RC COLA

Hello all,
I've used this forum many times for help with projects but this is my first time posting. I would like some advice on the best way to tackle this issue and hopefully this can help others who have a leak like my XJ.

For a few years, I've had a small leak onto the passenger floorboard. This only leaked when parked, and the front end higher than the back. When I would wash the car on my inclined driveway I would see a few drips on my floor mat. When it rained, I would just back up into the driveway so the rear end was higher than the front, and no leak.

Well this winter we've had a lot of rain in California, and one day I opened the passenger door and found a puddle of water. I pulled back the carpeting and found two areas on the pass floorboard with significant rust. I was able to stick a screwdriver through. I did research and thought that the water was leaking from the cowl into the fresh air intake, which it was.

I took the Jeep into my mechanic and he identified and fixed the leak. I asked him for a recommendation on who to take the Jeep to for rust repair and he said he could do it. He does not have a body shop, but he is a friend who does great work and gives me good deals, so I reluctantly left the Jeep with him. I visited the shop a couple days ago and took a picture of what the floorboard looks like at the moment. I'm worried he's cutting a much larger section of the floor than necessary. The rust is only in the corners of the floor pan near the transmission tunnel, two small sections as you can see from the photo. He also had a relatively thick sheet of steel that he was going to try to shape to match the floor. I thought buying a new floor pan and entirely replacing or cutting a section out of it sounded like a better idea?

Initially he suggested just a fiberglass patch, but I told him I want new metal welded in for longevity. I'm also considering having the floor bed-lined for added rust protection, but I'm not sure if this is necessary or has any benefit. Thank you for reading and for any help you can provide.

Pass floor pan. Rust is on left corners of the pan.