Cherokee

replacing some areas of the floor in the XJ.

I'll go take a picture in a minute, but not doing any work in the rear, just where the passenger's feet go on the front floorboards.


so my question is...

I have a lot of sheet metal screws. can these work ok? will it hold there fine? obviously welding would ideal, but no can do.

i dont have a rivet gun either, but would these be better than screws by far? or should i (at least semi temporarily) be ok with just sheet metal screws?

jeepfan93

To me, anything short of welding is temporary. But if I were to never have access to a welder, rivets would be my route

pops96

go with rivets screws can back out aftertime. another route is auto body appoxe that stuff holds good

OverlandZJ

No screws please..

I took in a clutch job for a guy years ago on an XJ. He had used a ton of sheetmetal screws to patch his floor. After a few minor cuts i finally cut the hell out of my hand on one... i packed up the tools and had him tow it out of my driveway.

5-90

Rivets. They won't back out, and they're easier to seal.

Besides, they're designed for holding panels in place anyhow (why for do you think they're used on aircraft and race bodies? I know - they're not "pop" rivets. But, they work on the same principle - the difference is that a "pop" rivet can be installed entirely from one side of a panel, and they don't require a pneumatic hammer and a bucking bar to install.)

Besides, if y'ever brought something to me for undercar work, and I saw a bunch of sheetmetal screws sticking out the bottom, I wouldn't even bother to start the job.

99xj2.5

Rivits, I would think the screws would be a proublem working under the jeep, lots of scratches

96Cherokee113

Rivets would definitely be the best route if you don't have a welder. You can go to any hardware store and pick up a riveter and rivets for under $20.

Cherokee

alright guys, looks like i'll be doing rivets.

good points about them poking through underneath and backing out eventually.



so now my question is, can i rivet through the unibody? or just sheet metal to sheet metal?

my dad seems to think i can go through the unibody and that it'll totally work, but should i do it?

OverlandZJ

You can rivet through the horizontal lip on the unirail... lay down a bead of adhesive first.

Drill the holes from under... install the rivet from the top.

Cherokee

nice, exactly what i needed.

thanks for the knowledge!

I'll get some pics up or start a build thread or something and show you guys my holes haha.

lliamsdad

rivets...definately

pops96

im using rivits for my rear floor. im putting down 1/4 aluminum sheeting

Cherokee

whoah... 1/4 inch?? why so thick?

i'm using 14 gauge, which is like 0.07 inches thick (about 1/13th inches)

looks like what they used originally was 18 gauge or so.

UserID6095

I would like to see the pictures when your finished Cherokee. I have one rusted through area above the muffler. Right Now I have a sheet rtv sealed and rivted but needs to be redone. It was a temp winter fix.

brutalxj

If you are going to waste your time anyway then just use pl500. I mean anything you do short of welding is just a temp fix so why waste a lot of time on it