datsunmike Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Sorry if this has been covered already I did search, probably not well enough. I'm installing some new floor rails under my 280Z. The original floors are great, but the passenger side rail had some rust holes in the middle of it that were patched by a lobotomized zombie. The stock floor (at least I think) on the passenger side is not flat. It has some little bumps in it, the orinal rail follows this. The new rail however is completely straight and flat! I do I go about welding the rail to the uneven floor? Do I weld some little pieces of metal to flatten everything? Or I could tack it in place and use a hammer and dolly to flatten the floor sheet meal before finishing welding? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morbias Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 It sounds like you have an early style rail, if you search google for pictures of 240z floors you'll see why it's a different shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunmike Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 I will post some picture to explain better. I beleive I have the right rails. The stock floors have some dips in them, perhaps to add strength and make pockets to drain possible water. I have not found many pictures of this since people usually change the floors at the same time, and aftermarket floors are much flatter. From the few pictures I've seen where people only replace the rails, it seems people simply hammer the new rail to conform to those valleys, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtnickel Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 I will post some picture to explain better. I beleive I have the right rails. The stock floors have some dips in them, perhaps to add strength and make pockets to drain possible water. I have not found many pictures of this since people usually change the floors at the same time, and aftermarket floors are much flatter. From the few pictures I've seen where people only replace the rails, it seems people simply hammer the new rail to conform to those valleys, I know there are the impressions lengthwise down the car, but didn't notice any across the car on my 260z. If it was me, i'd use some sheet metal screws or something to suck them together before I tacked. I did notice on my car that the stock rails had some good whacks/dents/irregularities from being improperly jacked up. Pictures would help though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunmike Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 Took me a while (ordered new floors) but I finally took some pictures. You can see in the first picture circled an area where the folded edge of the rail connects to one of those uneven dips in the floor on the side where I didn't remove the rail yet. The second pic shows the passenger floor how it looks after I removed the rail. You can see the areas where there are dips. There are a few along. Third pic, new rail and flor completely straight and flat Fourth pic, only rusted area in the entire floor pan at the rear tip of the old passenger rail. So here is my dilemma. My first idea was to simply order new floors that would be completely flat, cut everything up and have a nice time welding flat rails on a flat floor. But after inspection, only one area of about 4x4 inch is rusted and needs replacement. The rest of the floors are in great shape, still on primer. Drivers side rails are also perfect. I do know that it's better to do it while i'm at it, that's why I ordered floors, but really the original floors are in good shape except one small area which I could probably patch easily. So I guess I'm looking for opinions, should I bite the bullet and redo everything, or is there a way to weld those rails nicely to the original floors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 240 and early 260 OEM floors are flat as are good replacement replica floors (Zedfindings) while the 280 floors have a number of contours. You can put 240 floors in a 280, use 240 rails and seat brackets (no one that I am aware of makes replacement 280 seat brackets). The 280 rails we sell are modeled after the floor pan of very clean and unmolested '75 so they have the correct contours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunmike Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 How I wish I knew that!! I bought the Zeddfindings since they are from a fellow canadian, less complicated to obtain with customs and all... Do I understand well that in my situation, if I choose to use the 240 style floor and rail I cannot reuse the 280 seat brackets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 You may well be able to do so but that would depend on the seats themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.