Passenger floor pan

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It takes both but dont shy away if you've never done it before. If only the front section before the seat platform needs replaced then that is easier than say a full floor replacement. Do you have a body saw, Spot weld cutter or a mig or wire feed welder? First check under the car for obstructions that could get damaged when cutting, I.E. speedo cable, fuel lines, brake lines etc... If the floor is in good shape just in front of the seat platform then I would cut there about an inch forward of the platform flange. The best thing to do is lay your replacement panel in as best you can and trace around it. Take it out and cut leaving about an inch or more for overlap of your new panel (trimming excess later). You will have to drill out several spot welds (or grind them, Or air chisel) at the inner rocker panel and on the floor where it is spot welded to the front frame rail. Grind everything clean and smooth and put your panel back in. I like to use drill tipped sheet metal screws and fasten the new panel down to the inner rocker first then the frame rail and then all around the sides. It will take some fitting and trimming. Then I retrace and mark for final trimming (not always final though). Then mark your panel from underneath where the frame rail will be so you can drill small holes for welding. I also have a air powered hole punch that I will go around the new panel edge about every inch and punch holes. This is the easiest way to weld in the new piece. Reinstall the new piece with your screws making sure it lays flat against the frame rail ant the rosette weld all the holes. Remove screws and weld those holes. grind welds, prime and paint.
 
How bad is the floor? can it be patched or does it need a full panel? The new pieces will have to be welded in to do it right, do you have access to a mig?

If you ever intend to learn how to do metal work, the floor is the best place to learn, whatever you do it WONT SHOW, so if you hack it up a bit it wont matter much. to do sheetmetal work you only need about a 100 amp mig, and they are pretty cheap.
 
killer medic said:
Is it worth buying a mig welder or should just rent one? I only need to replace the front passenger side and the left rear trunk panel. Is that difficult as well?:shrug:

It depends on what you want to do in the future. I do alot of auto and machine work so I use mine all the time. If thats all you'll be doing then maybe a friend has one or you could rent. It will cast about three bills for a decent one and they go as high as you want. I have a Lincoln 175 and it cost $450.00 new. Maybe look for a used one. They definately pay for themselves if you compare the labor charges for somebody to a job like that.
 
tos said:
It depends on what you want to do in the future. I do alot of auto and machine work so I use mine all the time. If thats all you'll be doing then maybe a friend has one or you could rent. It will cast about three bills for a decent one and they go as high as you want. I have a Lincoln 175 and it cost $450.00 new. Maybe look for a used one. They definately pay for themselves if you compare the labor charges for somebody to a job like that.

You can get away with a 100 amp on the unibody cars, I have an old 100 amp lincoln I used on the Stang restoration, but it wouldn't handle the frame work on the 46 pickup so I bought a 175. I actually like the 100 amp better so I use it on all the thin stuff.
 
I replaced both of my full floor pans and the seat risers with just my dad and i. We just rended a MIG welder and bought a cutting wheel. Its actually kinda simple. I've never welded or cut any metal in my life before that. But like they said its the floor and no one will see what it looks like. I'm sure some good welders will spot weld it into place but we just welded it all around. Although it may not look perfect the floor sure isnt going anywhere. But yeah welding the floor was the first welding I've ever done. its really not that hard, it only took us about a week to cut out and replace the floor pans. Then after that we did the tail panel which was easier since we had gotten a few hours of experience. But yeah i was only like 16 when we did this and it was no problem at all so I'd say its relaly not a big deal...just do it yourself
 
It takes both but dont shy away if you've never done it before. If only the front section before the seat platform needs replaced then that is easier than say a full floor replacement. Do you have a body saw, Spot weld cutter or a mig or wire feed welder? First check under the car for obstructions that could get damaged when cutting, I.E. speedo cable, fuel lines, brake lines etc... If the floor is in good shape just in front of the seat platform then I would cut there about an inch forward of the platform flange. The best thing to do is lay your replacement panel in as best you can and trace around it. Take it out and cut leaving about an inch or more for overlap of your new panel (trimming excess later). You will have to drill out several spot welds (or grind them, Or air chisel) at the inner rocker panel and on the floor where it is spot welded to the front frame rail. Grind everything clean and smooth and put your panel back in. I like to use drill tipped sheet metal screws and fasten the new panel down to the inner rocker first then the frame rail and then all around the sides. It will take some fitting and trimming. Then I retrace and mark for final trimming (not always final though). Then mark your panel from underneath where the frame rail will be so you can drill small holes for welding. I also have a air powered hole punch that I will go around the new panel edge about every inch and punch holes. This is the easiest way to weld in the new piece. Reinstall the new piece with your screws making sure it lays flat against the frame rail ant the rosette weld all the holes. Remove screws and weld those holes. grind welds, prime and paint.
I'm new to the forum today. Going to tackle floor pan replacement on my '67 mustang convertible. I read your post and have a question. Where on the inner rocker panel are the spot-welds you refer to for removal? The only ones I see are the ones that attach the full length seat riser platform to the inner panel. Would appreciate any help.
 
I just cut my driver's side floor out, should I seem weld any part of the panel? Or like is mentioned, drill some small holes (what size) and mig them? With a saw-za(sp), hand chisel, and a cutting wheel it took my about 4 hours to get everything out and cut perfect. I talked the wife into a plasma cutter, that will make the other side go a lot quicker.

Do you overlap welp the floor pan on the tunnel, that is were I thought I might have to run a complete bead?
 
I just bought a Lincoln 190Pro off of ebay for $475 shipped, great deal. Do you guys have to use CO2, or can you get by with a flux core? When I do the body panels I probaly will have to break down and buy some CO2.
 
Seam weld like this, is it needed?

floor4.jpg
 
I was looking around for Mig Welders and found this one.


Industrial 135 AMP Flux - MIG Welder - 110-Volt - Gas/No Gas - $199

SPECIFICATIONS: welding current: 25-95A, duty cycle: 20% @ 75A, power consumption: 120-VAC/60Hz, 19 Amps, ground cable: 6-ft 8AWG single insulation, torch cable: 6-ft 8AWG single insulation, power cord: UL-listed 3-core double-insulated 14AWG, thermal overload: both settings; 10 min. shutdown, 3 min. back on with light, welder tip: 0.023" - 0.040", wire size: 0.023" - 0.035", spool size: 4" diameter, input capacity 2kVA, insulation class: F, fuse: 20 Amp. Overall dimensions: 22"L x 10"W x 13"H, 58.4 lbs. Shipping weight 64 lbs, ships UPS 3-5 day delivery. One-year warranty and Satisfaction Guarantee from Jack's Tool Shed.