In Need Of Someones Two Cents

[J.Bart]

I'm Finally Going To Get Started On MY GT/CS, The Question Is Floor Pans?
Which Supplier Has The Best Pans.
Also, Does It Look Better To Do The Full Pans Vs. A Short (just What You Need)? Or, If They Are Fairly Solid, Clean Them Up And Strengthen Them With Fiberglass, And Seal Them Good From The Moisture?
I Want To Do Them Proper, And I Don't Have Any Shops Around That Care To Do Much With Restorations, Or That I Feel Comfortable To Trust With My Car.
I Have A Friend That Has The Tools, I Helped Him Do His 70 Fastback,
They Look Pretty Good.
I Need Some Advice, And Experience Counts.
I'm Listening,
Jbart

 

[rvrtrash]

I'll see your two cents and raise a penny.:grin: I can't tell you who has the "best" floor pans but I've never found aftermarket sheetmetal that fit right or I was 100% happy with. I wouldn't recommend putting fiberglass over metal. No matter how well you seal it, it's a recipe for future rust through. If your floors just have small pin holes, I'd just weld them up. If you have bigger areas, I would buy the partial pans and cut out the areas you need to replace. Use a butt joint weld instead of overlapping. If you use the new floor pans as parts, you minimize the fit problems. If the floors are so bad that you need to replace the entire side, front to back, you should probably really consider finding a shop that will do it for you to insure your frame rails stay straight. My opinion only of course.
Steve

 

[6t8-390gt]

I agree with Steve. DO NOT use fiberglass! Replace what you need, if that is the full pan do so, if not just use a small section. You might want to look a your cowl vents to ensure there is no rust there. Because if you have a leaky cowl your floor rust will return.

If you do not belong to a local mustang club or car club I would suggest that you do. Member of the local club can refer you to good places to go for parts and labor.

 

[dbeal]

I will agree with the above!! Do not use fiberglass. For the most part the repro pans are quite acceptable. I had both full length pans put in. The shop that did mine did a good job putting them in and they look pretty good. The shop reused the seat pedestals. Anyway thats my 2 cents...

 

[J.Bart]

So There Isn't Any Better Quality Or Lesser Quality Concerning Pans?
Does A Good Overlap Seam Vs. A Butt Joint Affect The Value That Much?
Isn't The Butt Joint A Weaker Joint?
Just Thinking Out LOUd

 

[hcsstang]

With the overlap joint it has the tendency to get moisture between the overlaped thus leading to rust.

 

[Mosesatm]

It also doesn't look as nice as a butt joint, and the floor pans are not a high stress area so the marginally less strength you'd get out of a butt joint probably doesn't really matter.

 

[rvrtrash]

I'm not a welding "expert" so wouldn't want to say for sure, but I believe the weld in either type of repair is actually stonger than the metal it's holding. Since most overlap repairs just tack the metal every couple of inches or so, the butt weld would be stonger since it's full length. It also, as mentioned earlier, doesn't trap moisture and looks better. It takes a lot more time and costs more, but to me it's worth it.
Steve

 

[Mosesatm]

the weld in either type of repair is actually stonger than the metal it's holding.
Steve

It all depends on who is welding it and the type of metal being welded. Since floor pans are fairly soft metal the welding process heats up the surrounding metal and actually hardens it, making it stronger.

For already hardened metal, like high-strength rebar the weld is always the weak link because all that heat destroys the integrity of the metal at the weld. Sorry, that's probably way more than anyone wanted to know about welding metal. Once and engineer always and engineer.

Steve, I assumed that a overlap weld would be continuous since that is what we did on Bill's car. Didn't realize that that standard practice was to run short welds.

 

[PFSlim]

We replaced our floor pans. Used metal. I think I ordered them from Mustangs Unlimited (I think). Anyway, we ordered the full floor pan, front to back. Before we did anything, we made sure the floor pans were rust free (inside and out).

Once we received, we laid the pan in the car. You first have to take out the seat support. Not easy to get out but can break the welds with a hammer and chisel. Once you have the seat supports out, we laid the full floor pans in and used a sharpie to mark the line where the new pans would lay. We removed, measured down about 1/2 to 1 inch and drew a parallel line.

We then cut out the old pans, layed the new pans in and welded inside and outside. Very handy to have a rotissorie. Once completed, we coated with Por 15.

The pans fit pretty well. While welding, we had to make a few adjustments with a large hammer to make sure we welded everything together nicely. In the end, I laid seam sealer in anything that was questionable. Then, we coated the bottom of the car with undercoating. Applied several coats.

Paul

 

[rvrtrash]

You first have to take out the seat support. Not easy to get out but can break the welds with a hammer and chisel.

Paul

If anyone else is doing this, invest in a spot weld cutter. It's pretty cheap and will save you a lot of time and frustration.

Mosesatm. I just assumed a tack weld would be used. Everyone up here (that I've seen) either overlaps and tacks or butt welds. I would guess a continuous weld on an overlap would be about the same as a butt weld, I just prefer the look of the latter. Hope I didn't mislead anyone with my opinions. It's a good thing multiple people participate in these discussions.:grin:
Steve

 

[J.Bart]

so do we want to strive for the appearance that the floorpans haven't been changed? hence the butt joint?

 

[rvrtrash]

Unless you are going to bondo both sides of the floor, you can still tell it's been welded. I like the butt joint for a number of reasons, none of which are trying to make people believe it's original metal. I'm working on a car now that can only be described as a rust bucket. I'm saving it only because it's a convertible. A previous "restorer" welded in pieces using an overlap and tack welds and sealed it all with silicone and undercoating. The rust got back into the "lip" and started spreading to the welds, breaking some loose. I'm cutting out all his work and redoing it. A butt weld doesn't leave areas for moisture to collect, is (in my opinion) stronger than overlaping and tacking every couple of inches and to me, just looks nicer- not that anyone is going to see it under the car anyway, but I know it's there. To me, you can tell someone put a lot more care and effort into it than just tacking some metal in place and spraying a thick layer of gunk on it, again, personal opinion only. If you're going to run a solid bead around the piece instead of tacking, you might as well eliminate the lip. I bought some mini-clamps that hold the pieces in alignment and set the proper gap, and so far have been happy with the way it turn out.:wink:
Steve

 

[J.Bart]

what about heat warping the tunnel???

 

[Mosesatm]

what about heat warping the tunnel???

Very, very, very unlikely. In fact, I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say almost impossible. The tunnel is incredibly strong and a little welding isn't going to warp it.

 

[rvrtrash]

I don't think it would warp the tunnel either, but I always weld a couple of inches, go to a different area and weld a couple there, etc. till the whole thing is done just to be on the safe side. The clamps I use keep me from running a continuous bead anyway.:smile:
Steve

I don't know where you're located, but if it's reasonably close, you're welcome to come over and I'll show you how to do what I'm talking about.
Steve