Hi,
I've read through every post I can find on floor pan replacement and was surprised to find extensive information, so thank you already to everyone who has posted such detailed descriptions. I have one more question that has come up since I've started cutting out the pans. How does one separate the seat riser from the metal opposite the tunnel (the metal on doorside). I drilled out the spot welds on the tunnel, and the floor pans, but I need to preserve the metal underneath the welds on the door-side so that I can weld back to it with the new pans and risers? I have an impact chizle, a drill, and a sawzall, so please let me know what to do. I have notice significant damage to the underlying metal when cutting out the other three sides, so I need to avoid it on this side. Thank you for any advice ahead of time, you guys are a life-saver.

Cheers,

Alan.

 

Thats the Rocker panel. Its also galvanized so when welding keep that in mind as its a bit harder to weld to. As for getting it out its the same.. Drill out the spot welds taking care to not drill through the rocker. Use the impact chisel carefully in short bursts. If the rocker is rusted out you'll likely damage it further but if its still strong you should be ok. I just replaced the pans and risers last month and spent a bit more time here making sure it didn't tear or rip the rocker. Its stronger than the pans and tunnel so with care its not that bad. Just make sure you get the spot welds drilled well.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the quick response. Two quick questions. One: What size dril bit did you use? I was using a 9/32" cobalt the other day, but it seems a little small. I'm about to stop by the local hardware and figure I'll pick up something more like 3/8" but let me know if you have a better recommendation. More important (and I realize this may be a really stupid question, so please forgive me), but is there ane easy way to tell when you've drilled through the weld before reaching the rocker panel? When I was drilling out the spots on the tunnel side, I had trouble figuring out where I was in the metal. Thanks again.

Cheers!

 

I would get a 3/8 spot weld bit. It drills flatter, and won't be deeper in the middle like a reg bit.

 

i use a uni-bit to drill out spot wels normally you can pick one up at the hardware store

 

As stated above use a 3/8 bit. Depending on how much more drilling you need to do you might want to pickup 2 bits. If its just this bit 1 will be fine. The spot weld removal bits have varying opinions. Personally after using one on 5 or 6 spots I removed it and just went ahead with a regular 3/8 bit. Some people like them, others don't.. I didn't. Remember though that your not drilling through the weld! The weld is pretty much through the 'spot' you see and bonds into the panel behind it (the rocker in this case). You just want to drill through the thickness of the first panel (the riser) and then break the surrounding weld with your air chisel. A bit deeper is fine but don't try to drill through the spot as you'll go through both before you do.

 

i just took a chisel and hammer to remove all my pans[:@]. it was super hard. im definately glad im finished with all my pans. you can take a sawzall with a fine tooth bit to cut out as much as you can and then i used the chisel and hammer. be careful though cause i almost had to go get stiches in my wrist cause i sliced it open pretty well[:'(]. on my right wrist where that ball nuckle thing is on the side. i hit a sharp piece of metal, it went in like an inch. but it didnt bleed or hurt[&:] which was the weird thing. i could see the inside of my wrist it was so deep lol.

 

7" grinder for the win... and befor i was using a jig and dremel:P