TR2/3/3A Installing floor pans

[Rubicon]

So I'm back on days off and trying to get the floor pans into the car, now the questions is I know it sits /fits under the dog leg skin, I'm assuming the fit under the kick panel skin, I know it sits on to of the trans tunnel, but after that I'm not sure.
its a pre 60000 car with the slope, so does it fit under the wheel tub or on top of the 1/2 lip? Same as right at the firewall, does the fire wall sit on it or does the floor sit on the firewall 1/2 lip?
As I had no floors for copying purposes I'm not sure how to fit the floor at the moment, currently I've got to trim the front so it matches up with the firewall, and a little bit of trimming to do at the wheel tub, but after that I should be good for temporarily installing it while I keep up the repair/rust work. Still lots of rust to cut out and replace before I tackle the sill.
Thanks

 

[CJD]

The floor rides on top of the lip of the front firewall.

At the kick panel, it depends. Early cars had the kick panel metal going all the way down to the floor panel, and the floor went behind the kick panel metal. On later cars, the kick panel stopped at the top of the inner sill, and the floor went up to about this point, so little or no overlap between the floor and the kick panel.

Let me check my pics for the rear part of the floor....I'll get right back...

 

[CJD]

On the TR2 the floor goes under a smaller floor panel at the rear, and as you said, under the rear quarter (kick) panel.

I cannot make out the tunnel joint. On my post 60k it went above the tunnel lip, but I'll have to wait for the rain to stop to double check the earlier joint.

 

[Rubicon]

If the floor is gonna ride onto of the lip at the firewall panel then I think it should be on the lip everywhere else or I'm gonna have a heck of a time fitting it in!
Thanks for the quick response, and the checking of your car.
Mine is an early ser number at ts60xx.

 

[sp53]

The floor fits in a notch along the sill all the way down the door sides. In the center by the trans cover, the floor cantilevers. By the dogleg the floor goes up behind and sits on the notch, and on both ends the floor sits on top of the end sheet metal.

Steve

 

[CJD]

I'm jealous Steve...so much unrusted metal you have to work with! How's it working using the frame as a building jig?

 

[Rubicon]

Thanks for the pictures, the one looking forward is what I need to see. So, I've almost got the driver side pan to fit, a little more trimming and it should be good. And then it's on to the fire wall to get the lower section replaced. Once this all fits to my satisfaction I'll replace the driver side sill.
Ill try and get some pictures up later tonight/tomorrow once I finally get it to sit correctly.

 

[TomMull]

The floor fits in a notch along the sill all the way down the door sides. In the center by the trans cover, the floor cantilevers. By the dogleg the floor goes up behind and sits on the notch, and on both ends the floor sits on top of the end sheet metal.

Steve

At least on post 60k cars, the forward edge of the floor is spot welded to a lip on the firewall panel and not welded on the inside. A small point admittedly and the way it's done in your last picture has been done quite commonly and may be better, in fact, but it is not quite as original. I am away from my garage and don't have a picture but here is one from another restoration:
https://www.angelfire.com/oh3/tr3a/Stages2and3.html
Tom

 

[sp53]

Thanks John for noticing and yes using the frame as a jig is the way to go. I cannot imagine trying it any other way. After reading the article that Tom posted, and seeing how this guy suggested cutting the car in half made me feel better because I needed that second opinion. The metal was not too bad and setting it down on clean new sills helped. If you go with a new battery box, get the one from TRF they have theirs made locally by a vender. The sills I got from VB they were on sale and worked fine. They had that British Heritage sticker I see a lot. But, again so did the first battery box I got, and it was way off.

 

[CJD]

Glad to hear the VB inner sills have the Heritage sticker. VB is the cheapest right now...so if I don't find used I will be ordering from them. I've got all the other metal at the house now. It'll be a TR2 front, brand new center, and a TR3 rear. Building on the frame will be a must.

 

[Rubicon]

For you guys that cut the car in half or gonna cut, a few questions. Do you repair then 2 halfs seperatly and then marry them together? Or do you get it together and then the rust repair? If it's the first, how do you make sure the 2 halfs stay the same size, and square?

 

[CJD]

Steve is in the middle of a cut in half. He may have the best answer.

For me it just seems logical when you have a whole lotta' rust through. It will be easiest to take care of the rust with the halves separated, and then join them when they are in decent shape.

1) The inner sills hold everything else together, so they will be the starting point. I plan to bolt them to the frame using the shim packs recommended in the manual.

2). Rear body section next, set to line up with the rear of the inner sill. Again...using shim packs.

3) Front "A" post to set the door in alignment with the rear quarter already tacked together.

4). Front clip, set to align with the top curve on the doors and using their shim packs too.

5). Once all this lines up, I plan to finish weld the inner sills, and then throw in the floors and outer sills.

That is the plan for the moment. As long as the parts all fit on the frame, alignment should take care of itself. Big "should" though!

 

[Rubicon]

I'm starting to think I should cut it in half, I have so much rust repair to do, it would make it easier to do the repairs. I'm gonna be doing both floor pans, both inner sills, the trans tunnel, both fire walls, and it's starting to look like I'm gonna be doing both kick panels as mine are rotten down to the floor. I haven't even looked into the trunk or spare wheel space. Both inner front wings are damaged from an earlier accident and lots of repairs to be done to the front edge of them.
But I also think I may get into far over my head if I cut it in half,
but thanks for the insight.

 

[sp53]

Yes I did it just as John laid it out. I did hang the doors on and off maybe 10 times to make sure they fit and yes everything lined up on the sills. My car halves were in ok shape; the back half was better than front. The front needing some firewall and kick panel repair on the driver side made things a little more challenging because I had to establish points where the new metal ends, but I was able to copy the other side. If I did not have the other side to copy, it would have been very difficult. One thing I did in the rusty areas was to work around the rust leaving the rust in in spots to help establish what a new piece would look like as I made it, and take pictures. Removing just the floor portion first helped me envision what the 2 pieces looked like alone. It was actually pretty straight forward once I got going.
steve