17 replies to this topic

[Gizzum]

I have had to replace both my floorpans for my MOT so as I had the camera to hand, I thought I would do a how to... To be quite honest it is a straight forward job, depending on the amount of rust. My drivers side was quite bad and I had to replace the ensine mount and replace the reinforcing plate

Drivers Side Before...





As you can almost see in the above pic the reinforcement plate for the engine mount has rusted severly and has even cracked down the right hand side.

Passenger Side Before...



Easier to fix as there is no rust up the bulkhead.

New panels




To cut out i followed the line of the sill, then along the edge of the cross channel. Then along the front (this I will leave up to where you are going to cut as it really depends on the amount of rust).

The drivers side cut out...



A word of warning... Make sure the brake line and battery cable are removed from their griping brackets that are situated in the middle of the panel. I cut the side plate out on the drivers side (the plate that is on the inside of the sills) I didn't take a picture! D'oh. I then decided to leave this on on the passenger side as welding the new panel in on the drivers side was a bit of a mare and I wish I hadn't cut it out.

I had to do a lot of cutting of the panel as I didn't want to use the back plate that covers up where the front seats are bolted to, so this came off. When the panel was cut so that it fitted in the hole I then scribed round the hole from underneath the panel. I then cut along the scribe lines to provide a butt weld rather than an overlap (I would of ended up having to weld it twice if I used an overlap weld).

Once all butted up nicely! I tacked it in every 50mm or so then seam welded between the tacks. I was careful not to weld too much on one side at a time as this would have warped the panel.

All welded in (Take note of my fabulous welding!!!)





The inner sill panel that I wish I hadn't cut out...



The reinforcing plate for the engine mount...



The brake pipes and battery cable moved out of the way...



The passenger side cut out... Shows the cut out lines better than the drivers side





Panel welded in...



Hope this helps!!!!

--EDIT--

Forgot to mention that if you could probably get this done within a day if you really get stuck in. I managed to weld up the drivers side and then do the passengers side in about 5 hours. With tea breaks, of course.

The End

Edited by Gizzum, 22 March 2007 - 09:09 PM.

[Tomf]

Thats really helpfull thanks

I think it should be put in the FAQ!!!

[nmt_oli]

How much are these floor panel sections?

i have rust in similar areas, and was jsut considering fabricating smaller patches, that however looks easier and probably more sensible.

[tino]

Thanks for this, Im going to do the same in the summer. i'll bookmark this as it will be helpful when the time comes

[mini93]

awesome thanks, did you just grind the edges back to make the pannel fall into place?

[Gizzum]

How much are these floor panel sections?

i have rust in similar areas, and was jsut considering fabricating smaller patches, that however looks easier and probably more sensible.

The panels are £10.67 from Mininspares CLICK ME FOR RH SIDE... CLICK ME FOR LH SIDE

These are adertised as overpanels but went in no problems as you can see

awesome thanks, did you just grind the edges back to make the pannel fall into place?

I cut the cross member plate bit out, then cut the sides and front as I needed. Basically I got the panel to sit roughly where it should in the footwell then scribed along the underside of the panel where I needed to cut the extra out to fit (If that makes sense?)

Edited by Gizzum, 23 March 2007 - 06:39 PM.

[mini93]

yeah that makes sence, you cut up to the line suported the pan n tacked in place?

Edited by mini93, 23 March 2007 - 07:07 PM.

[Gizzum]

Yep!

[minidaves]

a question why did you cut out so much orginal floor, i normally fix floors by cutting out the grot and then cutting floor pan to suit hole plus 1/2inch the seam weld both sides

dave

[Gizzum]

No point in wasting all the new shiney metal of the new panels! Plus I hate the look of patches. Hence why I did the 9-10 inch section of the boot, instead of two patches. The boot before was like a patchwork quilt! Just wanted new metal to play with!

[mini1976]

One of those pipes is the fuel line!!! Make sure thats no where near where your welding or grinding. Better still drain the fuel to avoid a mini shaped fire, not to mention the burns to you if it did catch light

[cagy]

That seems fairly simple but i bet it isn't!! lol!! I've got to do both of mine so i'll certainly use this guide it's very helpful!! So after you cut the old floor pan out did the new one just slot straight in??



Craig

[Sam]

most panels need a bit of modification to fit, I spent a little while preparing my floor pan to fit correctly but it isn't too bad really

[Gizzum]

most panels need a bit of modification to fit, I spent a little while preparing my floor pan to fit correctly but it isn't too bad really

What he said...

I cut mine out then just offered up the new panel and then went "That bit can come out!" until it fitted. Don't take too much off at a time, and you can't go wrong!

good luck

[racer36]

how strong will it be if u weld from on top and underneath then grind the top welds flat?

will have no carpets in my car so dont want ugly welds showing !