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Welding Floorpans

tgorman11

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Joined
Mar 26, 2011
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Location
pittsburg, ks
Hey everyone! I'm new here and searched the site before asking this...
I'm getting ready to take out the front seats/ carpet , and weld in some replacement floor pans and was wondering what safety precautions you'd recommend?
I've got all the PPE and plan to mask the fuel line (passenger side) with a welding blanket, got a small fire extinguisher...
I know it won't be pretty but I plan to lap weld the patches which means I will be welding the underside as well..stitch welding, and grinding.
I'd appreciate any cautionary advise and safety recommendations before I get started.

Thanks in advance! And thanks for a great forum!
 
make sure the door gaps are good . brace the cab so stuff dont move when you cut out the floor pans . slow and steady measure 3-4 times if you need to .

spot weld cutter bit for a drill / lots of cut off wheels and grinder disc so your ready to go . maybe even some self tapper screws to draw stuff together and hold in place as you weld up .

friend is helping a guy paint his truck after some goof ball cut the floor out and rockers and cab corners . never braced up the cab and the door gaps are JUNK now and stuff just isnt right but for what he want of the truck its fine he said .

welcome to the site and good luck anymore questions just ask .
 
I keep a garden hose handy whenever I use my torches or welder..
And make sure the faucet is turned on !..

My experience with floor patching dates back to the 70's,but my methods are considered crude and ugly,but effective, by most..:blush:
 
Hey everyone! I'm new here and searched the site before asking this...
I'm getting ready to take out the front seats/ carpet , and weld in some replacement floor pans and was wondering what safety precautions you'd recommend?
I've got all the PPE and plan to mask the fuel line (passenger side) with a welding blanket, got a small fire extinguisher...
I know it won't be pretty but I plan to lap weld the patches which means I will be welding the underside as well..stitch welding, and grinding.
I'd appreciate any cautionary advise and safety recommendations before I get started.

Thanks in advance! And thanks for a great forum!

Don't leave the garage until things cool down. If you are MIG welding give this wire a try. 0.023" Esab Spoolarc Easy Grind is a fully deoxidized wire. (no I don't sell it) There may be others that have recommendations, best results I have seen. Cleanliness on both sides of the metal is important. Also seeing others recommend tacking around patch first and working back and forth. There are so many aspects to good workmanship, this is no simple task. Many years ago I remember someone doing a substandard job on a frame patch and some died later in an accident when it fell apart. Do things right and learn from critics.

You might make a mess of things by not trying on junk metal first. Remember nobody in an expert and learn what you can about welding when you have fresh eyes and steady hands.
 
I am assuming you are a novice at welding, so here goes.


What they said.



J/K. Welcome to the site and some of the best I fo you can get.

Cut some of the old material apart and practice on it for cleaning it up and welding it together. Lap joints will make it easier, but won't be show quality, but will be wheeling quality.

Wht will the rig be used for?

:sign6:
 
At least consider the 3M panel bonding adhesive. I welded my floorpans and rockers on one side and used adhesive on the other. Adhesive was easier and I got a better result. If you are already good at welding or want to learn, I get why it can be the right call but if you just want to drive a truck that you cant see the ground through the floorpans, adhesive is worth a look.
 
Thanks for all the great advice! I'm not planning to drive the old Blazer hard, we have some minimum maintenance roads where I live and I like to go camp and sometimes hunt out there...I will check out the adhesive, never knew it existed, LOL!
Thanks again to all you guys, I've been reading the forum for years now and have used lots of advice on many threads!
 
Oh yeah...thanks for mentioning the garden hose...I actually need to repair my waterline under the house just for that so I will do that first!
 
Back when I had to patch floors in several old GM trucks and K5's I had,I at first only used pop rivets and self drilling screws to attach the "new" metal...then I finally broke down and bought a set of small oxy-propane torches ,the kind in a carry about pouch ,to do brazing and enable me to cut metal,bolts,etc..
Those torches enabled me to do a lot more repairs myself more easily..

Back them MIG welders were just starting to become popular and were still very expensive,so I brazed much of the sheet metal patches on after using some screws or pop rivets to pin the metal in place..

I used free sheet metal I got at the dump from old washing machines and other appliances,furnace ducts that were galvanized,and even filing cabinet metal, all found their way into my truck's floors..
Old above ground pools had nice thick sheet metal walls with epoxy coating and "ribs" stamped in it that make it really stiff ,that stuff works well for making custom floor patches..

Of course the torches had to heat the metal cherry red to braze it,which started the undercoating and seam sealer on fire,I had to keep looking under the truck to see if any was burning and douse it with the hose..

Once when I brazed a patch on my van's rear wheel arch,the inner wall started on fire,seam sealer ignited and the whole van's interior was covered with 3/8" plywood with foam backed carpeting glued to it,even on the ceiling..it could have roached the whole van if I didn't have the hose handy,or stopped brazing to see the smoke coming out from inside the van..:eek:..

A MIG welder can make a weld so quickly,the metal has less time to get hot away from the weld,so it is a lot safer than brazing with a torch..

Also if you weld or braze galvanized ,be aware the white smoke the zinc makes when it burns off can make you very ill,the "zinc chills" are no fun,I got them more than once despite doing the work outside with a fan blowing the fumes away from me--some always gets ya..

Another thing I learned the hard way,if your going to use screws or pop rivets and want to put some kind of sealant between the old floor and new metal,don't use RTV silicone or caulk,it releases acetic acid (vinegar) when it cures,which will rot the metal in short order...

Use body seam sealer,or butyl rubber caulking intended for gutters & metal buildings and roofing instead--I did use roofing tar a few times,but that pretty much kills any future repairs from being made,it'll burn like crazy after a welder or torch gets it hot enough..it also stinks,and takes forever to "cure"..
 
remember, if you have a fan blowing on you to stay cool, it can also blow away the shielding gas making the welds look like crap... same thing if you are working outdoors with a light breeze.. you may need to set up a small screen to block the wind.
 
Back when I had to patch floors in several old GM trucks and K5's I had,I at first only used pop rivets and self drilling screws to attach the "new" metal...then I finally broke down and bought a set of small oxy-propane torches ,the kind in a carry about pouch ,to do brazing and enable me to cut metal,bolts,etc..
Those torches enabled me to do a lot more repairs myself more easily..

Back them MIG welders were just starting to become popular and were still very expensive,so I brazed much of the sheet metal patches on after using some screws or pop rivets to pin the metal in place..

I used free sheet metal I got at the dump from old washing machines and other appliances,furnace ducts that were galvanized,and even filing cabinet metal, all found their way into my truck's floors..
Old above ground pools had nice thick sheet metal walls with epoxy coating and "ribs" stamped in it that make it really stiff ,that stuff works well for making custom floor patches..

Of course the torches had to heat the metal cherry red to braze it,which started the undercoating and seam sealer on fire,I had to keep looking under the truck to see if any was burning and douse it with the hose..

Once when I brazed a patch on my van's rear wheel arch,the inner wall started on fire,seam sealer ignited and the whole van's interior was covered with 3/8" plywood with foam backed carpeting glued to it,even on the ceiling..it could have roached the whole van if I didn't have the hose handy,or stopped brazing to see the smoke coming out from inside the van..:eek:..

A MIG welder can make a weld so quickly,the metal has less time to get hot away from the weld,so it is a lot safer than brazing with a torch..

Also if you weld or braze galvanized ,be aware the white smoke the zinc makes when it burns off can make you very ill,the "zinc chills" are no fun,I got them more than once despite doing the work outside with a fan blowing the fumes away from me--some always gets ya..

Another thing I learned the hard way,if your going to use screws or pop rivets and want to put some kind of sealant between the old floor and new metal,don't use RTV silicone or caulk,it releases acetic acid (vinegar) when it cures,which will rot the metal in short order...

Use body seam sealer,or butyl rubber caulking intended for gutters & metal buildings and roofing instead--I did use roofing tar a few times,but that pretty much kills any future repairs from being made,it'll burn like crazy after a welder or torch gets it hot enough..it also stinks,and takes forever to "cure"..
Awesome advice! Thanks for the background info!
 
Pretty much what everyone has covered already. Make sure you strip off as much undercoating as you possibly can. Also weld in small spots and work your way around the patch, that way you'll avoid excess heat buildup. And reinforce the seat mounts. It's easier to do that on the bench before you weld the patches in. Best of luck to you.
 
Better yet, unplug the harness from the ECU
and or remove it. Stray currents can do some pretty weird stuff to electronics...

At a job site I was working at the other day, the night crew did some pre- piping on a refrigeration rack and arc welded a few brackets to the frame overnight.
It fried the PLC controller's main board and shut down the compressors...
 
Better yet, unplug the harness from the ECU
and or remove it. Stray currents can do some pretty weird stuff to electronics...

At a job site I was working at the other day, the night crew did some pre- piping on a refrigeration rack and arc welded a few brackets to the frame overnight.
It fried the PLC controller's main board and shut down the compressors...

That's a bad Day!! I've had techs burn modules trying to weld on the frames.

And also keep your ground as close to the welding area as possible. I stuck a bolt in each seat mount for my ground and welded my reinforcement. Moving the ground every time.
 
They sell a capacitor device that clamps across the battery terminals to prevent welding voltage spikes from blowing up solid state electronics ..never used one yet,I don't have a new enough truck to have an ECM..
I have popped tail light bulbs and fried a amplifier welding on my truck & van before,usually having a good clean ground close to the spot being welded prevents this,but not always..
I now take the battery cables off before I weld anything on the vehicles..

Amazon.com: OTC 3386 Antizap Auto Surge Protector - 12 V: Automotive
 
They sell a capacitor device that clamps across the battery terminals to prevent welding voltage spikes from blowing up solid state electronics ..never used one yet,I don't have a new enough truck to have an ECM..
I have popped tail light bulbs and fried a amplifier welding on my truck & van before,usually having a good clean ground close to the spot being welded prevents this,but not always..
I now take the battery cables off before I weld anything on the vehicles..

Amazon.com: OTC 3386 Antizap Auto Surge Protector - 12 V: Automotive

Good idea, certainly can't hurt. Specially if you're welding on a newer rig.
 

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