Installing floor pahs - advice or a link to instructions

[St.Joe68]

I have ordered and am in the process of installing new pans in my 68' and would like to get some more advice on how to do this correctly.  I am at the stage in the game where I believe I'm ready to start welding the parts in and want to make sure that I do it right.  If anyone has advice or a link to a column or book I would be very appreciative.

[St.Joe68]

Well I found some good info on the web and I'm going to try;

1) outlined the underside of the frame supports, seat brackets, and cross bar
2) drill out 1/4" holes to spot weld in on the supports and side
3) tacking the firewall lip into place
4) use sheet metal screws to anchor from the outside (door side) front and down the outside
5) tack weld from outside front diagonally inward and down the side
6) spot weld the seam on the tranny tunnel
7) skip weld all seams with at least 1" beads
spot weld in from under car
9) body shultz all seams

sound good?

[hemi-hampton]

I would sandblast all that rust I see because you dont want to weld onto rusty metal but clean metal. If no sandblaster grind all that rust from top of frame where you'll be welding, then add Rustmort or POR15 to inside of rusty frame rails, Nows the time since you'll never get another chance to access once floor welded in. Then spray Weld Thru Primer to area's that are going to have two peices of metal over lapped or sandwiched & welded. Make sure floor is screwed down tight to frame first before welding as this is the biggest #1 flaw I see most people make. LEON.

[moparguy01]

Good advice hemi. Put a rust inhibitor paint in those frame rails and sandblast them if you have access. then lay the panel in, make your marks on the bottom, drill some holes through it so the holes will be right on top of the bracing, then I use self tapping screws to screw the floor down tight, and plug weld it. Of course I coat all the weld areas with weld through primer first, then weld along the side and crawl under the car and get where it meets to the rocker panel. then i spray primer on all the bare metal, then alittle paint, seam seal any of the seams then undercoat if the car was a undercoated car. seal it up real good so you wont have to do it for a nice long time.

[St.Joe68]

thanks for the good advice on the weld through primer!!  I have ground all of the rust off of the weld areas and will now spray with the weld primer.  I have also went to 69hemi.com -- really good website..  He made a note of cutting 2 - 3" along the tranny tunnel through both panel and seam welding (creating a but welded joint between tunnel and new panel) good advice... have any of you tried this technique for seams that could possibly overlap?

[moparguy01]

ive use a butt weld on a vehicle or two before, and they work, but theres a greater chance of getting rust forming there. I tend to butt weld it more than overlap, 1 less catch area for moisture.

[St.Joe68]

Well so far all is going well - I got the pan spot welded in and am working on the tranny tunnel seam currently.  Pretty sure that I am going to have a good weld burn tomorrow!  I'll post a shot of the replacement when I get the seam finished and the welds ground down.  The weld through prime is also working well.

[69hemi]

Check out my website under restoration/sheet metal/floors
www.69hemi.com

E-mail me with any questions I will be glad to help

[St.Joe68]

got the passenger floors in!  It looks good..

[69hemi]

Looks nice!  What is the gray along the welds & seams?

[St.Joe68]

The gray on the welds and seams is a brushable seam sealer - I went a little overboard with it.  I also made the mistake of not looking closely at the color when I bought it - I really wanted to use black since the rest of the cars seams are black.  This is going to work out alright though - the car is going to be an Ice Silver metalic (newer dodge color).

[69hemi]

Very nice!