I’m having a little bit of a dilemma. I want to replace my floor boards, but i’m not sure how to go about it.

So I went ahead and ordered both full length floor pans from jeggs.com, and only one came, which was the drivers side. Passenger side isn’t coming until about March of next year, so yay me.

Anyway, the floor pan I got is already pre formed, with about half an inch of the sides that would line up with the existing curvature of the floor pans, and this is where I start thinking about my best course of action.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that I can cut out the existing floor board and weld in the new one, but the problem is that I risk warping the pan and melting through it using a MIG, and I can’t use stick because of the risk of mixing the coating and other junk into the bead. I could use my Oxy torch and just use a steel filler rod, but regardless of what method I use for this option is that I don’t know how much to cut out to make the floor board fit as perfect as I can make it.

My next option is to just lay the new floor board over the existing floor board, and just rivet it in or weld it in over the old floor board. Only problem with that is that i’m not sure if it’ll fit right, since it’s just laying on top. Sure, I won’t have to worry about my foot going through it eventually, but it’s really just a case of “covering it up”

My third option is that I just send back the floor boards and use a rubber compound that seals and levels itself, sealing up the holes in the process. Only problem with that is that it’s only a patch job, and depending on how rusted out my floor boards are, it won’t increase the structural integrity of the floor boards.

Im planning on pulling the carpet up to look at what I’ve got, but I already know I have holes in the passenger side floor board, and I know the drivers side is a really nice shade of dark orange.

What’s my best course of action here?

 

If and when I do mine I’d do it like this.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oaAIyLBoF8g

lay in new floor.
trace around.
cut the old floor out 1” under the line.
(I would use a spot weld cutter, 20 piece on Amazon will last you the whole job if you use oil when drilling.)
drill new spot weld holes in floor pan
weld new pan in with a mig welder and .025 wire.
seam seal.
paint.

easy day.

if I didn’t have the pre made pans then I would cut out specific holes and patch with 18g.

use a spot weld cutter makes the job easier and doesn’t **** up a already thin frame

 

you don,t need a spot welder drill ,just use a 1/8 drill to start but not all the way thru and a 1/4 inch to remove the top of the spot weld and a chisel . Look on u-tube on replacing floor pans on a 70,s chev truck. There are tons of them and they will give you a good idea on the basics. It,s sort easy but but one things leads to another . You will see once you start cutting.

 

You don’t need one but then you need two different drill bits, chisel and a hammer…

 

good luck

 

Trust me. An air nibbler makes cutting the rot out and trimming the new piece a breeze. Way easier that getting in there with a grinder or cutoff wheel and trying not to hit anything underneath like the fuel lines.
https://www.harborfreight.com/16-gau...ler-96661.html

 

An air chisel is also a handy tool. Very quick and easy and makes a nice clean cut.

 

So, thanks to my grandpa who knows more about this stuff than I ever will.

Okay. Yesterday, I discovered that on the drivers side, there is too much rust for me to leave the floor board in. Passenger side needs to be done ASAP, but it’s not gonna be here until next year.

I’ve deceived that i’m going to cut out the seat mount, put in the new floor board, trace it, and then cut it an inch below what I traced, then i’ll use my grandpas spot welder, and tack everything into place before I start full on welding all around.

Something I also discovered is that i’m going to have to weld something over the drain plugs, because i’m not gonna fiddle around with getting new ones. It also seems that I need to cut out a stud from the old floor board and put it on the new floor board, as well as thread a new hole for the seats as well so they can bolt up.

I have a very small and precise grinder that’ll make quick work of that metal, and i’ll take my time as to not cut a brake line or a fuel line.

The good thing is, however, is that the rust is all on the flat part of the pan, and it hasn’t worked it’s way to the curved part of the trans tunnel by the bottom of the doors. So it looks like that with enough cutting and polishing, I can just weld the new ones in and be on my way.

 

Sounds like a plan. Handy to have the grandpa look over your shoulder too. Take a few before an after pics for us eh? When I did my MJ boards , I used 3M seam filler to fill a few gaps underneath to make sure it was fully sealed, and then painted the new metal below and the entire floor inside with the harbor freight's bedliner. I got a gallon for $30, and I'm pretty sure it's relabel Duplicolor brand. I also prepped and painted the roof since I had the headliner and seats out at the time.

 

Its not that bad of a job as I did mine about 4 years ago. Just take your time and no short cuts. I did plug welding with my mig welder probably had them spaced out about 1/2" . Just don't get it too hot and alternate sides when welding. I also used burn thru primer with zinc for added protection. This is what my drivers side looked like rest had some pin holes so I said hell with it and replaced front and back.

 

Where did you order from? Raybuck's site says that they have the panels in stock. You may be able to cancel your order and re-order from them.

 

Well, after much thinking, i’ve decided that i’m gonna send the floor boards back and the mounts, and i’m just going to do some patchwork for now.

Reason being is that some things have come up, and i’m not going to have the time to do the floor boards have this thing back on the road in time for me to go to work next Monday.

All i’m going to do now is find each hole, cut out about 4 inches of the surrounding metal, weld in new sheet metal, and call it a day. For now. I’ll eventually buy the boards again and rip apart the interior and do it the right way, but with time constraints looming and my itch to always do something to this Jeep, it’s just not worth me rushing and risk ****ing up the whole job.

With that being said, i’m going to do more research on what I need to do, because like I said before, I didn’t know the floor boards don’t come with the stud on the drivers side near the rocker panel, and that they don’t always fit 100%. When I do this for real, i’m going to do it right.

It just sucks when it’s your daily

 

I think you might be surprised at how much you'll to need to cut back until you get to good metal. If you've got a hole, you're gonna be cutting at least 2" bigger radius to get back to something worth welding too. Any pictures?