Demolition_x

Ever since a few days after I bought my jeep I knew it had some holes in the floor. I never knew the complete extent of the lack of sheet metal under the carpet. I actually thought of the carpet as the saving grace that would keep me from fixing my floors. After a couple deep mud/ water runs and getting water inside the jeep started to get moldy musty smell which was not pleasant at all.





The other day I got brave with my razor knife and gutted the interior to see the damages... I knew I should have never messed with it but I was shocked how rotten some of the floors were.








After an hour with the angle grinder and cutoff wheel I got to where I am now.









I am planning on using aluminum flashing to remake the floor. I have ordered 2 gallons of polyester resin and some chop mat and 17oz bia ax fiber glass to make the floors entirely one "Tub". This will allow me not to worry about deep water or mud. I plan on putting 4 drain plugs in the floor to allow any of that water that may get in out and if I wanna wash the inside of the jeep. The reasons I went with fiberglass is that I think it would be the fastest way to complete what I want, It is not metal so no rust, and lastly its easy to repair.

Hopefully I will have an update tomorrow. Hoping the weather holds out.

tonka toy 72

I had to do the same thing on my jeep. There are companies that sell fitted metal floor replacements ( got mine for $80). Just had to make some adjustment with a grinder, dropped it in,welded it, and hit it top and bottom with POR-15. The fiber glass sounds like a good idea but what worries me would be getting caught up on rocks and cracking it. I just know the metal flooring worked out pretty good. Those are my thoughts.

Demolition_x

I had thought about doing this route. I have a welder and figured it was the route I was going to take. The floor panels are pretty expensive and shipping is not cheap. I would need all 4 floor panels to complete the job. Thats why I wanted to do the fiberglass route.

I don't play in rocks often to make that a concern but there will be metal between the fiberglass and the rocks if I do come in contact with that. I really wanted a no rust solution and since my windshield or blower box leaks water is going to get in and water and fiberglass is a non issue.

It doesn't look like I will get any work done today since its crappy out.

wildspear

Sounds like an interesting repair project. Keep us up to date on your work. My floor needs repair and I'll probably go the new metal floor route, I just need a welder.

Demolition_x

The thing about welding the floors is that they are so thin. I tried to weld a few little holes up higher and I blew right through it.

tonka toy 72

Yea me and my dad got the floor in and we are both new to welding. It looks pretty darn good for the little experiance we had. You just have to have a good grinder and alot of patience

lolz_jeep

this is next on my to do list after this weekend

http://youtu.be/YjPPsZFanCw

Demolition_x

Well I finally got to finish this project. It took 2 solid days more of work.

After I cut the floors out I then took a hose and a brush and scrubbed the floors with a brush and soap to get all the dirt off of the floors. Once that dried I sprayed all the edges and any surface rust with rustoleum primer to keep them from rusting.

I used galvanized roof flashing and roof cement to rivet and seal the sheet metal to the floors. I ended up using one 10' roll of 20" wide flashing I think it was around 12 dollars.



The roof flashing was bent on my home made brake, a 6x6 and a rubber mallet. I also found a easy way to mark the holes in the sheet metal for the seats. Just lay the sheet over the studs and tap them with the rubber mallet and the holes are marked made it super easy.

I then scuffed everything up and used acetone to clean all the surfaces before glassing.

I used a base layer of 1.5 oz chop mat as a base layer. I then laid a layer of 17oz biax cloth.




I used about a gallon and a half of polyester tooling resin to wet everything out. I had a pigment to tint the resin black. The resin is pretty toxic make sure you were a heavy duty respirator and work in a well ventilated area. I took my front doors off and had the hatch open and it was still potent.

I was pretty satisfied with the way it was when I was finished but I did not like the 2 tone look of green and black.

I went to the auto parts store and picked up a gallon of the duplicolor bedliner kit. I wanted herculiner but they didn't have it.

So here is the finished product. I am super happy how it turned out. The floors turned out solid. I just have to reinstall everything. I also need to drill the holes for my floor drains. I just not 100% sure where I will be placing the 4 drains yet.



I am very happy. Its not perfect I felt kind of rushed through out the job and it was 90 degrees out. I am happy to know that this will not be rusting out like it previously did.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to do something different than floor pans.

If anyone wants to do this and has any questions I would be happy to help out just let me know.

Outlaw Star

Nice job man!

lolz_jeep

that looks really good does the fiber glass floors make noise like creaking

84supersport

Turned out pretty good. If you kept you carpet I would cut out the part over the trans tunnel and put it back in. I went without carpet one summer and I've decided not to do it again so I went to the JY and got a piece big enough to cover mine. Got tired of burning my leg on it.

razor02097

wow... definitely a different route to floor repair. I repaired my floor with 16 gauge sheet steel. I also thought about replacement floor pans but the sheet metal was $60 cheaper and I didn't have to pay shipping.

wildspear

Good tip on the carpet. I just bought a grand that just has bedliner on the floor, gonna get me some carpet

Demolition_x

I have not noticed anything yet. If it does end up separating from flexing I am just gonna run a few self tappers around the edge and call it a day.

I don't know exactly where there exhaust routes where it cross overs from the driver side to the passenger side. If it ends up getting hot to the point my floor mats are melting or I am burning my leg I was going to wrap the exhaust in the exhaust wrap.

I didn't want any carpet I was getting sick from the moldy smell in the jeep. After taking the seats off I took the skins off the seats and washed them 2 times to get rid of the 160k miles of dirt and grime on the seats and the smells associated with that.

razor02097

If it is the same as the 97+ Cherokee's it will cross under the trans bellhousing... it goes over the trans cross member which is the closest place to the tunnel which will be on the passenger side. I would worry about that. If you have issues I wouldn't wrap it but maybe add an aluminum heat shield between the pipe and the floor.