Now that I have all the chassis parts dismantled, bagged up ready for cleaning, I have returned my attentions to the bodyshell. The first job is to replace the floor.
This is the first time I've done one of these, although not the first time I've replaced panels on a car- had plenty of practice doing that over the years. However this is quite a large panel, and very critical, so it's important to ensure that it goes in accurately. This is how I'm doing it, feel free to comment, and I'd welcome input from those who've replaced an Isetta floor
Today, I made up a brace bar, that fits in between the two wheelarches. It's a lump of timber, with some steel brackets I fabricated screwed in.
The other side of the brackets bolt though the wheelarches where the brake line brackets normally fix- thus no additional holes to drill.
To help align the new pan, I have a small brass spigot which is screwed into the centre of bar, and that aligns with the centre bolt hole on the old pan, I've highlighted that with an arrow. This actually pokes through the hole when the pan is straight, but my pan is bowed a little when not bolted to the chassis.
Now for those who've done this before, do you also brace the firewall, before cutting out the pan?