i pulled the whole intereir out of my car,and when i pulled the carpet out i noticed some rust in the front floor pans.its from my leaking front windshield.the right side have rust but its not throught the sheet metal.but the left side has some small hole that go through the floor pan,there about 1/8" to 1/4" in size and theres about 6 holes. should i replace a 20"x20" section from a new left front floor pan or patch them up or sandblast and use por-15 with their mess? after i repair the floor pans i plan on treating the hole floor pan with por-15!

and if i replace with a patch from a new floor pan,can i over lap about a half inch and weld it in?

and who has the best floor pans?


chris

anyone?

i really need some tips on this befor i tackel this job, so if you can please get me headed in the right direction before i start to cut?

thanks in advance!! chris

Afenderman67

I have not done a floor pan yet, but I am in the middle of doing a truck pan on my '66 Chevelle. If you use an ice pick and try to stab the floor working out from where the holes are you should find solid metal some distance out (you don't have to really stab it hard). Bascially you want to get all the bad stuff out of there. If you truly have a small section you can patch it using a piece from the replacement pan or you can just put in the entire section and not worry about it anymore. Lapping is OK or Butt welding is OK, your preference as to how you want it to look. Lapping is far easier and more forgiving on the precision cut LOL Also depends a lot on your welding skills and equipment you have on hand to use.

Not sure who has the best pans, I got my trunk panels in 3 sections from Jim Dryer Chevy in Stockton, CA. Any good size car show will have several vendors there with the floor pan sections that you can check out first hand (touch) before you buy. Goodguys in Pleasanton in November will have at least 4-5 vendors that have the sections at the show for sale. Might be a long haul for you, but Pomona Swap should also have similar vendors you can check out.

Hope this helps a little.

Good Luck

There many possible ways to treat, repair or replace rusted metal, in this case pans. Much of the ? depends on how right and/or well you can & want to do it & what equip & facilities or access to such you have? We used to refer to auto-rust as Cancer because it always involved more than what was visible & meant removing more than what appeard necessary. After too many years of messing with cars & doing it any number of ways, frequently driven by budget & time, i've come to the point that I try to do it as right as I humbly can. To me this means removing all metal which is or has been affected by the rot/rust. I was taught to grind along/around the border of the rust until you find no pitting & soft spots & then work your way back to center. That's assuming you desire to leave as much of the Good orig metal as you can, which I was told is better than over removing. However, if you discover that your pans are mostly toasted section or complete pan replacement is advised. Now it really is easiest for those who have access to the right stuff to remove the entire pan & weld in new ones but I know lots of reputable custom/ restoration guys who advocate leaving as much orig sheet metal as is possible. If your not worried about things looking "Original" over lapping works great & requires far lees time & hair pulling & it really doesn't matter if it's in an area that is inaaceesible to the naked eye & frankly the only time you should cut, weld or grind spot weld's is if their in the section needing removal (damage/rust) or if your are making your living from "complete/total" retoration or customizing. Because when you seperate lets say the metal at the sill plate to install floor pans, which is usually unnecsary. By opening up an area otherwise solid, you have just allowed moisture, contaminats & graet heat (welding) to an area that in the case of say a 66 has went undisturbed for nearly 40 years! You can easily and appropriately cut or remove an inch or two below the sill plate & butt or overlap. If you can pull off the butt weld, if finished correctly will be impossible to see for anyone but those who know what to look for. Overlapping can also be done & finished to look natural to most. As far as sheet metal it comes down to what you have to spend. My experience & that of many of my local fellow enthusiaists, many in the restoration bus use Goodmark products because of affordability/availability. If you go to the Goodmark site & chk under "local Distributors" you will likely find someone in your area who carry's and/or can get everything you need, seeing how your in CA I would think they'd be plentiful. The nice thing about dealing with Dist is i've paid the same or lees than mail order without the shipping costs, which get up there for over sized parcels like full floor pans. However, if your the type who thinks GM parts are necessary be prepared to spen 2-3 times more!

Oh one other thing if it hasn't already been advised or occured to you, replace/repair your leaking windshield!

thanks guy's! yes i'm repairing tha dash and windshield also.

as for tools i have a wire feed welder and all the other tools i can think of for the jod.i use to be a welder by trade so i can handle that,but i dont have any experiece as a bodyman? but this web-site is really helping me out!!!

chris

You can & obviously will do it & it will turn just fine. Remember to move slow deliberate & to measure,measure,measure etc... as it is always easier to remove a little more than to have to patch a patch! And your right this site has some REAL CLASS acts who are eager to help.