Hey guys, I'm looking for a few opinions. 87 xj.

I cut out the rust hole and weak metal in the front passenger floor pan.

Trying to decide about the patch panel.

I bought a front floor pan and started trimming it and not sure what I should do.

Original plan was to cut it and spot weld and flange it over the frame rail.


Now I'm thinking just to make it easier I may just spot weld the frame section and overlap the whole floor that's not cut out?

What opinions do you all have?

 

I'd spot weld it to the frame rail every inch or so. If it has a lip on the edge that meets your rockers, sills, I'd also spot weld that the same. Lastly for the edges of the repair I either seam weld or lots of close together spot welds.

 

That is the plan. Spot welding on the frame rail, sill, and toe board. Lots of Seam sealer as well.

I Was just wondering if it would be a bad idea to overlap a large portion of the old floor between the frame rail and the trans tunnel.

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I try to aim for generally a 10mm overlap of panels where possible. In my mind, the less metal covered by metal, the less chance of rust foming because you can't get paint or sealant at it afterwards. I also use a welding primer (Weld Thru primer) as it can be welded to and coats all of the metal that you can't get at once welded. I believe it also has a slight galvinising effect on the weld itself.

 

This is pretty much how I did my 2000 pans. I plug welded it about every inch or so and closer around the bends, used weld thru primer then good brush-able seem sealer. topped it all of with enamel primer and paint (tractor paint I think it was)

 

I agree.

Cut out of the new pan the section you need with ¾-1 inch of overlap. I drilled 5/16-inch holes two inches apart in the new pan to align with the upper lip of the frame rail, then weld the pan holes to the rail lips. Then, spot welded around the edges. I also used a flap disk to flatten the tops off the spot welds a tad, prime painted, then ran a bead of seam sealer over the spot welds and smoothed.

 

Thanks everyone. I decided not to overlap the whole floor pan. I was concerned about rust in between the panels.

I cut it to fit over the frame, spot welded it there, at the door sills, and the toe board.

Now I just need to seam sealer it then I'll toss some paint and sound deadening over it and call it done.

 

Looking good