TR6 Partial TR6 floorpan replacement ...

[pa297pass]

Hi all! Happy New Year!

I am thinking of partially replacing the driver's floorpan on my TR6. It has many rust pinholes in the front portion of it. I want to install carpet in my car, but refuse to spend that money without fixing the floor first.

Anyway, here is what I am thinking of doing, and I want your opinions. The inner and outer sills are good (as far as I know) as well as the "channel" where the tunnel cover bolts. I want to cut out the flat portion of the floorpan, from in front of the seat to somewhere under the dash. I would leave maybe a 1/2" lip along the outer (sill) and the inner (trans cover channel) sides. I then would cut my new floorpan larger (1/2") than the hole in my floor, lay it on top of the floor, and spot or seam weld it in place. I would then seal it on the top and as best I could on the bottom with automotive seam sealer.

I know this is far from concours, or even correct, but what are your thoughts? While I would someday like to do a frame up restoration on this car, I can not allow myself to take it off the road at this time.

TR6BILL - do you have any advice? I saw in the archives you recently tackled a similar rust hole problem. I was wondering how you handled it.

Thank you all for your help.

Matt

 

[Guest]

Matt, my brand-new British Heritage floor pans are sitting stacked against the wall at my office. That is how I fixed em. Replacing floor pans is a really big deal and I don't have the guts to tackle that job yet. Sorry to disappoint. If the question is what did I do in the meantime, then I just removed what surface rust I could and repainted the floors, covering the pinholes with thick paint and body sealer. Strickly temporary! Replacing the floor pans, whether partial or complete, will require a great deal of effort and quite possibly a new paint job if you are as amatuer a welder as I am. Remember, the floor pans are part of the structural integrity of the TR6 and should be tackled one at a time, with a keen eye for body shifting and the ability to keep everything chocked properly so that there is no body sag. Sorry if I am of no great help, but there are others on this forum that have done it or can do it well. Surely they will pop up. Good luck.

Bill

 

[Alan_Myers]

Hi Matt & Bill,

Matt, I think by the time you do what you suggest, you will actually be doing more work, rather than less. The ridge that supports the g'box cover is an integral part of the new floor pan, so welding a seam along there is a bit of additional welding, over what would be needed to just replace the entire floor pan.

If you just want a patch good enough to last a few years, why not make it easy on yourself. Get a small sheet of 18 gauge steel and make smaller patches to cover only the rusted areas, then use seam sealer and paint well from above and below. Alternatively, if you are really talking about pinholes of rust and the floor is structurally sound, you could just clean it up, kill the rust and use some epoxy to fill the holes.

I know neither of these are "proper" repairs, but would keep the car on the road a few more years until you are ready to do it right.

I've also seen half repairs of the floor pan, with only the front half replaced, and with a seam under the seat. Once the seats are back in and the carpets are down, the only person who will know is the guy crawling under the car to replace the oil and lube the universal joints. (I prefer to go ahead and replace the whole panel, but only because I can't bring myself to cut that nice, new floor pan in half!)

Cheers!

 

[Guest]

Alan,
We are addicted! Getting up at 4:00 am, making a cup of coffee and checking britishcarforum.com. Basil, what hath thou wrought?

Bill

 

[Alan_Myers]

[ QUOTE ]
Alan,
We are addicted! Getting up at 4:00 am, making a cup of coffee and checking britishcarforum.com. Basil, what hath thou wrought? Bill

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Bill,

Hey, there are worse addictions!

But actually, no, you'll never see me get up at 4 a.m. for anything I can possibly avoid. On the other hand, I'm often working until 2-4 a.m. and might take a peek here before heading to bed! Just on a slightly different schedule than much of the world. (I conduct some business via the Internet and email, and also have moderator responsibilities on another, photography-related forum. So, I'm online at least 2X a day, 7 days out of most weeks.)

Yawn!

 

[tdskip]

Hmmm - getting the floor in/out doesn't look that hard. What am I missing?

 

[Guest]

Tom,
Depending on what side of the fence you are standing on. If you are doing a complete resto on a TR6 and either plan on pulling the body off the frame and mounting it on a rotissiere or even leaving the body on the frame (as I did) and stipping it down to a shell, this is not that complicated a process. All the usual problems of cutting, fitting, hammering, welding, body bracing, etc. are relatively straight forward when you aren't worried about damaging a restored car. But, if you find that you need a new floor pan in a halfway nice car or a restored car, the replacement becomes a really, really big deal. Maybe even a new paint job. Flash from a welding machine will play havoc with carpet, wires, upholstered panels, fuel lines, brake lines, paint, convertible tops, dash padding, etc., etc. It is not a job to look forward too that is why I keep putting mine off till I might want to repaint in a few years.

Bill

 

[tdskip]

Ah... well since I bought the TR6 stripped and the TR4A interior needs to be riped out anyway...

Thanks for the clarification Bill.

 

[skikir]

It's too bad someone does not make a plastic vacuum formed or fiberglass piece that can be glued into place. I'd by one in a heart beat. You really have to be dedicated and be abel to weld to do it yourself and rich enough to have someone else to do it for you.

 

[KSROADSTER]

Here are some pics of the floor patches I made last month.

I cut out all of the rust, and buffed out all the bubbles. Then I treated the existing metal with rust inhibiter, painted it, and installed a 14 gauge stainless steel patch panel.

[/img]

[/img][/img]

I used a trypolymer, sealant geocel 2300, beats any kind of silly-cone sealant hands down. A little slower to dry, and some odor for a while, but sticks like crazy, and has the elasticity of a rubber band when it finally drys. I scrounged the stainless from the scrap metal bin at work so, my total cost for the entire job was under 10 bucks for both sides. The hole on the passenger side was smaller, and all the rust was from the inside out. The under side looks great, and with a couple of coats of under coat on the patches they should last for many years. Keeping water out of the cab of the car and the floor mats and carpet dry will help too. I can't be held responsible for the previous owners neglect .......... just do my best to make up for it and not get upside down in the value of the car.

 

[Alan_Myers]

Hi all,

For pinholes, try www.por15.com

They make a very tough, putty-like version of POR15 called POR-Patch that can be used to plug and seal things up quite well, until you get around to a proper panel replacement.

Just wire brush to knock off any loose rust, dab some POR-Patch into the holes and let it dry overnight, then paint any remaining bare metal or surface rust... done.

Just don't get any on of this stuff on your hands and I'd not recommend it for any panel that you plan to patch-repair later... it's too tough to get off (an oxy/acetylene torch is the fastest/easiest method I've found, on metal surfaces... *not* hands).

Cheers!

 

[trfourtune]

hey,
nothing wrong with that fix. you can even make it almost perfect if you form the existing edge to a recessed lip. you can make a crimp tool to form the lip with a modified pair of vise grips and work you way around. spot weld in a pattern from side to side, not in a row, left right, upper lower till you have 4" spot spacing then weld it up. grind flush and nobody will ever know. need to sheild everything and cover. remove seats & carpet. messy, time consuming, but will last. need to seal underside. best to pre-paint panel except for 2" around edge bothe sides.
good luck
rob

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Matt,

Go with your plan. Suggest using putty type epoxy around the edges of patch panel area to seal it up. Caulking or RTV will work but the epoxy is better. That will hold you until you get the opportunity to go all the way with it. Replacing whole floor is a pretty timely job. Not that hard but time consuming if done correctly.

Marv

 

[Willy]

I bought and imported to Australia a Californian 1973 Triumph TR6 as they are free of rust. &*)%$#!* they are. Mine was good underneath but one of the owners must have been a surfer (I guess) as the floor was rusted out on the LHS from inside. When I pulled the carpets a lot the floor came with them. WOW how do I do this. I bought a new floor panel from Rimmers . I bought spot weld removing drill bits and drilled out every spot weld along the bottom of the sill across the front of the fire wall and along the flange on the inside of the sill that joins that part of the body to top of floor also removed the bolts and washers. My brother _ in law can weld and he offered to help and we struggled for a full day to lift the panel out. As the last 10 inches were sound we cut the floor off at that point so as not to have to weld inside the rear suspension. We trimmed the new panel to match and inserted and removed it 6 or 7 times trying to get to sink into its correct position. We had bent the inner flange on the sill up to allow the floor to pass it and the supporting brackets made refitting the floor very difficult. When it settled in it fitted well and while it may not be strictly kosher our remedy saved us lifting the body off the chassis and hanging from a rotisserie to work on it underneath. Rather than Bronze the floor to the Tunnel it was welded and all the drilled out spots were MIG welded. The gaps will be sealed with a flexable bog. It is not an easy job and should not be attempted without you being willing to spend the time and a lot of Effort . Willy

 

[charleyf]

But once it is complete, you can feel so proud of the accomplishment. Been there myself.
Charley