Thanks man...if I ever find myself pointed at the left coast, I will be looking you up.
Shop philosophy...Ok, let me take a shot at summing it up. Rust hole in floorpan:
"State of the hobby" resto shop...Drill out the spot welds, replace entire floorpan as a unit.
"Backyard Hack" Sheetmetal screws and a couple of old license plates will keep the feet dry.
"Tony's Way" Trim the damaged area back to clean metal, weld in a section of similar gauge, similar quality sheetmetal, and call it a day.
It's my feeling that this hobby has swung way too far over to the high end of the scale. All of the cubic cash and perfectionist mentality has sucked nearly all the fun out of it for the little guy who just wants a fast, clean, fun car!
There is a place for perfection...jetting, timing, lash, component assembly,etc. But in my opinion, life is too short and complicated to be sweating the number of spot welds between the trunk floor and frame rails. Lay a nice bead and be done with it!