Sleeper-Z Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 Hi Guys, I was wondering what is the recommended Gauge to use for the floor support and floor pan? Thanks again, Steven M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 16 or 18 cold rolled steel. you can buy replacement floorpans from zedd findings for a reasonable price. http://www.datsunzparts.com/start.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 14. If yer gonna do it, do it. 14 is also easier to find (at least in my area). Don't bother with 18. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 Hmmmm...I used 18 gauge. Plenty thick....and much thicker than OEM. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 I'm just saying, if you're going to go to the trouble of replacing something, upgrade as much as possible. I think 12 would just be too heavy and difficult to work with. IMO, 14 is the last size of sheet metal that I can still consider sheet metal. 18 is pretty thin. My guess is the stock floors (and most everything else) are 20. I can bend 18 easily by hand and cut it with snips. It's not much of an upgrade. 14 is much more rigid and does not require any beading to reduce flex. It's obviously heavier, but I seriously doubt it will add noticable weight when you'r just replacing bits and parts like framerails and floors, etc. It's possible to do basic bends on narrow pieces of 14ga. But I don't have a brake, so I had a local shop do the longer folds I needed. You have to use a sawzall, skilsaw or other power tool to cut it (unless you're lucky enough to have a plasma. There again though, I specified sizes from the shop and only had to do minor trimming. Although, for the piece I used to patch the spare tire hole, I didn't want to wait, so I just used my sawzall to cut out the big ol' circle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zfan Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 Actually my 71 Z's floor pans are more like the thickness of an aluminum coke can. Never stomp your foot in a Z in a fit of anger as you may pull a Flinstones move with your feet. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 240hybrid Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 The Floor Pan In general, the body is comprised of a floor pan and an upper body assembly spot welded to each other. The floor pan, being fairly flat, provides little torsional rigidity; that will be supplied by the mating of the pan to the upper body. The body pan must provide significant bending strength, however, just to hold its shape and keep the passengers from sinking into the tarmac. Longitudinal strength for the pan is supplied by the rather large transmission tunnel, and by two outboard box sections comprised of the rocker panel on the body exterior mated to a C-shaped piece on the cockpit interior. This came from this page here... http://zccw.org/Tech/Body/08-97AnalysisEarlyZChassis.html This gives you a idea as to what kind of stresses the pans see and may help in making your decision. I think that 14 gauge is a bit of overkill, but if you want to,go ahead. I would go 16-18 gauge. I think the pans I got from Corzette were 16 gauge and that seemed very sufficent. I would stop by the Home Depot and take a look at some different gauges to see what you think as far as workability and strength. Chase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleeper-Z Posted November 20, 2003 Author Share Posted November 20, 2003 i think i'm opting for 18 gauge. talked to my teacher about it and he also recommended 18. for support i'm going to cut out the stock outboard box sections and weld in some structural steel channels (probably 4 X 1-1/2 X 3/16) and possibly triangulate it or X it with another peice. This way, it should be stronger and i can have a lower seat position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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