Quote:
Originally Posted by WildBillyT
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.
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Fair enough. I was absolutely agree that it being a unibody and having rot creeping up the usually solid areas you would make a new to old patch at does make the job more difficult.
My point is that in comparison to other automotive jobs necessitating fab and welding, floor pans are pretty much a cake walk. And they are by far not an "expert" job. Thats all I'm saying.
And yes I've never done pans using plug welds (I, as well as others refer to them as roset welds so you through me for a loop for a second there) but it would definitely be more structural and easier to weld.
As far as dropping pans in, marking, cutting, and welding that really all depends on the quality of pan you buy so your right you may have fitment issues.