55's 65

Hey guys and gals, I am doing a resto-mod on a '65 Coupe and notice a lot of surface rust in the floor pans and am removing it with a wire wheel. Upon removing the surface rust I've noticed 2 small pen hole sized holes in the floor pan. Can I weld and grind this or should I replace the pans? I appreciate any input.

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Couper

Looks like pretty deep pockets there,....poke/stab pretty hard all around with an ice pick and see what you get,...just looking at the deep rust pockets I'd bet a lot of the floor will blow through with any MIG heat at all.

With all the work you're doing overall, some floor pans isn't that much more.

jlg2002

It seems like a lot of work for two pitted areas. I got a couple of spots in my roof like these and plan on a weld or lead repair. I would just weld them up if a surrounding area probe inspection doesn't reveal any weakness.

Coupe

Poke it with a pointy metal stick, if you punch through with hand pressure you may have a problem, if not dont worry about it.

55's 65

I went ahead and ordered new floor pans! I've never done a replacement like this before so I will keep you guys up on how it's coming along! Thanks guys!!

Coupe

I would not cut up a floor to add more seams for no reason. Many good cars are seriously reduced in value by amatures that think a car has "floor pans", your car has one pan and should be treated accordingly IMHO.

If you can butt weld in repairs and make the repair invisible then go for it, if not I would either leave it be or do a one piece pan.

55's 65

While I would definitely agree I am an "amature", my thinking was I would order the floor pans and only use a portion of them as a patch to repair the rusted through area. I would really prefer not to replace the entire floor pan.

Coupe

Your floors look like they may be solid enough to weld to without much drama, I cant really tell, but practice a but weld on some sheet metal scrap and you can get it looking nice without much drama.Just get used to skip welding really short beads and spot welds with your wire welder. Dont attempt to run any real bead length due to heat warpage and move the work area around to avoid heat build up.

I loathe overlapping patches in cars, its my snob coming out from what they tell me, many people dont attempt to but weld and many here even go so far as to defend doing things wrong (overlapping).

If you cut out an oversized patch panel and can tack it (or screw it) to the floor on top of the damaged area, you can use a cut off wheel or thin bladed saw to cut through both the new metal and the old metal at the same time, that way you end up with a patch thats a perfect fit. Just be mindful of whats under the cut area and avoid gas lines and other important bits.