Accessing floor pan over Rocker/Torsion box?

[Bigb55]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a very clean, rust free, 85% restored 1974 K5. the interior is all that needs to be finished. I have searched and have failed to figure out how to access the floor board above the torsion box, without removing them. I want to beef up the Corbeau seat brackets mounting area with more bolts and install a 4 or 8 pt or roll cage. But the areas i need to access is blocked by the torsion boxes.

Is there a way to make access holes in the boxes, without ruining them? Or will I be forced to weld in the cage instead of sandwiching the floorboard and bolting it in?

 

[imiceman44]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a very clean, rust free, 85% restored 1974 K5. the interior is all that needs to be finished. I have searched and have failed to figure out how to access the floor board above the torsion box, without removing them. I want to beef up the Corbeau seat brackets mounting area with more bolts and install a 4 or 8 pt or roll cage. But the areas i need to access is blocked by the torsion boxes.

Is there a way to make access holes in the boxes, without ruining them? Or will I be forced to weld in the cage instead of sandwiching the floorboard and bolting it in?

I cut access holes from the back, it didn't affect the integrity, i cut a square about 4x4" and then I made a plate to cover it with a screw at each corner.
And the opening I didn't cut the corners square but chamfered them to leave a spot for the screws to go in and to prevent stress cracks from happening.

 

[Bigb55]

I cut access holes from the back, it didn't affect the integrity, i cut a square about 4x4" and then I made a plate to cover it with a screw at each corner.
And the opening I didn't cut the corners square but chamfered them to leave a spot for the screws to go in and to prevent stress cracks from happening.

By back do you mean the rear slanted area or the rear bottom area (side facing ground)?

I'm hesitant to cut into the rocker boxes as they are dam near perfect.

 

[imiceman44]

By back do you mean the rear slanted area or the rear bottom area (side facing ground)?

I'm hesitant to cut into the rocker boxes as they are dam near perfect.

Yes that spot.
Mine were perfect too but not the floor and I needed access.
I also was able to use the opening to get rust protection on the bottom of the floor after the repair.
I used the box for storage for a while too.

 

[jimmyleetn]

Yes that spot.
Mine were perfect too but not the floor and I needed access.
I also was able to use the opening to get rust protection on the bottom of the floor after the repair.
I used the box for storage for a while too.

Like mentioned above, if you put holes in it I would definitely use Eastwood's Internal Frame Coater or a similar product. Depending on how your do your access you can probably weld it back up and no one but you will ever notice. Who else crawls under there anyways?