Lessons learned thus far.
1. Cut less, not more. You can always grind off the extra but you can't put it back.
2. You can't fill gaps bigger than 0.5mm
3. Clean *both* sides to a shine, not just the side you're welding. Because, guess what!? Undercoating is flammable, gives off a thick, sooty smoke and will contaminate your welds instantly!
Before:
"Floorpan Repair Kit" $64 (4x8' 18 Guage)
Instructions: "Cut and shape pan to fit. Attach to car. Drive merrily away."
(Note discreet lack of any close-up shots)
Last edited by pommeree; 04-25-2011 at 09:19 AM.
Eric P.
What was lacking in weld quality was made up for with seam sealer (Ha ha!)
Nice coat or two of Rubberized Undercoating ...
Not going to make the mistake of trying butt-welds on #2. Going to leave a 1/4" overlap this time ...
Eric P.
Wha? no ribbing on that panel to make it stiffer? Oh, I guess since it's 18 gauge you don't need that.... Great to see!
I do have this evil thought of installing a metal frame and put a lexan panel there so you can see the road go by. Kind of like that cartoon showing the "cars of tomorrow" with the glass panel on the floor so you can view the pedestrians you hit.... watch at 4:04...
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aTjof5fqQo[/ame]
I still drive daily with no commute...
The Hazard is All, Praise the Hazard!
Yes. Once I cut a piece to fit, it was remarkably strong. I haven't measured the original floor pan but I bet it's more like 20 gauge. It seemed to cut more easily and blow out more easily when trying to weld the heaver 18 gauge to it.
The good:
The bad:
And the ugly:
Eric P.
it's 22 gauge... so don't feel bad, that's about as hard as it gets with a MIG. I feel your pain, I basically taught myself to MIG weld on my floor pans. Lap welds are much easier. I've heard that pressing a piece of copper to the underside of the seam while welding will help dissipate the heat and reduce blow outs... I never tried, I just went back & welded up my blow outs.
Not bad at all Eric. Keep it up!
Ah yes! That reminds me.
This works like a charm provided you can hold it perfectly flush with the metal.
That gets harder, though, once the seam has globs and blops along it.
EDIT: Now that I'm looking at the picture, I'm thinking, "Then why didn't you switch to the 90 Deg. or Curved one, dumbass?"
Last edited by pommeree; 05-06-2011 at 04:11 PM.
Eric P.
Hey,
while you're at it. Weld another piece of that 18 gauge onto your seat rail mounts where they attach to the floor. Mine have broken TWICE with the Recaros because the seat rail mounts are too damn weak.
Holy crapola. I never realized how small our cars are! That e-brake mount almost looks like its in the back seat!
Last edited by midlifebmw; 05-06-2011 at 10:17 PM.
I still drive daily with no commute...
The Hazard is All, Praise the Hazard!
Hey, that's not a bad idea. They appear to be held down with a handful of spot-welds. I could polish up the edges and add a series of stitch-welds.
That should do the trick, no?
(Note to self. Remember to extinguish the undercoating after stitch-welding the seat brackets.)
Eric P.
Paper covers rock.
Scissors cut paper.
Razor scrapes undercoating!
Faster, easier and less messy than wire-wheeling it! (on the flat parts anyway)
The consistency is somewhere between wax and plastic.
Where the undercoating hasn't been compromised, the factory primer/paint is like new.
Something old, something new ...
got the metal all polished up but no time to weld last night so I hit it with a coat of weldable primer ...
Last edited by pommeree; 05-10-2011 at 09:35 AM.
Eric P.
Hey guess what?
When you clean the metal to a shine and set your voltage and wire speed right, you can actually weld without blowing holes in your floor and setting things on fire!
Imagine that!?
Eric P.
looks great! what do you have for driver side views? thanks...i'm right there with you...
Last edited by metalsoul; 05-15-2011 at 11:45 PM.
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"The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test. If the machine produces tranquility it's right. If it disturbs you it's wrong until either the machine or your mind is changed. The test of the machine's always your own mind. There isn't any other test."
Robert M. Pirsig
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
Those most recent pics are from driver's side, passenger floor.
I am using gas! Uh oh. Guess I need a little more practice.
I was relieved, too, when I realized I could get if off this way without making a lot of noise and a giant, stinking mess.
Eric P.
First rough template.
How do you know when you're through the weld?
When a bunch of brown junk starts falling out and you can see the seam.
Gentle ...
I've made a new template after expanding the hole and have cut and begun shaping a patch piece in 18 Guage ...
Eric P.
Good work! keep it up! Practice more with the buttwelds. yeah a lapweld is fine, but you have more potential areas to become a problem in the future. pockets that allow contaminants can be future weak spots. with practice and going very very slow, you can weld in blow outs and large root openings. Very quick tacks at alternating sides with about 15 seconds of cool down between tacks until you fill it in. heat dissipating gel helps greatly. the shorter your electrode between the tip and work, the better it will flow into the metal.
Last edited by Shimmy55; 07-18-2011 at 01:18 PM.
I'll give you three guesses as to why the patch doesn't fit the hole ...
Hard drive fail = auto-body win!
Tacked.
Welding from within the wheel-well I'm sure was more of a pain, but the trunk will be that much more smoother.
Last edited by pommeree; 08-22-2011 at 11:49 AM.
Eric P.
That's what I'm using.
I have noticed I have much better results when I clean the metal first!
My blowouts are thanks almost 100% to poor prep.
The two blowouts in the upper corner are due to my failure to clean all the sealer/coating from the inside/back side of the weld.
Where there's clean metal and a good joint, I have very little problem with striking an arc and getting a deep bead without blowing out.
It looks like crap in the picture just cause each tack is crooked and of a different length.
Maybe I don't need to stitch back/forth so much when drawing my bead?
Also, I had much better success doing butt-welds this time. I worked longer to make sure the patch fit as closely to perfect as possible.
I kept a body hammer handy to tap the panel back into alignment after each tack when necessary.
Oh, also, I did *NOT* quench the welds after each tack. I thought that was important to minimize distortion, but when butt-welding a piece in, it caused the metal to shrink which would then open the gap making further welding more difficult.
All in all, it's a lot of fun.
Last edited by pommeree; 08-22-2011 at 11:39 AM.
Eric P.
Looking good on the patching in here! Clean prep does make a good quality finished product.
I'm kind of proud about this part.
100% Butt welds and there is zero daylight (save for my 4-5 blow outs. Har Har)
Did I mention, zero daylight through those seams. (Except for the blow outs ... I can't help but laugh as I'm typing that.)
Primered with "Rust Encapsulator"
Seems a shame I have to cut a hole in it now ...
Eric P.
Well done. There are a few small patches in my Scout that need some attention and this is actually quite helpful. I'm not quite as nervous about the repairs as I was.
Although I'm still counting my blessings that I live in Arizona!
Last edited by Toyotech; 09-12-2011 at 11:37 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Now what?
Getting it out was the easy part.
Ingersoll Rand Airsaw FTW. Like a hot knife through butter.
Front Passenger floorboard patch. Seam sealer is curing and I'll hit the underside with undercoating when I get the chance.
Last edited by pommeree; 01-23-2012 at 10:15 PM.
Eric P.
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