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

Without the heat shield the floor is going to get really hot, i'm speaking from experience, While you have access put a heat shield above the muffler.   

Rono.  Who did you turn to for sourcing your floor repair panel sections?  They look GooD!


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Thanks Charlie;

EMS Sheet Metal is my source.  They also had all the floor sections for my 37 Coupe. They have a website with all their parts and contact info. They are heavy 16 gage coated pans. For my wagon, the rear pan had to be cut down quite a bit on the overall length. The wagon probably has a different floor than the passenger cars, but the pan shape is the same for all the 56 models

Lou, I'll try to use this original heat shield, but where it mounts in the front is really hard to get to with the frame rail and floor brace in the way. I was wondering if I could use some aftermarket product like "Lizard Skin" or something else on the floor pan to keep the heat down.

Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

Hot floors and the lack of a heat shield is a common source of interior heat in the 'birds. I've got a foil backed insulation, similar to Dynomat under mine, and it really helps. The best solution might be to mount a shield either off the muffler or off the pipes. Kind of like some of the cat converters do. I just didn't have room to do that on the bird.

There's a "peel and seal" product at the home stores made for roofing repair that a lot of guys over on the HAMB like. Way cheaper than the automotive stuff. We used it on a friend's Nomad, right on top of the floors. Huge difference in noise and heat. We used my Formica rollers to put it down and it worked slick.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Thanks Mike! I am working at getting off  the portion of the heat shield I left on the front floor pan. It's got me pissed off now and I want to get it off so I can weld it back on the heat shield and use it. I also thought about using a header wrap around the muffler if I had to. The muffler wouldn't get nearly as hot as a header and I think that would work fine. This wagon has dual exhaust with what look like 28" glass packs and since I'm not doing the right rear floor that heat shield will remain on. So, I would rather have both heat shields on or both off.

Rono.

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

Keeping the heat shields is your best bet. I would add the dynomat or something similar over the heat shield. Plan on using it on my Bird when I have the mufflers off. I did the transmission tunnel with it and It seems to help.

You're lucky that they repro floor pans for your car.  When I finished removing the rust issues with mine here is what I had.  



They don't make floors for Lincolns.  I was lucky to find a parts car with a good floor to transplant into my convertible.  It was a lot of work but worth it in the end.  

MJS;

That must have been quite the job. Trying to salvage the floor pans from a donor car while cutting, drilling out, or grinding the factory spot welds is quite a feat. Just removing my rusted out floor pans from the floor braces mangled what was left.

Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

Cisco sells heat shields for Tbirds that strap on the muffler itself. How about using something like that to shield the floor from the heat? I know it isn't stock but it would be an easy solution I think>