QQ on replacing supports under floor

[gigamanx]

Hey all, cut out about the only piece of rust I have on the truck cab. The passenger side floor. When cutting, I realized the support beam underneath sure is attached well. So I cut the whole thing off. Pictured. I have to replace most of that side and going to put a 2x1 11GA tube underneath for extra beef. I would like to make the drivers side the same but without cutting the nice sheet metal out of the floor. Is there actually a way to detach the sheet from the support beam? I didn't notice there are any spot welds to drill out.


...a related question, I noticed the supports under the running boards seem to be attached the same way. Do I just need to get a thin cutoff wheel in there? I'd like to replace those also.

pics for clicks

[Bubba54]

They are spot welded on, just have to find them and drill out. You can buy spot weld cutters, they can be found at your local HF. If needed, That floor brace can be found at places like classic truck.
Good luck Shawn

[dsraven]

the floor sheet metal comes as a side, left or right, and usually covers from the door over to the hole on the middle of the floor. i believe there is also a piece for the cab support as well. not gonna break the bank on either piece. might as well install the stuff that looks like it is supposed to be there and use the time you would take for fab work on something else.
take good measurements so you get the cab mounts dead on. otherwise the cab doesn't fit on the frame well upon assembly and you have to start grinding out holes to match things up.

[gigamanx]

I've been using the spot weld cutter to get the sheet off. The trouble I had with the supports is that I can usually tell with a little surface grinding where the spot weld is, and on the floor it seems like they are non-existent. I don't want to drill a bunch of test holes hoping to hit gold lol. I guess I'll keep playing

DSRAVEN, The cab is going on an S10 frame, so lining up the original holes may be a mute point. The piece I need is pretty much flat so I was trying to get away with not ordering the floor piece. I may just do as you suggest and stop trying to save a buck here and there. I'm sure there will be much more expensive things than a floor pan to worry about.