4reboy

The floor pan should not be overlapping anything if it was done right. It is supposed to be butted up next to the cut out parts and welded together.

Here's how my body shop did mine, they did a great job. And if there is rusted through parts further up on the toeboard, then patches shold have been made to replace that metal. I needed some patches on the toe board to take care of it on my car.

onegreedy

that is not floor board replacement that is a patch job, i just got something similar in my 67. was pretty po'd i dont know why people dont care about the work they do, if i go to get my floor REPLACED and supply replacement pannels, i dont know why someone would just spot weld them instead of butt welding them like it shoud be done !

Rodbender

Interesting feedback. Here's the other side of the story. I went through a 67 coupe for a kid(17-18) a couple of years ago(I've done panels for 20yrs). welded in everything but the rear quarters (previously done, maybe with a 9lb sledge, by someone else). I told him $2,000 for patching ALL holes, torque boxes, floor pans, half the trunk floor, frame rail repairs etc. He supplies the materials and helps. After a month he quits. Tells me he's too busy blah-blah. I finish the job, except the final rough out to get it ready for paint. Six months later he's asking for his money back saying the welds were popping while they were moving the car and that he knows SOMETHINGS about welding penetration and such. SO my question to him is how much penetration do you think you need on a 16th of a inch of sheetmetal?All of a sudden he knows it all. ...and it all started because he couldn't find anyone to help him out. What an inconsiderate...

Reverb

This isnt a spot weld, its a tack. If this is all thats on it - take it back.

mustdoc

Thanks for all of the responses.

It sounds like the best course of action is to remove more, if not all, of the sealant to see what else was or wasn't done under the sealant.

FWIW, I hate it when you ask folks to NOT do something and they ignore your request. I have heard horror stories of pissed off shop people sabotaging people's rides but there is no smoking gun to prosecute (e.g. fine sand in the oil pan, shavings in the tranny, etc.). I have been very nice to these guys to try to avoid conflict. This may be their level of work and no one ever noticed or complained. Who knows?

I will submit more pictures after I strip off some more sealant!


For my education - My concerns, if I am correct in my understanding, should include:

1. The type of welds - some advise against continuous lines/beads since the heat can warp the metal and have advocated application of many spaced rosette-type spot welds... while others advocate continuous line welds. Shouldn't there be a continously welded surface without gaps but the welds are applied intermittently such as to avoid warpage? A little help with the optimum technque?

2. The type of joints - Is it correct to state that overlapping sheetmetal results in seams that do not allow for optimum rust protection and the joints should be "butt" joints separated by ~1 mm prior to welding?

3. The presence of clean metal at every mating surface is a must.

Thanks again - this forum is great.

bluovalguy

I say screw em. Try to get your money back, but dont bother taking your car back to them. This is the second bad expierience with that shop. Find a new place to go.

john721

The proper terminology for the correct process of butt welding the sheetmetal is "backstep welding". MIG welding doesn't build the same "heat" as TIG welding... When MIG welding the panels, you just need to be patient, backstep, and you're good. I welded all my panels 100% penetration, no "tacks". Overlapping is a short cut.

pokertramp

That's not even a tack weld. That person doesn't even know how to weld,,,,,,bubblegum weld would be the correct term. If you push from under the car, see if they pop then show them and get your money back.......I hate to sound rude but you should have learned your lesson after the brake line incident and went some place else.


My neighbor had his classic painted for $2,500. All under the doors, Rockers where either a lot of runs, and I mean 1" drips hanging off the car or they missed totaly with the paint. Lots of dirt under the paint and chicken feet or orange peel. I bad mouth that painter to everyone I know.

109jb

From the pictures it doesn't look like they did a good job. However; there is the doctrine of "caveat emptor" (Let the buyer beware). If all you told them was you wanted the floor board replaced, then they did what you asked for whether or not you think the work was adequate. Whether it was butt welded, lap welded,continuous, rosette whatever would be up to them unless you specified which way you wanted it. You did ask them not to seam seal, so they should not have done that. Was this intentional or did the word just not get down to the guy that actually did the work??

I personally don't see anything wrong with lapping the panels. After all, that's how the car was put together by Ford. There were lots and lots of lapped welds. I would say though that since the floorwas one piece along the transmission tunnel it should be continuosly welded along that side. A butt weld there would be the cleanest, but even here I don't see anything wrong with a lap weld.The front of the floor board was lapped from the factory with the toe board, so a lap there would be fine as long as the welds are good.

I say wire wheel the seam sealer off first and see what you have before you jump to conclusions, and keep in mind that if you didn't specify butt welds, you can't necessarily expect it to be that way.

My 2 cents.
John B

mustdoc

Great points 109 - your advice, as well as others, is sound.

Caveat Emptor, as I understand it (I am not an attorney but have several friends and family members who are), is a legal concept some states embrace which immunizes a seller of property who fails to disclose defects in the property. I am not sure of the legal implication of this as it pertains to possible fraud or negligence in this instance; this transaction involved the purchase of a service, not purchase of property.

I hope I do not have to pursue the legal avenue in small claims or otherwise.

You are correct - I did not specifiy what type of joints. We did discuss issues such as MIG welding clean metal to clean metal, grinding down the rough welds and not treating or sealing the work.

I will strip the sealer and inspect the rest of the work.

BTW, A local shop-technical school teacher recommended this shop - I thought I had "done my homework" researching the appropriate body shop.

Live and learn.