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Xj total floor replacement with pics

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Old Sep 29, 2011 | 08:34 PM
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Default Xj total floor replacement with pics

I'm going to incorporate my thread from jeepforum for you guys over here that arent on jeepforum. I really hope this isnt the forum with the 4 - 5 picture limit per post or I'm gonna .

So here goes.


Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
okay, so before I get flamed. the jeep is very solid on the outside, rockers and pinch seams solid. Floors were shot, so I decided to replace them.

I dont have alot of pics at the moment, because I wasnt going to do this thread.

Basically, remove your stock carpet and padding, because its a sponge, and throw it away forever.

To do this, you remove the seats, and center consoul.
Next grab a big shop vacuum, and start sucking up all the loose crap.

this isnt the jeep i started with, but this is how ALOT of xjs look without the carpet, when they have rust.

Again THIS IS NOT THE JEEP IM WORKING ON, its an old one i had. the one im working on has better floors, and body in general, i just didnt take progress pics, and happened to have these FOR REFERENCE.

basically what your rear floor probabaly looks like.

front floor wells



so start cutting that rust out, and youll probabaly end up with something along these lines.


now, you have to clean all that out, get a welding hammer/pick and knock all the loose rust off the channels, get all the old floor off the top of the unibody rails, there are also spot welds you will have to grind down flush.

all this was done with cut off wheels on a grinder, a grinder, and a hammer / shop vacuum.

Again that wasnt the jeep im working on.

Now, onto the jeep im working on, once everything was cut outt, fully cleaned and wire wheeled. i decided to paint the u channels from the inside out. I'm using rustoleum red primer, I will be going over this all with a second coat, and then with rustoleum paint before the new floors go.



Now to all the nay sayers, who are like "oh go buy another jeep blah blah.
pre 96 xjs are high mile junk everywhere, and id rather not spend all my money replacing driveline parts, when floors are cheap and easy.

I'm going to take the time to use 3/16th plate over where the leafs mount front and back, and by tieing that all in, making the mounts straonger than they ever were.

I'll post more pics, and hopefully when im done this will serve as a very nice how too for people.

Its not as bad as it looks, its not that much work if you can weld, and cut metal.

For reference, all the metal i bought for the floor

8 sq ft of 18 guage steel - 60$
i also bought 15' of 3/16th x 5'' plate for 45$ (im building recovery bumpers aswell)

so if you figure in 100$ worth of materials + time, not counting paint. You'll realize this is worth it on a budget.
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
So small update, did a bunch more cutting today, and a little wire wheelings, got a late start, I feel like crap.

picture of the rail where its broke. I'm platting from well infront of the break all the way to the back of the jeep with 3/16th on all 4 sides. I also plated from shackle mount to shackle mount all the way across the back of the jeep. It will be way stronger / better than stock, not to mention my bumper mount inside of all that.



all the rear metal cleaned out except for where i need to cut the wheel tubs.


tached in


i just threw a little primer on it for the hell of it, the can was almost empty so I emptied it
later in the thread youll see chassis saver is so much better than rustoleum, dont screw around chassis saver is the industry leader

Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
all the stuff in the rear inside the channels is all cleaned up and now in a coat of rusty metal primer, a nice coat.
i still have about a foot of bare rail inbetween where i did in the front and back to do, but theres still more cleaning and cutting to do in that area.
I know in the areas on the rail where i weld plates to reenforce it, will have paint bubbling off, but i plan to replace that paint when it does.
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Old Sep 29, 2011 | 08:37 PM
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Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
Those rear shock bolts, They come right out. If you are good at removing those rear shock bolts.
Which I apparently, Am not.

1/4 came out, after lubing them, pounding the sockets on, and attacking them squarely with a 3/8 rachet

Another panel is now cut and tached in, along with a panel for infront of it. Trying to make due with what I have in 14 guage steel, so i dont have to go cutting big chunks, and i dont want to use 18 gauge in the rear, because i haul parts ALOT.


i didnt prime anything because its below 40, and it gets colder overnight, ill be down there in the morning working again and dont want to be in wet primer.
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
419k dosent mean much to metal, just to the running gear. pick the best shell and fix it.

got alot of welding done today. I dont care about it being pretty, im going to be grinding them down a little and hercing over it all anyways.



the only welding left from the top side in the back is the wheel tubs, and trying to figure out what im going to do for the corners of the floor. Everything else in the cargo area is from the bottom up.

I've been using all 14 gauge in the cargo area, except for the 3/16th across the back.

tomorrow night i should be getting some primer in some places, it just makes it hard to weld things.
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
spot welds are garbage and half the reason the floors rot out so badly.

Ive completely tached the floor to every piece of unibody underneath
heres a few fast, **** pics to show that, I'll probabaly go back thru and turn those all into full beads.




and now I have one coat of rusty metal primer on everything.


Tomorrow I'm going down there to clean dirt out of areas dirt shouldnt have ever been, so i can finish up the back area, and move forward.
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
lets keep the outside fotos to pm's, i would also like to see this feel free to message me.
did some more work today, got the drivers side rear floor in from the topside, al that seam sealer is really a *****.

its all tached in from the topside, the plate is also cut for the passenger side in the same area. More tomorrow.
stay tuned
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Old Sep 29, 2011 | 08:39 PM
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Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
got the passenger side floor tached in the same way, also the smaller panels are both tached in too.
getting ready to do the whole bottomside, and finish weld the top. I'm getting there, a little at a time.

All this is happening outside, in the northern part of western ny.



Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
finally got to go down there and work on it a little bit more. I'm sorry this is taking so much longer than it should have. if you could work 20 hrs a week on this (very possible if you do 8 hr days on the weekend) you could probabaly finish it in a few weeks or less.

had to make a bunch of little plates, because nothing lines up, so had to plate the back and on both sides. This would be 1000% easier if chryco used steel that wasnt paper thin. plastic cups are stronger.









more soon, nothing has sold that ive been trying to sell, so im trying to take care of bills and xmas. Havent really had a ton of time.
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
for all intents and purposes, the passy floor is all welded in in the front.
behind the front seat mount is all welded in on both sides in exception to a tiny like 2''x4'' plate by the seat belt buckle bolt on the passy side, and like finish beading along the back.









driverside floor needs one plate in the corner, i just didnt get to it, i like to bounce around so i dont get burnt out.



did a little work on the back floors too


annndddd my holy grail. screw folding the rear corners, and dealing with pop rivets, sealer, and other amatuer methods. do it right, do it once.. profit.



the outside plate is 3/16th's tied into the other 3/16th that goes past shackle to shackle on the rear, also tied into a plate on the outside and the 14guage floor. its straonger than it ever would have been.

nay sayers can fold 2 pieces of 24 gauge all they want, but i can destroy a stock floor with a rubber mallet.

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Old Sep 29, 2011 | 08:41 PM
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Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
some jeeps have that some dont, this one didnt, the 97 i pulled parts from did.

did some more work today in the rain.
hard to tell but everything around the shackle mount is all boxed and tied to that 3/16th plate that goes from shackle mount to shackle mount across the back


Also this is one side of the frame rail patch, theres a plate welded on the bottom, the bottom edge of this side plate is rolled under and welded (needs to be ground badly, but its in there, i was able to get both shackle bolts loose, they are IN THERE. pipe and short turns.

the hole was done with 4 drill holes and a cut off wheel. im happy with it.


Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
this shows the driverside under the seat floor.
on the unitframe rail there is 3/16th welded directly to it. past that where its just floor area its 14 ga everything connecting to the rocker area and going over the spring mount will all be 3/16th

A quick glance at how its happening on the other side, you'll see I plated the rocker area with 3/16th to give me something to weld to.

the gas tank side of the floor, I still have to cut it for the hose to go thru and mount in the guard for that. I also need to weld it to the body tin on both sides still. One piece to the puzzle at a time tho

Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
this
lead to this








basically under the rear seat, but over the front shackle mount was obviously a nightmare, alot of 3/16ths used, its stronger than it ever could have been in a million years.
Just alot of fab work in those corners, probabaly more than the entire jeep.
Also you can see how I boxed in the rear corners, way better than the crappy cut and fold that most people do.
You can pop rivet 2 pieces of paper metal together, but its not going to be strong, and its still a crappy idea. Now all the unibody nay sayers who always cursed the cut and fold rear corners for making the jeep weaker, dont have anything to say, I used 3/16ths its stronger than the crappy factory design.
:welder:
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
well I guess I already took a pic of this, but heres one more lol


how I handled the 3/16th plate and the hatch latch location


floors from the top down are complete, now its just finishing the bottom up welding.



some more underside trimming ect, and also putting the hole in the rear area fo rthe gas tank filler.
shes getting there.
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Old Sep 29, 2011 | 08:44 PM
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Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
ohai, pictures.

everything that was welded from the top down had to be welded, as if that wasnt enough welding, plenty of plates had to be added from the bottom up aswell, including plates to strengthen shackle mounts/ spring mounts ect ect.

drivers side



finished welding the supports for the gas tank / rear floor you can see from the burned paint



random underside shots






wheel well










Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
because the cut and fold with rivets and goup is for the birds


hard to tell from the pic but its flush


lil warp on this side, from welding it from the inside long ago


so much stronger / better than folding 2 pieces of crappy paper metal together, thats all 3/16'' plate
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
this just came in today.

Huge thumbs up to magnet paint as a company and as a member on the forum.
Thanks for looking out for jeepers and providing a quality product and service.



got rust? Get this, don't even hesitate.
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith

I literally slept from 1030 am til 1030 am, couldnt sleep last night.
So right now Im sleep deprived and BLASTED on paint fumes.
floor scuffed with 50 grit and wiped down with mineral spirits ready for chassis saver!


As soon as it was done, still wet, it levels out nice as it starts to dry.
One coat, I used 3/4 of a quart, it needs some touch ups, and I knocked some dirt down behind the pedals, so im gonna wait for it to dry, clean that back out, and paint that area.









Special thanks to Eric from Magnet Paints, user magnetpaint on the forum. Chassis saver is the MOVE. :highfive::tea::2thumbsup:
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Old Sep 29, 2011 | 08:47 PM
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Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
Well I'm highly considering spraying bedliner because I'm going to do the entire exterior of the jeep. I want it to be warm when I do it, so atleast another month.

I touched up the areas I missed before today. I LOVE how hard chassis saver drys. Its harder than the toughest appliance paint I've ever used. I tried to scratch some by hand today, Like i could on rustoleum, and it laughed at me, not a chance.


It has like a texture to it, its not like a super sheen, which I like, tho that might have been from how I brushed it, or if I mixed it too fast I dont know.

not really part of the floors. but I bought a southern tank that was steam cleaned today. it came with this crappy paint on it, so I sanded it / scuffed it with 60 grit and painted just the top side with a coat of chassis saver.

For thsoe wondering, it was like 36 degrees outside, and the paint applied fine. I did bring it inside before I left to dry.



edit, topside of the photo , bottom side of the tank
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith

chassis savered the other side of the tank, so now its fully sealed and painted, looks awesome.
Went underneath, and painted everything i had cleaned up, which was to the far side of where the shocks mount, no pics because it was dripping everywhere, no matter how thin I put it on, I still made a mess haha.
Getting good coverage still. Love chassis saver.
I'm gonna try to get under the passenger area done this weekend if I can.
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
OMG I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD. :highfive:
Been a long time isnt it?
Well after my long rush with death I finally got to do some stuff on the jeep, just havent really had time to do much of anything.



and this pic says it all, really speaks for how nice chassis saver really is

I love it, I'm covered in it, i cant get it off my hands, haha its in my hair.
I painted EVERYTHING with it today, even neighbors dog :teehee: jk
rear end from the parts jeep, cleaned up besides the backing plates. I started to throw some chassis saver on it before I left
diff cover and bolts lol
Eventful day. the highlights, as soon as the chassis saver drys, im going under there to spray some cheap bedliner, right above where the tank mounts. The bumper is getting finished painting, and Then the tank is going in, followed by rear lift springs, rearend ect.
So I can turn the jeep around in the bay and tackle the front half, including re enforcing where the steering box mounts, before it cracks and splits, instead of after
Stay tuned.
Special thanks to magnet paints, and Eric, for an awesome product.
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
well if i ever change suspension in the rear away from leaf springs, i wont be using the 8.25, but like anything else a grinder removes everything.

It does NOT come off your hands. MEK takes it off when wet, but once its dry, forget it.
I tried like 12 different chemicals, and no dice haha.

I'm really happy with it. I scuffed the floor above the gas tank and shot some CHEAPO bedliner there, just for added protection. After spraying it. I really like it for trivial things such as gas tank straps, But Im deffinatly not putting it on my bumpers like originally planned. I'm going with monstaliner on the bumpers. Theres just no other way that will make me happy.



Last edited by The Blacksmith; Sep 29, 2011 at 08:51 PM.
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Old Sep 29, 2011 | 08:53 PM
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totally insane. curious how long this process took? im doing my floor but im only patchin it lol not replacing the entire floor
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Old Sep 29, 2011 | 08:54 PM
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Basically since these pictures, I've finished painting under the jeep with chassis saver, well the first coat. The plans are to monstaliner the entire floor under the jeep, recoat the top of the floor with a second good coat of chassis saver and monstaliner that aswell.

I merged in a build thread with my floor thread, I'm going to keep them seperate here.

If you were planning on herculiner , don't. its junk. Monstaliner or Raptor are about the only DIY options worth using.
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Old Sep 29, 2011 | 08:55 PM
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Originally Posted by TerBeau
totally insane. curious how long this process took? im doing my floor but im only patchin it lol not replacing the entire floor
If I had to guess man hrs I dont know, I've been working on the entire jeep for almost a year now. stay tuned for the build thread, after I post my bumper thread lol.
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Old Oct 1, 2011 | 03:59 PM
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You did it right cutting out the bad metal and not just band aiding over it. Totally 1st class work! Congratulations, it looks great and strong. Thanks for the tip on Chassis Saver product, will certainly see if distributed here.
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Old Oct 1, 2011 | 11:22 PM
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Looks soo good im going to buy chassis saver i keep using rustoleum spray on stuff and it always chips and rust comes thru again
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Old Oct 2, 2011 | 12:28 AM
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http://www.magnetpaints.com/products.asp sells chassis saver it was featured on gearz years ago with stacy david using it on ted nugents bronco. Basically, its the best stuff there is, better than por15, really tough, 3 coats to seal the metal and never worry about it again for life (unless its something uv can eat the paint on, then topcoat it)

I'm onto my second gallon of the stuff, Ive esentially painted the entire jeep underneath and outside with it aswell as the inside. I live in the salt belt.
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Old Oct 2, 2011 | 06:55 PM
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Thank you for the link.
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Old Oct 3, 2011 | 10:43 PM
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incase anyone wants to read thru all the text only posts and stuff I didnt include when I moved this, here is the link from jf. but feel free to take quotes from there and comment / question over here

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/r...hread-1122602/
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Old Oct 5, 2011 | 12:34 AM
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Wow, you did an awesome job....I replaced my whole floor also,except back cargo area it was good. Actually just the driver side had a small whole,did the whole floor anyway,welded to frame. you also do things right the 1st time.
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