floor pan replacement

[Stewart]

For those who have tackled this job how long did it take you to cut the old pans out and weld in new pans? I'm trying to figure out which way is going to be the most cost effective to complete the job. Doing it my self or hiring a body guy to do the work at 40 an hour.

I'm short of the needed tools not to mention I would have to hire out the welding as my garage has just enough amps to it to run the garage door and a single light.

 

[tony barnhill]

Cut the old ones out & glue the new ones in with Fusor.

 

[RTR52nd]

Hey Stewart -

I'm also in the process of removing my floor pans, have welding experience and access to the necessary tools, but have been considering Fusor as well.

So, Tony, Have you used it on floor pans, and if so, what is the clamping method? Or, how the heck do you keep pressure on it for 5 hours? Sand bags? Pay small children to sit in your B? I know at least two of us who would love to know!

Thanks!

 

[ccougill]

shoot a few sheetmetal screws at various places around the edges to clamp it. they can come back out, or as I usually do, grind the heads off and cover em up with seam sealer.

 

[DrEntropy]

I used pop-rivets. ground 'em a bit after the 'glue' set. I used the SEM "Multi Purpose Panel Adhesive".
This skeptic is now a believer. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif

Ooohh! And pay attention when going thru the starboard floor: the wiring harness doesn't take kindly to being punctured/pop-riveted. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif

 

[tony barnhill]

shoot a few sheetmetal screws at various places around the edges to clamp it. they can come back out, or as I usually do, grind the heads off and cover em up with seam sealer.

Yep, listen to chuck - he taught me how to!!

 

[ccougill]

Doc I learned that the hard way, there's a brake line under there too

 

[tdskip]

So I haven't actually replaced an MGB floor pan (yet) but I had some cutting and welding to do on the MGA. It took me a year to psych myself up for it but I found a mentor and just dug into it. Turned out it wasn't nearly as hard as I expected. Messy and time consuming, yes. Hard, no.

Getting the old boards out is actually fair early from the looks of it.

Maybe we can huddle in Pasadena and have a cutting and welding party!

 

[tony barnhill]

On the last set of floors I did, I cut the old floors out leaving about 1" all around the edges & cross members....then, I cleaned that up, test fitted the new floors & used the 1" of old floor as a lip for the Fusor to adheer to.

Oh, I also dropped all my wiring & plumbing away from where I was cutting beforehand so I didn't repeat chuck's uh-oh.

 

[RickB]

Wow!
Where do you buy this stuff? (Fusor)
Sounds like a "miracle in a can"!!

 

[tony barnhill]

Any good auto body supply house.

 

[DrEntropy]

Yup. Strong as can be. Took me about a day per side to cut the old ones out and glue up the new ones. I too left the "lip" around the pans. Makes a good way to get the new ones right where they should be.

 

[MGBGT_noob]

Ooohh! And pay attention when going thru the starboard floor: the wiring harness doesn't take kindly to being punctured/pop-riveted. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif

That's why you should make one of these part of any resto. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[Rob_Edwards]

Hey Stewart -

I'm also in the process of removing my floor pans, have welding experience and access to the necessary tools, but have been considering Fusor as well.

So, Tony, Have you used it on floor pans, and if so, what is the clamping method? Or, how the heck do you keep pressure on it for 5 hours? Sand bags? Pay small children to sit in your B? I know at least two of us who would love to know!

Thanks!

 

[tony barnhill]

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif hahaha...if it works, what the heck!!

 

[BritCarFan]

Does the adhesive have the same strength as a weld if the part is used in a strutural area?

 

[ccougill]

according to the Fusor website, the surrounding steel should tear before the glue joint breaks. All the automakers have been gluing cars together for years. That said, I wouldn't use it on my sills or rockers. I would use it to hang a fender. website https://www.lord.com/Home/ProductsService...98/Default.aspx

 

[jlaird]

I would think not good for anyplace that has stress all the time.

 

[DrEntropy]

Ummm, can anyone say: "UH-1"?!!? Glue 'n pop-rivets flyin' in mass formation, kids. Plenty of constant stress there, Jack. Those airframes are still workin'. My MGB would hardly be put to the stress levels the glue is likely to fail at. I bonded a bunch of different metals together with the stuff and tortured it every way I could think of: Impact, tensile and shear. It stuck like, well, like GLUE to the parent materials. Only half bad failure I could point to was a shear failure with aluminum, two strips of 1/8" glued together then after cure time expired I put it into a vice and BEAT it with a hammer to a 50* angle before it let go.

 

[tony barnhill]

Factories have almost stopped welding during the new car construction process...glueing is becoming much more acceptable - especially with plastics,etc. taking the place of some metals.....I'd glue any body part to a car!