Weld in new floor panels?

[BoondocK5]

What am I up against?
The panels are easy to get. I have rust holes near the outside edges, near the door, plus the rails directly user the doors, so 4 panels all together, how much work am I getting into?

I have a nice Hobart mig, and plenty of ways to cut metal, and many grinders of all sizes.

 

[JoshHefnerX]

Going to be a bit of a job. Be sure to brace the cab because you're cutting some support out. Pics would be good.

 

[grey88]

I don't have any pics, it's not for the faint at heart but it's not the end of the world. I welded angle across the door so I could lift the cab off the mounts with an engine hoist. and since I wasn't cutting the entire floor out I wasn't to concerned with bracing the rest of the cab. It can be done in a few hours, plus I made my own pans, but mines not a resto of any kind either... If your not doing body mounts it's not so bad, if your rockers are good, should only take an hour or two maybe. My 77 c20 had a few small holes by the door on the drivers side, just took some 16ga flat metal, cut it out and patched it in, was pretty easy. Just all depends on the extent and how far you wanna go.

 

[runamok151]

If you plan to use a plasma cutter, just remember the wiring harness that runs next to the frame. Ask me how I know.

 

[diesel4me]

Yeah,I used my cutting torch to remove a section of the inner front fender that rotted (where the bolt that goes to the firewall is-),and forgot the headlamp wiring was right above that area...

ASH !!.......had to cut & splice about 10 wires!..

There is a harness that runs along the rocker panel on some square bodies under the door weatherstripping that runs the dome lamp too..watch out for that one too..

 

[6872xtc]

What you are getting into depends on what you want for an end result, and how long you plan on the repair lasting. I can tell you from experience that you will find more rust once you get to opening up the panels and joints. Getting the rust stopped so that it doesn't come back quickly is not necessarily just a cut it out, weld in new parts type of job, unless you take way more out. For example, the joints where the supports are against the bottom of the floor. They can hide a small amount of rust that can continue to grow if it gets moisture in the joint.
So if you want to make it last a long time, you will have to find and stop as much as possible.

If it is not much worse than what you described, I don't see you cutting the supports apart from the door pillars , so it shouldn't move too much.

 

[Supervillainmc]

When I did my floors I had to do everything. The support beam running across under the back seat had to be custom made. Couldn't find it no ware. No lmc,no brothers or classic Chevy. I had to do the whole section all the way to the rear cab. All body bushings, under tailgate. I just kept finding more and more Rust so I finally removed and replaced everything. It was a mission but well worthed in the end.

 

[k30bb468]

I was only going to fix the rust in my rockers , by cutting them out & putting in some square tube ,,,,
Well I found more rust & then more rust & even some more rust ........
and that tub was from Arizona .....was rust free ......with very limited winter road driving
ended up chopping the whole tub up & getting another tub from texas ....
Got lucky & found one cheap & local ....

This time I sand blasted cleaned primed/sealed & sprayed the floors inside & out with Raptor bed liner...
Still working on putting it back together , but it will last a bit longer this time ....I hope

Like was already stated , need to decide before you start what your desired end result is & figure out how much time you want or have to achieve that result....
I in the past , trying to save a few bucks . decided I would replace the rockers & cab corners on my
86 K30.... well that turned into both floor pans , inner kick panels , cab floor braces , body mounts , inner & outed rockers , inner & outer cab corners ........ect ...ect ...ect ....
Well a one or two weekend project turned into a 2 months battle with where & when to say good enough ....
Basically in the long run I could have went & picked up a rust free cab , scuffed it ,painted it & been driving my truck in a weekend easy , for waaaaayyyyy less than what it actually cost me to fix a lil rust ....... View attachment 190660View attachment 190661 View attachment 190662

 

[BoondocK5]

Crawled underneath it yesterday, oh it is bad.
Seriously considering looking for another cab.

 

[grey88]

If full convertible truck tubs were easy to find rust free in Iowa, I would've went that route, but they aren't and I didn't wanna mess with the windshield... A half top truck shouldn't be terrible to find depending on where your located.

 

[BoondocK5]

Seriously looking at chopping all that shit out, welding g in fresh 00.187" sheet metal, plus 1.5" square tube for support

 

[chris85]

I was only going to fix the rust in my rockers , by cutting them out & putting in some square tube ,,,,
Well I found more rust & then more rust & even some more rust ........
and that tub was from Arizona .....was rust free ......with very limited winter road driving
ended up chopping the whole tub up & getting another tub from texas ....
Got lucky & found one cheap & local ....

This time I sand blasted cleaned primed/sealed & sprayed the floors inside & out with Raptor bed liner...
Still working on putting it back together , but it will last a bit longer this time ....I hope

Like was already stated , need to decide before you start what your desired end result is & figure out how much time you want or have to achieve that result....
I in the past , trying to save a few bucks . decided I would replace the rockers & cab corners on my
86 K30.... well that turned into both floor pans , inner kick panels , cab floor braces , body mounts , inner & outed rockers , inner & outer cab corners ........ect ...ect ...ect ....
Well a one or two weekend project turned into a 2 months battle with where & when to say good enough ....
Basically in the long run I could have went & picked up a rust free cab , scuffed it ,painted it & been driving my truck in a weekend easy , for waaaaayyyyy less than what it actually cost me to fix a lil rust ....... View attachment 190660View attachment 190661 View attachment 190662


View attachment 190644 View attachment 190651 View attachment 190652 View attachment 190653 View attachment 190655 View attachment 190669View attachment 190665 View attachment 190666 View attachment 190667 View attachment 190668

This looks awesome! I'm in the tear down process to do the same thing.....Sandwiching the sheet metal in bed liner.

Did you look into the Defender bed liner? It's what I plan to use. Probably a little more expensive than other roll on kits but it's epoxy based. Supposedly works best over an epoxy primer.

 

[grey88]

I would've went tube had I not already had the rockers... I was at one point going to restore mine, but the body just isn't good enough in enough areas for that...

 

[6872xtc]

Seriously looking at chopping all that shit out, welding g in fresh 00.187" sheet metal, plus 1.5" square tube for support

So does this mean that you are heading for function and maybe an offroad truck? I would like to see what you do.

 

[BoondocK5]

Can't let the cat out of the bag just yet, let's just say, that a certain vendor just got some more of my money.