Removing Floor Brackets and centre brace from floor pans.

[yarbeau]

Hey guys I'm in the middle of my rotten out floor pan replacement and have already been stumped.

I'm trying to remove all of the spot welds with a 3/8 spot weld bit. i believe i have hit all the spot welds but the piece still wont come out.

I dont want to go any further until someone can try and point me in the right direction. do i grind underneath or look for more welds?


Thanks,
Derek

 

[Guess]

I feel your pain. Just use a wire wheel to scrub off old paint so you can see the spot welds. I used a thin chisel and hammer to help bend up and separate the cross brace from the floor pan. I found many unseen spot welds that way. It was a bitch to get out for me.

I just finished the initial welding of my floor pans today. I need to go back and finish grinding the welds and filling in some spots. It's not pretty since I've never welded before, but here are some pics.

 

[yarbeau]

DAMN! I wish mine looked that finished already. nice work!

I did buff off all the paint. wasnt much left as the pans were almost rotten through.

Frame is fine car has zero rust on the body. someone just undercoated the car after a salty winter thats my guess.

 

[Guess]

It's been slow going. The worst part is yanking the pans in and out to trim a little more, then finding you cut out too much. :biggrin: I cut along the tops of the door sills, right about the middle, to make it easier to lay the new pan flat and butt it up against the old metal. You can avoid drilling out more spot welds along the door sills if you choose where to cut. The metal up there was still good, but just made it easier. I also found some rust underneath that had to be taken care of.

I put it up on jackstands all the way around to make it easier checking underneath

I've got a little more rust to fix like a rocker panel and behind the wheels on the quarter panels.

 

[Guess]

Don't cut too deep if you cut along the door sills so you don't cut through the metal underneath.