HOW TO: One piece floor pan install

[DD1]

Originally Posted by mooseknuckles

glad someone brought this thread back. I'll be going this route as well, my rockers, cab corners, and cab mount area is shot! this seems way easier than piecing it all together the old school way.

Yeah, I tried that route. It is/was taking me forever. I got stalled on trying to spot weld the floor over the new cab support. Not to mention the rest of the floor I still need to repair.
My welding skills are still in the early stages. Then I saw someone suggest the entire floor in another thread, and they linked to this one.
As soon as I have some room on my credit card, I will order the new floor pan and give it a shot.

[mooseknuckles]

cool....sounds like we have the same welding skills...lol

[DD1]

Originally Posted by mooseknuckles

cool....sounds like we have the same welding skills...lol

That is pretty funny. I took a welding class two years ago, when I started this project. It helped, but I have not gotten as much practice as I would like. I think I was trying to weld several grades above my skill level and screwing it up as a result. Welding the braces for the cab have actually helped me learn quite a bit.

I checked out your thread. Your truck looks pretty nice. I would never know it had floor problems, unless it's a different truck you are working on. Of course I should confess, I did not read all 82 pages.

[DD1]

While I am waiting for the credit card billing cycle to pass, so I can afford to order the floor pan assembly, I decided to start drilling out the spot welds in the back of the cab. I used the HF spot weld remover drill bit, which I have used before and has worked well.

What's happening is when I drill through, the two pieces of metal are not separating, and I end up drilling a hole through both of them. I went inside the cab and used a spot weld chisel to separate them, and it seems to work okay.

The problem is you can't get the chisel in perfectly straight so you end up making bumps on the outside of the cab. Even if I could get it in straight, it would probably still make the bumps. I also which I had separated the metal a bit before I put a bazillion braces in the cab as it is really difficult to get the room to use the chisel.

Curious to know if anyone had this issue and if you have any suggestions?

Thanks!

[mooseknuckles]

No, my 67 has floor problems... Lol. I don't think you're supposed to drill right through....

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by DD1

Curious to know if anyone had this issue and if you have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Try starting at one end, or a spot where you can get in between the two pieces of metal. Center punch the spot weld. If you find the cutter is still walking on you, use an 1/8 drill bit to make a guide for your spot weld cutter. Then drill only enough to remove the single layer of steel. You should be seeing just a small disc of steel being removed. At this point, you may get lucky and they will just separate, but chances are there is a bit of weld somewhere on the perimeter that is till holding the two layers together. This is where you need to get in between the layers with some sort of flat chisel to finish the separation. Its tedious work...

[notchbackgta]

I like to use this to separate panels if the spot weld is still holding after I use the spot weld cutter

Steck Manufacturing

[DD1]

Originally Posted by jlaird

Try starting at one end, or a spot where you can get in between the two pieces of metal. Center punch the spot weld. If you find the cutter is still walking on you, use an 1/8 drill bit to make a guide for your spot weld cutter. Then drill only enough to remove the single layer of steel. You should be seeing just a small disc of steel being removed. At this point, you may get lucky and they will just separate, but chances are there is a bit of weld somewhere on the perimeter that is till holding the two layers together. This is where you need to get in between the layers with some sort of flat chisel to finish the separation. Its tedious work...

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a shot. I no longer think it is a big deal that it is drilling through. It's still doing the job, and it does not matter if the floor gets a hole in it - it's garbage anyway. I suspect that when I raise the cab off the stand, it will just separate on it's own, or maybe with a little banging on the floor. I noticed on some of the holes I already drilled, they no longer line up between the outer and inner metal, which tells me the metals are moving independently of each other. Still, I will try and do it more carefully as you suggested. I am not in a rush; it will be a couple weeks before I can order the floor anyway.

Originally Posted by notchbackgta

I like to use this to separate panels if the spot weld is still holding after I use the spot weld cutter

Steck Manufacturing

I actually have this, however I did not know there was a right angle version. Thanks for sharing. I used the straight one to try and separate them, however it was creating those little bumps in the metal. I will have to order the right angle version.

Thanks for the help everyone!

[DD1]

Okay, so I finished drilling out the spot welds on the rear of the cab. I then removed the rocker panel from the drivers side. It was not installed well, which is probably good as it made it easier to remove from the back. The front was a bit better job, so I cut it a bit further away as I did not want to cut potentially good metal behind it.

Any thoughts on whether I should replace / repair the door pillar and the inner cowl before or after I drop the floor? It seems to me it might be easier to repair the inner cowl if the floor is not there. On the other hand, it seems like it might be easier to line everything up if the floor is still there. And if the old floor is there, I don't need to worry about cutting it by mistake while working on it.

At first I thought the rear pillar was in decent shape (3rd photo), but then I noticed the light shining through holes upon closer inspection (4th photo).


I would appreciate any insight as to what order my next steps should be. Thanks!

[DD1]

I would like to get some thoughts on whether to replace the cab corners before or after I replace the floor? It seems to me that if I replace the cab corners first, the new ones could get damaged if I put the cab on it's back.

I don't know if there is any other reason why I would want to do the cab corners first. I would appreciate any help. Thanks!

[mooseknuckles]

I just installed mine in my 67 this weekend, I would do the cab corners, rockers, pillar patches, or whatever after the floor is in...it will be easier, but you can still do if your careful..

[mooseknuckles]

real nice piece...

[franken]

That looks great.
Can you check and see if the seat and seatbelt underfloor reinforcements/mounts are there? Just so you don't scrap the old floor before salvaging them...
Depending on the plan for seats, you may want to save the old ones anyway.

[mooseknuckles]

Originally Posted by franken

That looks great.
Can you check and see if the seat and seatbelt underfloor reinforcements/mounts are there? Just so you don't scrap the old floor before salvaging them...
Depending on the plan for seats, you may want to save the old ones anyway.

yep...everything is there.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by mooseknuckles

I just installed mine in my 67 this weekend, I would do the cab corners, rockers, pillar patches, or whatever after the floor is in...it will be easier, but you can still do if your careful..

Nice job! Thanks for the tip and the pics. I was thinking doing the floor first might be best; makes sense. What brand is yours? I plan on ordering mine, AMD brand, in a couple of days as soon as my credit card statement date passes.

[mooseknuckles]

Tri-plus/dynacorn....wasn't cheap, but man it saved a pile if work!

[mooseknuckles]

the rest of the parts....

[soundqdoug]

Now comes the fun work! If those are Dii parts, you are in for a great time! (sarcasm) We had to cut one of the cab corners in half basically to get it to fit, and both rockers fit really weird on the pillar ends, the rear pillar piece will probably need a lot of massaging as well...BUT it's all good in the end! Have fun! Check out my log if you wanna see what I'm talking about

[DD1]

Originally Posted by mooseknuckles

Tri-plus/dynacorn....wasn't cheap, but man it saved a pile if work!

Looks like it fit really well. I saw some people comment that they had to bang it up a bit to get the floor lined up with the firewall.

I am going with AMD; Jegs sells it for about $500 with shipping. Best price I could find. I agree that saving the time and hassle is worth the money. You can spend time or money, and in this case I think the time is more valuable than the money.

My other parts are a mix of brands. I have some triplus parts I bought off another member. One of my door pillars, rear door pillar, and lower cowl panel is from Triplus. I found that the Tabco part lined up with the body better, so I went with them for my cab corners, one rear door pillar, and one lower cowl panel.

My c/c statement ends on Thursday, so I will order the new floor on Friday. Hopefully I will get it by the end of the month.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by soundqdoug

Now comes the fun work! If those are Dii parts, you are in for a great time! (sarcasm) We had to cut one of the cab corners in half basically to get it to fit, and both rockers fit really weird on the pillar ends, the rear pillar piece will probably need a lot of massaging as well...BUT it's all good in the end! Have fun! Check out my log if you wanna see what I'm talking about

Can you provide a link to your thread?

[soundqdoug]

Originally Posted by DD1

Can you provide a link to your thread?

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=639722

[soundqdoug]

Originally Posted by DD1

Looks like it fit really well. I saw some people comment that they had to bang it up a bit to get the floor lined up with the firewall.

I am going with AMD; Jegs sells it for about $500 with shipping. Best price I could find. I agree that saving the time and hassle is worth the money. You can spend time or money, and in this case I think the time is more valuable than the money.

My other parts are a mix of brands. I have some triplus parts I bought off another member. One of my door pillars, rear door pillar, and lower cowl panel is from Triplus. I found that the Tabco part lined up with the body better, so I went with them for my cab corners, one rear door pillar, and one lower cowl panel.

My c/c statement ends on Thursday, so I will order the new floor on Friday. Hopefully I will get it by the end of the month.

I ordered my floor from Jegs as well. It was a tri-plus...and actually fit really well. You'll see when you get it apart that usually the flange in the toe boards has some sort of rust, so even if it doesn't fit perfect, I would suggest using a break and creating a new flange that meets up perfectly...when we did my floor, we bolted it to the cab dolly, lowered the cab down (key: without rockers) and lined up the rear bolts (cab to floor)...then the front can be manipulated to what you need. I have a couple floor replacement pictures on my log (http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=639722).

[DD1]

Originally Posted by soundqdoug

I ordered my floor from Jegs as well. It was a tri-plus...and actually fit really well. You'll see when you get it apart that usually the flange in the toe boards has some sort of rust, so even if it doesn't fit perfect, I would suggest using a break and creating a new flange that meets up perfectly...when we did my floor, we bolted it to the cab dolly, lowered the cab down (key: without rockers) and lined up the rear bolts (cab to floor)...then the front can be manipulated to what you need. I have a couple floor replacement pictures on my log (http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=639722).

Wow! I checked out your thread and will be subscribing to it. You did a lot of work; that was one rusty cab. Somehow you make it look way too easy, but I know that is some serious body repair you did. My original cab had similar problems, although still not that bad, and I did not want to attempt it. It looking good so far.

[soundqdoug]

Thanks, nothing easy about it. Just have to overthink and overanalyze everything before you do it...good luck with yours!

[DD1]

Originally Posted by soundqdoug

Thanks, nothing easy about it. Just have to overthink and overanalyze everything before you do it...good luck with yours!

Thanks! I said you made it look easy, but I know it's not. I give you a lot of credit for taking on that job.