Quote:
Originally Posted by r0nin89
Hmmm alright then what exactly is the right way that takes so much fab skill?
Floor pans is like the job for a crash course in beginning to weld in an automotive application. You dont have to run a pretty bead on anything because it will warp and burn through. Nothing is crucially structural to the weight or driving force of the vehicle. And even the tacks dont even have to look pretty seeing as how it gets carpet over it...
Its not like we're talking about reskinning a quarter here...
4 Linking a car is a difficult job that requires a lot of fab skill. Saying pans takes a lot of fab skill sounds like an excuse for people that are either afraid to tackle a job that requires cutting and welding, or simply just that bad at fab. Any joe schmoe with a $100 harbor freight flux core wire feed welder some confidence and forethought can do floor pans.
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To do a
good job with floor pans you do have to have some skill. You can certainly do a half-ass job and get OK results which will not be seen, but to do a good job you need to take your time and have some skill. Hell, you can "do" floor pans without a welder! But that doesn't make it right. Some points of note:
1.) You have to clean up what's there and get back to good solid metal, otherwise you get blow-through. In some cases you CAN'T get back to good solid metal so you will have to know how to adjust voltage and feed speed to attach the new solid stuff to the old, thin metal. This will make a novice job more of an intermediate one.
2.) In a unibody car, the floor is structural. Yes, the rockers take most of the weight but the floor is used for support.
3.) The replacement pans don't always "lay in there". Every time I've done floor pans I've had to heat and form them a bit to get good fitment.
4.) I've never tack welded floor pans as a method of installation. I've tacked them in place but I've always used plug welds for final installation.
5.) This isn't a floor pan repair. He needs to repair the inner rocker as well. Not very difficult
per se but will make the fitment of the final pans harder to do, and it's now partially a structural repair. He won't have anything to weld that part of the floor to as well. This makes it a more advanced job. Can still be done at home, but not a "drop and weld"- that's an oversimplification.