Guest Anonymous Posted March 30, 2000 Share Posted March 30, 2000 What have people been using for floor pans? The previous owner put fiberglass (!) where it had rusted through. I intend to do a frame rail setup much like Pete Paraska's, but was wondering what the floor pan should be made of? Is .125" mild steel overkill? .080" sufficient? I also need to redo my seat mounts - should I build reinforcement braces or just put large washers in? The seat will be bolted to the roll bar as I intend to road race the car. So, I want it (and me) to stay put in the event of the Big Oops! Thanks, Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted March 31, 2000 Share Posted March 31, 2000 I used either 18 or 20 guage steel sheet and welded it to the 2X3 boxed subframe. Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted March 31, 2000 Share Posted March 31, 2000 Ditto. Same as Mikelly. I got the 18 gage from a door warehouse. They cut holes in the doors for "lites" (actually windows) and throw the "holes" in the dumpster. The "hole" is two pieces of 20 gage or 18 gage sheet with a cardboard honeycomb holding them together. Rip it apart and clean off the glue. If I were to do it again, I might take the pieces that I formed up to a shop to have some stiffening beads rolled into them. Mostly to cut down on them vibrating at low frequency. Pete ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@tidalwave.net">pparaska@tidalwave.net - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 1, 2000 Share Posted April 1, 2000 How hard is it to do what Mike Kelly or Pete P. did for floors. Why did you guys do this instead of buying a replacement floor kit? And are the floors just flat pieces of metal now? Owen ------------------ http://www.homestead.com/s30z/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted April 2, 2000 Share Posted April 2, 2000 I won't tell you exactly what material to use but my pass. floor was just replaced w/ galvanized sheetmetal, guage 11 seems to ring a bell but not sure. If you're not into the bigger is always better you can get similar strength from a thinner/lighter/cheaper material by stamping/pressing some 'lines' (as if it was stamped over a long 1/2" bar to give it a long 'trough'). Mine has 2 such troughs/beads in it and this makes it v. rigid. Same principle as corrugated materials basically. I feel a lot of the xtra strength needed in a high torque Z setup is in the upper part of the car to complete the overall torque tube. Overkill on the bottom can just add weight and give you one stiff flat sheet, make sure you make it a stiff 'box' via a good race rollbar setup or cage. Got too babbling now....good luck ------------------ Ross Corrigan '80 280ZX, just yanked the faithful '68 327 in favour of a '98 350 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 2, 2000 Share Posted April 2, 2000 As usual I have taken the road less traveled by and decided that my floors will be made of 1/4" aluminum honeycomb skinned top and bottom with 26 gauge aluminum. This is a very stiff and strong alternative to the typical sheet metal floors and is very lightweight. The only drawback to using exotic materials is that they can't be welded in place. I guess it all depends on what you are shooting for. If you plan on being high-centered on a curb or something...the bigger the better. If you plan to tread lightly, 18 gauge is for you. Remember than weight is a sportscar's worst enemy...but so are curbs. SpencZ MonsterZ Cont. http://members.xoom.com/SpencZ/index.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 3, 2000 Share Posted April 3, 2000 Thanks all for the responses. I like the idea of getting used warehouse door metal for the floorpan. Dumpster diving is a lost art form! I was going to copy a friend's internal frame rail setup he did for his Mustang. Hopefully, the embedded HTML code for the URL is interpreted correctly. Anyway, Pete's setup is easier as its been designed for the Z-car. With something like this in the car the reproduction floor pan needs to be cut and welded anyway. In that case I'll just do what's cheap. Another idea I got was from Andy Craig at Dando's. He said that they had put some folded/crumpled? aluminum into the frame rails of a stock car and got a marked increase in stiffness. In his case, he was limited by class rules and this was the only legal way to do it. Does anybody has pictures or references of real roll cages in a z-car, could they please post them? I have Bob Waar's How to Hotrod your 510/240 book and he has some good pictures of the BRE? Sharp Racing? 240Zs. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 4, 2000 Share Posted April 4, 2000 Regarding frame rails and increasing stiffness, in Japan the trend right now is to pour in some kinda urethane or something and let it harden, the holes are blocked up first. They also use it in the roof area, but it's a pain to drill a hole to pour. Owen ------------------ http://www.homestead.com/s30z/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted April 10, 2000 Share Posted April 10, 2000 Hi guys, Owen. I'm catching up on being away for a while. Owen asked why I made my own. Well the material was easy to get (a friend works at the door warehouse) and cost nothing. You could do the same thing I did (put in subframe connectors) and use the aftermarket replacement floors after hacking out a slot down the length of them and have better looking results. I had to go borrow a metal brake to put in a few bends. Cheers, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@tidalwave.net">pparaska@tidalwave.net - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 10, 2000 Share Posted April 10, 2000 Pete, My drivers side floor is pretty shot up and I've been looking into options. All I am sure about is the fact that I want subframe connectors. What I need to decide is how to do the floors and the idea of doing them myself is pretty attractive. I am just not sure where to cut. I also can't tell where the floor pan meets the tranny tunnel, mine seems to have no seams at all. Regarding the connector you made, what do you think about adding more? Like an X shape or a ladder or criss-cross. Too much trouble for what it's worth? Thanks, Owen ------------------ http://www.homestead.com/s30z/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted April 10, 2000 Share Posted April 10, 2000 The floor pan and tunnel are one piece side to side, there is no seam. Cut where there is no rust and it would be easiest to fab/weld to. As far as adding more to the structure of the subframe connectors, I built beefy "tabs" off of the inboard side of the connectors that are used for attaching the JTR type crossmember. The bolts (4 each side) that go through the 1/4" thick tabs and the 3/8" crossmember ar 7/16" UNF with unthreaded grip that extend through both pieces for good shear transfer with a tight slip fit. This is a very solid connection and should aid in tieing the connectors together. Here's a pic: Cheers, Pete ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project - pparaska@tidalwave.net">pparaska@tidalwave.net - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted April 10, 2000 Share Posted April 10, 2000 I had an "X" brace in the last car and had to cutit out to get to the trans... Make sure you have clearance for the tail shaft... Also, I chose to hand form the pans, because you could then contour the metal for your specific mods. Mike ------------------ "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 10, 2000 Share Posted April 10, 2000 You had to cut it out to get to the trans? Wow! how about an X under each seat? Pete, thanks for the pics. I am still unsure as to where the best place to cut is. i want to keep it simple as I do not have any bending tools either. Owen ------------------ http://www.homestead.com/s30z/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corzette Posted April 24, 2000 Share Posted April 24, 2000 Guys, Motorsports sells the factory replacement Floor Pans for About $300 or just standard stiffer replacements for $169.00. Just trying to help. CorZette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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