Floor question

[Thealien]

Is the floor supposed to be tied in/welded to the inner or outer rocker panels?

Can the floor pans be replaced without removing the outer rockers?

I don't have a lot of rust in the floors just a couple of quarter sized holes near the kick panel and about half an inch up into the kick panel. Also a couple of holes in the low spot below where the weatherstrip goes (wireway?). My rocker boxes are solid!

Thanks again.

Sorry to keep asking questions!

[Huck]

THEY are ALL tied together with LOTS of spot welds. Don't replace more metal then what is bad or you will create problems much worse then you can imagine. Replacement panels are not the same at original so minimize whole swaps----keep it small and keep it simple. Huck

[Thealien]

here are a few pictures. would you try to patch leaving the rockers in place? I think it will come back to haunt me in the future if I don't remove the rockers and do it all!

[trucky72]

I've got the samd task ahead of me. I love my truck but the floor is hideous.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Thealien]

aybody know if I should pull the rockers to fix this?

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by Thealien

aybody know if I should pull the rockers to fix this?

Rockers are about 15 bucks, great way to actually see where the rust is hiding, simple to reinstall. JMHO

[raggedjim]

With the amount of rust at that kick panel I would bet $ that the lower a-pillar and the front cab support is shot.

If I were doing it the rockers would come off just to see whats underneath (Once I pulled mine I realized just how much I was in for...)

Rg

[Thealien]

I'll post some pics from underneat after my camera batteries charge. Everything underneath looks new, thats how I missed the floor and kick rust. The rocker boxes, underneath of the truck, bottom of the doors all look mint! I probably will pull the rockers but the A pillar and rocker boxes do look good?

[c-1072]

all those parts are in layers outer rocker door hinge pillar innerrocker kick panel and then floor . like a big sandwich .you might just be better off to get the rust while everything is still in a centrilized location . I am doing the same repair as we speek it always seems to me that i wind up replacing the same parts weather its alot of rust or just a little .

[Thealien]

Thanks. I have found a local fabricator who is going to do it all this winter. Since this is all structural on the blazer/Jimmy and I plan on keeping the truck I don't want to screw up. I also don't have a garage. The guy is reasonable and very busy. He has a few $70,000 restoration projects going and a half a dozen waiting. He said he will squeeze me in between jobs this winter which is fine with me, I want to use it.

He charges $50 an hour and I really like his attention to detail on everything he is working on.

[raggedjim]

Jeez, if I had to pay me $50.00 an hour I couldn't afford me! Hopefully he has experince with the blazers, it will speed him up. I had to figure out how that rusted lump of metal was supposed to look when it was new just to try to get a idea how to fix it.

One thing you may want to try, remove the vent panels in the kick panels and reach your hane down it there. If theres a big wad of crap (leaves, mouse nest, wasps nest, etc.) I'll bet your a pillars are toast.

Good luck, Rg

[Thealien]

I really can't afford it either but I can't see me making it worse and then having to pay even more to fix the rust and my screwups??

Did you look at the pics, I would think if the pillars were toast you would see something?

I am pretty sure all my rot was moisture trapped under the rubber flooring and never dried out?

I will take pics during the work and post em up.

[DURRTY]

you might get a nasty surprise if you pull those rockers off. even if you just do the floor you will have that same crappy surprise. Rust starts in there usually. just patch it up if you don't want to pull all that out. it will save allot of time.

IMO either patch it and let it rust or pull it all and do it right.

[raggedjim]

I agree with Durrty, pulling the rockers and replacing them won't cost that much more and you will be sure of what is underneath. I've pulled rockers on trucks before that looked great but didn't like what I found underneath.

If you can live with not pulling them then go for it. I've done it in the past but I try not to do it any more. An incomplete repair tends to make it harder the next time around (that's why we are always talking about previous owners!)

Either way, it's your blazer and you can fix these alot of different ways.

Good luck, Rg

[Thealien]

The rockers are coming off. Whether I do it or I have someone do it is now the question. I thank all of you for your help. I will post pictures when they come off to show how bad things are. I plan on doing it right, after the summer. I'm cruising top off for a bit first

I did take out the vents and there was a little dry junk in there, not much and I cleaned, vacuumed, and blew out with a compressor all I could.

[raggedjim]

Pulling the rockers isn't that hard (it does take patience...) and if everything under there is good then replacing a rocker is fairly easy also. You may want to remove them yourself and then decide if a shop needs to be called in.

I know how you feel, it's hard to take a decent looking truck and tear into it. But it's kinda like not getting a termite inspection because you don't really want to know if you do have them!

I say drive it and enjoy it for awhile, once you start working on it, it will take much longer than you ever expected... (ask me how I know...)

Good luck, Rg

[DURRTY]

A PO of mine some were down the line did just that.

Filled up the rockers and rocker box with fokin expanding foam and replaced the outer rockers only, made a few nasty floor patches tossed around some bondo and called it restored!!! LOLOL


but hell yes!! get er out and on the road if you can. fix it later sometimes i wish i could just run it around the block.

[raggedjim]

Expanding foam should be outlawed on auto repairs! I've been burned by that stuff to. It absorbs moisture and will cause rust eventually.

Rg

[Huck]

Your underside looks great. Probably outer rust from under the mats as suggested. I would tend to cut away the rusted areas on the kick panel and the floor but only after I had replacement pieces in hand to see what size an angles are required in replacing. IF only the lower kick and joining floor sections are rusted away, you are in luck as the really nasty stuff is the inner and outer rockers, A&B pillars and floor supports. Also check the windshield frame above the sun visors. That area can also go without you noticing till it is too late. good luck and if you have a really good body guy who will do the work for $50. an hour---that is great as long as he works fast!!

[Thealien]

I know what you mean by hope he works fast. I am an electrician by trade and hate charging friends that kind of money. They usually tell me I work twice as fast as the $25 hr guys so they would rather have me (as anal as I am) do the work.

I too was concerned about the windshield frame when I took the roof off. I even peeled back the windshield rubber and for once on this truck I was presently surprised, looked new!

The truck looks undercoated so maybe that helped some. I am replacing the steering box and removed the wheel housing (that is also undercoated). Well being the anal guy that I am I am sanblasting and POR15 painting everything including the heads of the bolts. That undercoating does not come off easily.

I won't be repairing the floor until mid winter, we will see then. I plan on new inner and outer rockers anyway to do the floors properly so I/We will know the full extent when they are removed. I plan on using the new inner rockers (for the pick up trucks, knowing I have to modify them a little) that also replace about 4 inches of the floor front to back.