I am replacing the floor pan from the toe kick to the tail gate on my 57 210 2 door handyman. Would anybody have pictures of how they did the bracing? I have found a lot of Bel airs and 210 2 doors as examples but none of how a wagon is braced. I have my ideas but wanted your input before I started. Thank you
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57 Chevy 210 2 door Handyman -
I didn't do any bracing on my Nomad because I felt the body was rigid enough without it. I left the inner rockers in while I replaced the floor, then I replaced the inner and outer rockers with the floor in place. To me, the most important thing to brace on a sedan or wagon is the door jamb to cowl, to ensure that it doesn't close up on you.
My floor was an un-assembled 2-piece floor pan and new braces which was only available from one supplier at the time. Nowadays it's much easier with the full floors offered cheap. The floor itself pretty much determines the fit so imo there's no need to brace the inner quarters. It doesn't hurt to brace things but I really don't think it helps, but it depends on how much of your floor and rockers are good.
I also did the floor in a 2DHT and did some bracing, but not a lot. It came out great and the doors fit well. I would recommend having the doors on when you change the floor if you can, to verify the fit to the quarters.
I put the floor on the frame and bolted it down with new body cushions, then I prepped the body and dropped it down onto the floor. I used clamps and screws to hold it all together as I located everything, then I removed the floor and drilled all the plug weld holes, dropped the body back down, and did the welding. Be sure to fix all the flanges and everything on the body before installing the floor.
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20200517_017.JPG56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension
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Great advice and thank you for the pictures!57 Chevy 210 2 door HandymanComment
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