opinions on floor replacements

[J. Billman]

A couple of weeks ago I welded in a replacement floor panel. As you can see from the first picture I did not get the bend of the inner rocker quite lined up with the front cab support. You can also see that the bolt hole in the middle of the floor is not line up either.

I tried putting the rocker panel on and found it did not fit. I took measurements from the other side and found that the floor was about 1/4 inch too high. I also noticed when I put the door back on the front of the door hit the floor panel. I have pushed it down and clamped it with a cleco as backup. I can put the rocker panel on and everything seems fine.

I have another new panel and I am questioning whether or not to cut this panel out and replace it. I think, now that I have a set of clecos, I should be able to fit the new panel better.

Am I being too picky or should I undercoat it and be done with it.

Any insight into this question/problem will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
J.

[kcsa75]

If you have a big enough hammer, you could probably make it work as it is. But since you have another floor section, I would probably start over and make it right. It doesn't appear that it's going to take a lot to cut out the flawed piece.

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by J. Billman

You can also see that the bolt hole in the middle of the floor is not line up either.

I tried putting the rocker panel on and found it did not fit. I took measurements from the other side and found that the floor was about 1/4 inch too high. I also noticed when I put the door back on the front of the door hit the floor panel. I have pushed it down and clamped it with a cleco as backup. I can put the rocker panel on and everything seems fine.

Hi J.

I replaced the driver side floor pan in my 72 a while ago and ran into a similar issue with that cab mount bolt hole. While test-fitting the panel, I noticed the location of the dimple was off and keeping the panel from fitting down tight against the support underneath. So I hammered the dimple out flat, clamped the panel back into the truck, and re-hammered the dimple into the correct position using the thick metal of the support underneath as sort of a forming die.

Mine didn't fit real good out by the rocker panel either. I was able to push it down enough to make the rocker fit without hitting the door but it's still not quite where it belongs. My project is sort of on the back burner at the moment and the rocker panels still aren't permanently installed yet. I've got some rust to fix farther back on the inner rocker/floor so I'm considering buying a pair of those inner rocker / outer floor panels. The ones that run the full length of the cab. I'll have to cut out the outboard section of the new floor pan to put them in, but that's the part that's not fitting good anyway.

[J. Billman]

Thanks for the input. I did decide to cut it out and replace it. Since I am not building a show winner I will be using the cleco setup with about 1 inch bigger on the front rear and transmission tunnel sides, plug welding it 20 or so places and seam sealing it. What took me 3 weekends to do was undone and redone in just one. Amazing how experience cut that much time off.

FYI: the second floor panel I bought was from goodmark.. 38$ +33 shipping. The first one I bought was from classic industries. 26$ + 25 shipping... Exact same stamping!

I took one of my big panel clamp (woodworking tool) and utilized it to push the cab support down. I think I could have made the old one work but when I cut it out and pushed the cab support down it would have put serious stress's that should not be there.

I took rays advice and cut out the cab mount hole welded in some flat and might cut the original out of the rusty floor pan. Not sure yet. You can see how far off the mounting hole was... about an inch and a half!

I had to cut 2 reliefs. One, right by the transmission tunnel where the gas pedal bump is and one where the floor begins to drop ( to the left of the cab mount hole at the front). These reliefs allowed the floor to match the bracing contours better. I think welding the patch in the middle of the panel caused it to warp.

I will have to pay some attention to the floor / kick panel are but that will be on hold until the kick panel arrives. You can see that I have had to modify the floor panel in this area quite a bit. Chances are it's not right and will need some banging.


Ray... If I had to do it again, I think I would buy the full length outer floor/ inner rocker like you are talking about. The best price I have found on this part is from "TruckandCarShop.com" part number 67-094121. 57$ Picture is the same as goodmark/LMC, but I don't know if they are the same.

[ray_mcavoy]

Hi J.

I'm glad to hear the re-do was worth the effort in getting the panel to fit better.

Originally Posted by J. Billman

FYI: the second floor panel I bought was from goodmark.. 38$ +33 shipping. The first one I bought was from classic industries. 26$ + 25 shipping... Exact same stamping!

I bought the floor pan (and several other rust repair panels) for mine from a local auto parts store. I can't remember the price, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it's the same stamping too.

I will have to pay some attention to the floor / kick panel are but that will be on hold until the kick panel arrives. You can see that I have had to modify the floor panel in this area quite a bit. Chances are it's not right and will need some banging.

I left the old kick panel & lower hinge pillar in place on mine, thinking they'd be useful as a positioning guide. But looking back (and at your pics J.) I think that just made it more difficult to get the floor pan into place. I also had to replace the cab floor support. I did that while the floor pan was out, but getting the support into position with the lower hinge pillar still in place wasn't very easy.

Ray... If I had to do it again, I think I would buy the full length outer floor/ inner rocker like you are talking about. The best price I have found on this part is from "TruckandCarShop.com" part number 67-094121. 57$ Picture is the same as goodmark/LMC, but I don't know if they are the same.

Yeah, those are the ones. I seem to recall reading a post here a while back that said those style of panels had a better fitting inner rocker than the inner rocker section that's part of the front floor pan patch panels. I don't know how many different stampings are on the market though. Hopefully just the one that fits good

[hippie-46]

i got the same problem as you . they dont fit very well . kind of stoped working on mine last year . i think i will buy some of those cleco's and try that .i got new kick panel when installed to test there is a big gap in the bottom of where it meets the floor. its not a show truck so might just fill it in and go on. but you would think the panels would be a lot better than they do. i had to replace cab support too another none fitting piece. i just try to deal with it . when you you start getting mad take a break try later.

[bigsnookmaster]

I would bet all of these pieces are made overseas, and you would probably always have fitment issues.