macgyver

So I've always noticed since I acquired my Jeep that following a full fill up of the gas tank, that I can always smell some excessive fumes up front with the windows down especially. Finally decided to take a look into it, and think I found the problem. I've excessive rusting of the cargo area; especially around the frame areas. The previous owner didn't take too good a care of it, and so there is rust to be found everywhere short of a few spots on the body itself. But my question lies with this... Should I just get a whole new floor pan for the cargo section which I know costs a few hundred dollars, or do yall think a welded sheet metal fix would suffice?
I know a few folks will chime in with a look for gas leaks and all, which I've already done and such following a pump change out awhile back ago and have verified since. No leaks. Appreciate any advice in advance, especially for anyone who has done a whole new pan. Haven't seen too many threads on that.

salad

Well yes it does sound like an evap system leak. Rotted out vacuum lines basically.

If you have a 1996 or older I believe Classic 2 Current (c2cfabrication.com) has the cargo floor pan. Might price out a replacement floor there versus your time and labor to do flat sheet

macgyver

c2c has a floor pan for $210 after shipping. Tractor supply - probably $80 give or take for plain 16 gauge steel sheet metal. I'll have to cut and such to weld to existing outer floor pan.

If I choose to go with the new floor pan off of c2c or elsewhere, is it something I can just weld on top of the existing one (thinking added durability) or would I have to cut out the existing setup? The carpet is coming out sooner or later as well for replacement or rhino lining, so I could careless if it rests perfectly.

salad

$210? Ouch! Full length floor pans for passenger area were like mid-$40s for my '99.

Easy with the 16 gauge lol. That stuff is hard to work with. Factory used 19 for reference.

You could weld over top but it's essential to get rid of ALL rust before doing so. If you just slap some metal over existing rot you'll just end up doing it again in a couple years. Plus it's a good time to treat the rear frame.

macgyver

I found c2c on Amazon comically enough which offers the pan for $10 more but with cheaper shipping making overall purchase cheaper. Go Amazon!
16-18 gauge is what I'll look at then. Sadly all I have is a flux wire welder so either way, I'm putting some time into getting it done right.

The frame has rust on it so sadly I believe either way, this will probably happen again, but what do you mean by treating it? I'll do whatever I can to keep the rust from eating my baby away!

salad

If you're gonna do sheet then, it definitely could be worse as the cargo area is mostly flat lol. The cab floor pans are absolutely worth it due to the curves and humps.

By treating the inside of the frame, I mean something like can be media blasting, wire wheeled, or whatever you like, and everything that's left can be killed with a product like naval jelly or some other rust converter. Most products like that are a phosphoric acid solution that reacts with iron oxide and leaves a black ferric phospate. This can be primed and painted. Or if you wanna spend bigger bucks, POR15 or Chassis Saver could be applied to cleaned-up areas. Either way, stop the rust from destroying what you just fixed lol

40xj

I picked up a 4' x 8' sheet of 18g sheet for $88. I redid both front floor pans the rockers and a rather large section around the filler neck in the back and still have a little under half of that left. This was my first time welding and I got it all done with a harbor freight mig. If I had it to do over I'd still go this route. Personally I didn't care to much about what it looked like just as long as it didn't leak any more. This was last month so the price for sheet should be fairly close.

67 GMC

I see that part on their ebay site for $170 with free shipping.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/351243862116?item=351243862116&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466

Still seems like a lot compared to the other floor pans you can get off Rock Auto.

67 GMC

Are you sure you don't have a leaking fuel injector? I had this on my '87 and it was the body of the injector leaking and then the fuel hits the hot exhaust manifold shield. Also, I had a '98 Suburban that had a tiny pin-hole leak in the fuel line from the along the rail. Of course, this was smelling like gas all the time but it was such a fine spray, it was really hard to see.


I'm thinking the evap canister has a leak in the line somewhere or the canister is cracked.

macgyver

Appreciate all the replies thus far, yall are great help!

Salad - Sheet may be the cheapest and honestly most practical route to go as it's just the floor side of that pan that has damage. Sides to include wheel well areas look great. I'd rather do the job right as far as rust control goes, so I'm looking into the chassis saver...thinking a gallon might suffice for this job plus some touch ups elsewhere? It appears to be some great stuff!

40xj - Where did you find that much sheet metal for that price? I haven't a lot of options local to me, but tractor supply is where I got my quote, and I'm still inquiring on a steel mill as well as a guy I know with connections. How did your rig turn out both functionally and cosmetically with your welder?

67 gmc - I'll check out the ebay link. May be another option. Rock auto came up in my searches, but never had a trunk pan. I'll look into the injectors and lines. I've yet to look in the engine bay elsewhere besides the fuel lines themselves. I put a non weld able (too thin) piece of sheet metal over the damage in the trunk, and between it and the carpet, I already notice a small difference in air quality. Hoping it's just that, but we know how these rigs go... Just Empty Every Pocket.

Thanks again all for the help!

67 GMC

I ended up paying a guy to do all front and rear floor pans and the cargo area. I had huge holes under the back seat over the wheels and holes in the usual spots in the front floors. He bought all the pans and it cost me $600 total in cash but it wouldn't have passed inspection the way it was. I got the Jeep for basically free so I was ok with that. It sounded like a lot of money at the time but body work is so expensive at a shop that I didn't think his price was bad.

bac0nfat

I used floor pans from Classic 2 Current, and I'm glad I did. They needed a little bit of fitting, and they don't actually cover 100% of the cargo area (it's notched out around where the latch goes) but it makes the job very easy. It will easily save you a few hours worth of work.

macgyver

Update: So I decided to go the sheet metal route and already have begun the work. However I'm having a major issue with burn through on the existing body. I won't deny I haven't a lot of experience with welding, but this just seems bad. Spotty welds seem to be the ending result thus far. Any suggestions?

Edit: I've a 90 amp flux core wire welder by the way.

40xj

Sorry I missed the question. Mine were rather spotty but definitely functional I tried to kick my pan out of the jeep and it wouldn't budge. Make sure to use a good wire like Lincoln. Turn the speed down and watch the angle and stick out. I had the same issue with burn thorough. New metal to new metal was fine but the old stuff was just plain thinner. Run small beads and move around. I ended up sealing all my welds with that spray sealant stuff you see on TV with the screen in the boat? I just kept putting a light under the Jeep and spraying where I saw light.

40xj

This is what my passenger side started as





Finished