Floor pans

[LMBoise]

Just got the cab back from the media blaster.....what I thought was a small, easily patchable hole on the passenger side turned out to be a bigger issue.  The driver side is perfect, but the passenger side has some challenges. I can probably fab something up but wanted to see if anyone has been down this road. 

 

Thanks! 

[Plymouthy Adams]

I am sure many folks have encountered a certain degree of rot in their passenger floor pans...but without you posting yours one would be hard pressed to say if of in not as bad or maybe even worse than yours....you need to post a pic for a bench mark....

[LMBoise]

Will do. Will not be working on it again until Thursday, but will post pics then. 

[Fibonachu]

I am in Boise as well.  Who did you have do your media blasting?

[LMBoise]

Zamco out in Middleton, just off Middleton road. I  started using them a couple of months ago as my old place shut down. They do a great job. They do not use sand but some other media. They also powder coat. 

[Fibonachu]

Thanks.  I will check them out.

[pflaming]

I made card board patterns and had them duplicated in 18 ga metal at a local sheet metal shop..  That saved me lots of $$ and they are not made of thin metal so much easier to weld in. 

[Los_Control]

thats a great idea

[pflaming]

My passenger side is ready to weld in. There are 2" X 3/16" flat irons to be  welded under the panel to which the bucket seats mount. May not be couture but it's strong and clean. 

 

Edited April 21, 2019 by pflaming

[LMBoise]

I ended up doing something similar. I had a friend fab up a pan from a template. Turned our really good. I appreciate all the feedback.  

[Radarsonwheels]

I think a lot of the old detroit iron was 19 gauge steel which is now basically unobtainium. I’m a big fan of 16g- it’s thin enough to easily cut, bend, and hammer form but thick enough to be very forgiving to weld and strong too. 

 

You can do a lot with a 4” angle grinder and some cutting wheels and if you don’t have a truck (haha one that can drive to the metal supply) most big metal spots will throw a full sheet on the shear for a few bucks and get it down to a manageable size. 

 

Also if you are not a welder look into 3m panel bond- crazy strong for lap joints and nobody is gonna see it under a carpet or rubber floor. 

 

Just some more ideas for you. I just finished doing super heavy floor and firewall fabrication but I didn’t always know how or have the tools to do that kind of stuff- definitely do post some pics thurs.

 

I have a joke I like to tell when people talk about rusty floors- it goes like this:

 

”I know a trick for fixing rust holes in floor pans- did you ever see ‘hotrod’ magazine?”

 

”sure” they say, expecting me to quote an article about making patch panels.

 

”well it’s got a nice glossy paper that holds up real good. You just peel back the floormats and carpet and spread out some new hotrod magazines over the holes then flap the carpet back over it!!”

 

I think I’m pretty funny, but the real punchline is I actually did that for over a year to keep fumes and dirt from coming up into my ‘73 swinger before I fixed it right. You gotta change the magazines every few months...

[pflaming]

Is Playboy still on the market? Maybe have some old issues? LOL