Brad-ManQ45 Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 I too have gone Chris' route - bought Zeddfindings pans and bought a welder and took classesw - but I have more than pans to do - front fenders between door and front wheelwell and driver's rear quarter. Even so - with just pans you more than pay for the welder doing it yourself, and it isn't hard. I'll be starting with the pans first before doing any exterior work for obvious reasons. I have already built a rotisserie so I don't haqve to do this on my back.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 I have already built a rotisserie so I don't have to do this on my back.... That would be a HUGE help and would make the job A LOT easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil280zxt Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 I paid $1500 to a body shop to replace the foorpans on my 81 280zx back in 2001, not including the floorpans(Zedfindings!!). I stripped the interior prior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buZy Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 For 2 grand you could buy the all tools to do it yourself. Yes a little practice welding but you would own the tools when your done. Investing in a quality wire feed goes a long way. With the floor pans so thin a good 110v welder would do the trick even if you added in .125 thick frame connectors. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz8 Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 If you do the doit yourself route get a mig welder with a gas bottle, the self flux wire migs aren't that good with thin sheet metal. Get a 4.5 in angle grinder and thin cutoff wheels to cut out the old floor from INSIDE the car, the idea is to do almost all the welding of the pans from inside the car, makes it alot easier. It's not hard to do but it is time consuming work if you want it done right. There is a thread somewhere that documents some guys doing floor pans, I think it was called " rust free Z car" not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest captaincaveman Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 $2000, lol. I would just use rivets and epoxy if you can't weld it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Had to bring back this old thread as I just stripped the interior to find a few decent holes in my floor pans. I have heard of people just cutting out what was bad and riveting in new sheet metal, is this a good idea if its all sealed correctly afterwards? I only ask because I've considered doing it and was wondering if its a bad idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillZ260 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Had to bring back this old thread as I just stripped the interior to find a few decent holes in my floor pans. I have heard of people just cutting out what was bad and riveting in new sheet metal, is this a good idea if its all sealed correctly afterwards? I only ask because I've considered doing it and was wondering if its a bad idea. This is what the PREVIOUS owner did to my Z and it only ended up trapping moisture and making the rust worse IMO. Cut the sections out and replace. I did it w/ almost no prior welding experience, along with the frame rail replacment, and everything is just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alri Posted February 26, 2008 Author Share Posted February 26, 2008 This is what the PREVIOUS owner did to my Z and it only ended up trapping moisture and making the rust worse IMO. Cut the sections out and replace. I did it w/ almost no prior welding experience, along with the frame rail replacment, and everything is just fine. Sadly enough, I, the one who started this thread, still have this job on my Z going on. I had to cut out most of the floor and make my own metal pieces. I still need to weld it together tough. I can't believe it's been more than a year. It'll be done in maybe 2 more months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 What if I was to cut out the infected section, then rivet the new metal in, and prep, prime it. I've been looking at doing the bedliner to prevent rust. You don't think that if its all dry, that rust might still start to form underneath the bedliner material, do you? I'm not being sarcastic, I really wanna know if it could happen or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letitsnow Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 What if I was to cut out the infected section, then rivet the new metal in, and prep, prime it. I've been looking at doing the bedliner to prevent rust. You don't think that if its all dry, that rust might still start to form underneath the bedliner material, do you? I'm not being sarcastic, I really wanna know if it could happen or not. I feel that the floor acts as a structural member in this type of car(unibody) and that riveting in a new piece of metal may let the car flex more. I'm basing this solely from looking at my car(I'm doing floors right now too.) and slight research I've done on other cars(3rd gen f-body) and little real world experience. You could definitely rivet in some new material, seal it up good, and have it not leak. I just think it's not the best way. My 110v mig welder is the most useful tool I own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Use that metal expoxy between the two pieaces? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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