mustdoc

Had a local body shop replace my driver side floor pan (it was rusted and full of holes). I asked them not to treat it or apply sealant since I planned to do that myself but that request was ignored. This was the same shop that nicked my fuel line and did not tell me about their repair... until their repair leaked gas onto my garage floor that evening when I arrived home.

They had applied the black 3M sealant all along the inside mating edges and along the frame rail extension. As a result, I could not see their welding rosettes or lines. In addition, they sprayed a black sealant on the outside under surface, again obscuring their welding work. The black sealant appeared to cover some of the rust remaining on the toe board that was not replaced. I asked if they welded the new floor pan to clean rust-free metal and had clean mating surfaces and they assured me that they did.

I was curious and wire brushed out a small patch of the sealant where I could feel a weld. There appears to be sealant interposed between the floor pan and the toe board mating surface and the toe board mating surface appears to have rust.

Is this a correct technique for floorboard repair? How can I make sure the job was done correctly?

I tried to upload 3 images, all less than 300 KB, but was unable (message kept stating the file was too large).

bluovalguy

I would not care if it was right or not. It was not what you asked for, and it appears they covered up sh1tty work, so it would lead you to wonder what else they covered. Especially given the fact that they have already screwed up once before. I would be pretty pissed.

john721

IF they overlapped the sheetmetal, you would almost expect to see "tack welds", where if the "butt welded" the pan, you would expect to see the sheetmetal welded 100%, with no filler at all. I ended up replacing my firewall because of the exact issue you are describing. At best, they could have added patches where the replacement pan didn't quite go far enough to get all the rust. I'd be on it with a wire brush removing all the coating to see what they gave me.

zmetalmilitia

Sorry to hear of your possibly bad experience. Sounds like they are attempting to cover some lazy work done. To replace a floor correctly, one would be to remove all the rust and then weld in new floors. If you only specified a certain section, then they did what you asked them to do. Sounds like they can't follow the customers wishes if they are seam sealing and primering without your consent, especially if you requested they left it bare. You don't want any rust on your cherished car. It will just create another round of problems later.

It just goes to show, many places out there are out to make a quick buck. Many poeple just want to pay somweone to do the job they want done and move on, not really knowing what kind of quality was performed. That is why a lot of people on here prefer to learn and do the job themsleves, like me. This way I know the job is complete, maybe even more so because it is my ride I am doing the work on. It really isn't that difficult to learn how to do the majority of the work yourself, with a little knowledge and a lot of patience and determination, you can perform a lot of the work well. At least you have the insight to ensure what is being done to your car.

I'd be pissed too if I paid the money, I'm sure it wasn't cheap, to have something like that done. I was quoted nearly $1000 to replace my floor pans, just the long peices on each side. I did it under that and paid for a $500 Lincoln welder anda $200 welding helmet, that is now mine forever! Yeah, more tools! Good luck with your endeavor.

john721

I'm with you zmetalmilitia... I had zero experience doing any body work... and i made it through... This is a pic of my floorpan project.. that led to a whole car rebuild!

[IMG]local://upfiles/54210/B498548BF72B4F5093A8AFF91B96D958.jpg[/IMG]

ninteen66mustang

I have to suggestions:

1) If you still want to be sure it is correct, go to photobucket.com, create a free account, and just add the images that way so the more experienced people can look at them on here.

2) If you are pretty convinced that they did it wrong, go talk to a manager or owner where you had the work done, and demand that they at least give you your money back, and/or pay to have the work done correctly by a better shop.

I know what it feels like to be screwed over by a shop, but usually if they know they are wrong there isnt much they can do and they will usually try to avoid a lawsuit.

mustangmatt63

The fact that they did not do what you asked tells me they do not value their customers!I would go back and speak to the manager and see if you can get any satisfaction.You definitely need to make sure it was welded properly to good metal.I would scrape off some seam sealer and verify that there is NO RUST OR BAD WELDS and if there are I would threaten them with a lawsuit!! No respectable business would do something you asked them not to do and the way it sounds is like they did not do a good job and tried to cover it up and act like they did you a favor by sealing and coating it!! GOOD LUCK and let us know what happens!![sm=bustedsign.gif]

STAng408W

How about posting more pictures? Did you build a jig or just support and brace the car? My project is in about the same kind of shape yours is. Learning to do my own body work too.

mustdoc

Thanks for the suggestions on photobucket - Hope these links work (newbie at this)

I will await further comment before removing any more of the sealant -

From what I can tell from the small little segment where the top layer of sealant is removed, it appears that the new floor pan overlaps the remaining toeboard segment and that there is sealant interposed between the mating segments. There appears to be rust remaining on the toeboard segment that was covered up by the sealant.

Thanks again guys - your comments are very helpful.

mustdoc

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...ntremovala.jpg

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...antremoval.jpg

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...antremoval.jpg

Try these links - I hope these work.