I am about to put in floor pans in the drivers area of my 87 k5. Should these be fully welded in ?? Or can you weld like 3 inches and use some for of seem sealer on the rest ?? If that is the case what sealer ???
CK5
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floor pan install question
- Thread starter dheavychevy38
- Start date
It works either way,but most shops and guys who do them at home prefer welding them in fully...3M makes a good seam sealer,but I've seen the OEM stuff actually cause rot when it pulls away from the metal and lets water get under it...I have used "Gutter-Seal" butyl rubber caulking or roofing cement instead of seam sealer with good results on my own "patch jobs"...
I only have an arc welder ,so when I patch a floor I'm limited to just welding it in spot weld fashion in most of the areas,its very hard to run a continuous bead on thin metal with an AC arc welder..I often used self drilling screws or pop rivets instead in places I couldn't get the rod into also...or nuts and bolts!..but a cheap MIG welder will allow you do do a good job..
I made an entire front floor on both sides for my 72 K5 and mostly bolted the panels in many years ago,using 16 gauge galvanized--I brazed it in a few spots,but after getting sick from the zinc fumes I decided to drill holes and use 1/4" nuts and bolts with fender washers instead,and 3/16" steel pop rivets with large heads..
It was not very pretty,but the truck was rock solid after I got it all done,I could actually remove the fiberglass top and drive it again,and be able to open the doors and close them without lifting up on them,or having the bidy flex so bad they often popped open--no more creaking and snapping ,it felt like a new truck...a 75 K5 2wd I did the same way also was like night and day compared to to aluminum roof flashing the former owner screwed over the holes..most of my old trucks had practically no floors when I got them,and had to patch them before they could ever be driven and pass inspection..ditto for the rockers and wheel arches on most of them..
I only have an arc welder ,so when I patch a floor I'm limited to just welding it in spot weld fashion in most of the areas,its very hard to run a continuous bead on thin metal with an AC arc welder..I often used self drilling screws or pop rivets instead in places I couldn't get the rod into also...or nuts and bolts!..but a cheap MIG welder will allow you do do a good job..
I made an entire front floor on both sides for my 72 K5 and mostly bolted the panels in many years ago,using 16 gauge galvanized--I brazed it in a few spots,but after getting sick from the zinc fumes I decided to drill holes and use 1/4" nuts and bolts with fender washers instead,and 3/16" steel pop rivets with large heads..
It was not very pretty,but the truck was rock solid after I got it all done,I could actually remove the fiberglass top and drive it again,and be able to open the doors and close them without lifting up on them,or having the bidy flex so bad they often popped open--no more creaking and snapping ,it felt like a new truck...a 75 K5 2wd I did the same way also was like night and day compared to to aluminum roof flashing the former owner screwed over the holes..most of my old trucks had practically no floors when I got them,and had to patch them before they could ever be driven and pass inspection..ditto for the rockers and wheel arches on most of them..
Ya I will probably just end up doing full welds. I was just trying to get an idea of what everyone else has done.
