floorpan replacement process Options

[shuie]

Rust is so weird. The outer longs, suspension consoles, and hellhole in my car are rock steady, but my floors have rusted from the inside out and are completely shot.

Here's a pic of the DS. I thought I might be able to save some of this, so I pulled the sound deadener up and found it was rusting from the inside out. I didnt bother getting pics of the passenger side. It was pretty obvious it was gone once I started poking around.

(IMG:https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-EFzWlIxugUI/TraPcBRbKdI/AAAAAAAAKH0/tJROzhoMIsc/s800/IMG_0141.jpg)

I need to replace the entire floorpan. Both crossmembers need to be replaced as well as the triangles with the jacking donuts. I will also be doing some patch work around the perimeter of the floor, inner longs, around the center tunnel, etc..

What is the best strategy for this kind of job? I know I need to brace the doors before I start cutting. Whats the best way to keep the tub supported properly and NOT remove too much metal at one time? Should I leave most the floorpan in place along the center tunnel section and do the patchwork along the inner longs and perimeter of the floors first? For the replacement panels, does it make more sense to use the front and rear halves, or the left and right halves on a job like this?

And, how bad of a job is this without a rotisserie? I don't know enough about these cars to know how the different layers of the metal get sandwiched together in the floor area yet. Can I weld the floor pans in from the top, from inside the passenger compartment? Or, will I have to weld overhead?

TIA.

[scotty b]

It;s a PITA without a rotisserie, reason being all of the work has to be done from the underside. The floorpan edges are spot welded onto the longitudinals, and down either side of the center tunnel. Also along the back firwall, inner and outer. Up front there are spot weld on a 90* flange, and across the front edge needs to be buttwelded the the front trunk pan. I've done it on jackstands, on sawhorses and on the rotisserrie. It takes me almost half the time on the rot, and I have 90% fewer burns on my body afterwards

[MrHyde]

I'm in the middle of welding in the rear floor pan in my 914 right now... on Jack stands... Aggravating, but I don't have the room for a rotisserie... 3-4 spot welds/stich's then get up move everything over to another side of the car and do a few more, etc.. Almost have the welds on the longs and rear firewall done, then I ran out of gas.... Just as well. Welding on your back hurts..

[jimkelly]

a nice pic here

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=150548&hl=

[shuie]

Thanks guys. The pics in the linked thread definitely help. I think I may be doing more than patching the inner longitudinals (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) I didn't realize this panel made up most of the boxed section of the long. Oh well. I'll make some door bars and start cutting to see what I'm dealing with.

[shuie]

As much as I want to build one, I dont think have room for a rotisserie in this garage. I'm going to have to do the repair from under the car.

After looking at pics on the forum and crawling under the car I see how the longs and floor pans sandwich together now. I need to replace the bottom 2-3" of the inner long in places along with the complete floorpan.

Which bracing setup do you think will work better for inner longitudinal and complete floorpan replacement without a rotisserie?

These are from the Tangerine Racing site:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.tangerineracing.com-2075-1321115011.1.jpg)

And here is an integrated floor-to-door brace that scottyb has posted on a thread I found while searching the forum:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/lh3.googleusercontent.com-179-1353971333.1.JPG)

How much access to the passenger compartment will I need during the entire process? Will the bars that mount to the door provisions be strong enough given that I need to do work in the inner longs? Or, do I need to fab something that ties the hoop and floor together and leaves the doors in place so I can watch the gaps?

TIA

[Vysoc]

Ironic,

I am doing the same thing you are and after ripping the tar off the floor my floor looks almost exactly the same.
I have the room and have decided to build a rotisserie.

Does anyone sell the door bar supports?

Looks like I will be replacing at least the rear section of the floorpan on both sides, I have not cleared all the tar off the front area yet, so not sure what lies up front, look like the area under the pedals is very thin.

I have purchased the Engman Long kit and am wanting to make sure that the floors are solid prior to welding that strengthening platform in.

It is really amazing how the floor boards rust from the inside, but when you think about it if the car was stored outside, it never had a chance, water would get in somehow.

TIN WORM BLUES.

Vysoc

[shuie]

I have the room and have decided to build a rotisserie.

Does anyone sell the door bar supports?

Yes, the first pic I posted is actually from the Tangerine Racing website. They sell that setup. They also sell a rotisserie. I'm going to call them to get dimensions on the rotisserie to make sure it won't fit in my garage. I'd rather buy these tools and resell them when I'm done than make them myself.

[mikea100]

You can easily fabricate your own using readily availale turnbuckles and steel bars. My set up has 4 bars. I bought everything I needed at Lowes, but HD has identical stuff.

[Vysoc]

Great Advice Thank you for the pictures, I am working on it.

Thank you,

Vysoc (IMG:style_emoticons/default/flag.gif)