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