Floor Patching Question Please Help

[tim21391]

i was working on my passenger side front floor support.. and i was air chiseling away at it..and since the metal was kinda tender i went right on threw the floor with it... and so i started cutting a square out of the floor to get to the floor support.. since i had to patch it now anyway i figured why not cut it out.... i had to cut the area of the floor that is countersunk for the cab mounting bolt... so now i have a big open hole... i got some sheet metal i got from my school for free and i used that on my rear floor corner... and now i was wondering.. do i have to order a patch floor to be able to have the bolt countersunk or can i just use a flat piece of metal and just have the bolt raised up a bit.. im putting dynomat in/carpet then floor mats...so it wont be that noticeable... can i get your guys input please

[truckpoorpackrat]

3 options. 1 cheap & easy, use the flat sheet of metal, but you will have a hump in your carpet & not much strength (remember that bolt holds your cab on). 2 Hard & messy, form a recess in your flat panel (cut a round hole in a piece of plywood the size and depth you need & lay your metal on it & hammer a recess in it) 3 Not very expensive & super easy, buy the patch panel. I hate to spend money but I want the end product to look good. I would buy the patch panel.

[tdave00]

I'd say give it a shot if you think you could form it with a hammer. If not, the floor patch panel is $30. Matter of a fact, I have that piece out my floor patch. I didn't need the whole piece. I'll take a picture of it and you can see if you could use it.

[tim21391]

thanks ill wait to tell you if i need it until i see the pic tho if its ok

[Kayotic]

If you do use the flat sheet, I suppose you could just find someone like tdave00 to send you a piece that includes the dimple and extra material that you could use as a flange. Then you could use a hole saw to cut your flat stock where the dimple should be, drop in your little dimple patch and burn away.

[tim21391]

dimple? is that where your talking about where the cab mount bolt goes threw??? what i mean is do i have to have the little dip there.. or can i just have sheet metal then drill a hole and stick the bolt in it?

[mbgmike]

You can get a piece of scrap (like a door) and support it and lay an M80 on it. It will leave a nice dimple. Don't laugh it works. Another way is to use a shop press. Finding an M80 is kind of hard now and its kind of hard to control the depth

[tdave00]

It will be tomorrow before I get back to the garage to take a picture.

[tim21391]

the whole idea is do i even need to have a dimple?

[tdave00]

Well, I guess you could just use a spacer there, but you are gonna have to deal with the head of the bolt sticking through the floor.

[tim21391]

ok i will wait to see your pic before i do anything...

[Richard H.]

I was out working on mine today and looked at what you were getting at. I would get a freeze (welch) plug ,looks like 1 & 7/8" drill a hole in the center , weld it into my patch and move on to the cab corner .

[tdave00]

[tim21391]

i think im gonna end up getting the whole piece because the cab mount dimple is right in the center of the square i cut.. thanks tho i appreciate it

[tdave00]

Sounds like a smart move. Good luck.

[tim21391]

i got the passenger side done.. ill get pics up in my build thread soon