Floor Welding Complete

All the floor sheet metal that needed replacement is welded in place. Only the right rocker remains to have some work done. I rolled the body outside and sanded all the interior welds and primed the bare replacement panel surfaces to keep the surface rust at bay. Next I'll sand the welds on the underside, which means moving the car outside again. Rolling it out takes only a minute, but moving it back inside by myself is not easy because of the drainage slope and the 1-1/2" step the lousy cement finishers left at the doorway. I might have to set up my electric winch to help pull it back inside.

Now is the time I wish I had a rotisserie. The welding operation on the underside was time consuming and tiring, but not especially difficult. Painting will be another matter. I've hit the bare and rusting spots with a spray can of Rustoleum Rust Reformer, but I'm not looking forward to painting a large area. Before I do that, I have to apply seam sealer on all the joints and welded areas and prime over that.

Looking ahead, I'm anxious to get the body work done so I can work on the mechanical and trim...my favorite jobs. I think I've got most of the mechanical changes identified, but still have some unsolved problems. Exhaust manifolds, or headers, will be an issue. The performance of stock exhaust manifolds will kill the increased power from the new intake, so I have to find a better way to scavenge the burned gasses. Naturally, no one makes headers for Poly engines in body-on-frame cars, so a custom exhaust seems to be in the cards.

I really hate headers because of the noise and heat generated under the hood, but except for stock, I don't see any other choice for now. If I do have to have custom headers made, I'm thinking about configuring them similar to the MaxWedge design, where they turn upward from the ports and sweep down behind the engine on both sides. With much smaller diameter pipes, I think it would work well and cause the least amount of interference with the '56 frame and steering parts. The visual would be nice, but practicality might have to prevail over looks, and require the use of stock manifolds.