Torque Box and Floor Pan Replacement

@PCO6 and @Vtx531 how do you get to the spot welds along the red line? I’m sending this for @KJT. He’s out in the garage working on it.

Also, how in the heck do you find some of the spot welds? He can't see them at all. He wire-wheeled some of it to get the rust off in hopes of finding them, but the torque box still seems rather sturdy, so there must be several more.

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I would toss the spot weld cutter and use a 3" air cutting disc 90degree die grinder from underneath. Bonus- then the floors don't get any holes in them if you are saving them.

Might have to actually cut the box/channel part of the torque box off to get back behind that specific spot. Cut it off with an angle grinder- big long slit front to back as much as you need. Maybe one slit on the side, one slit on the bottom to remove that half of the channel, then one on the inside side to remove the other half. Then you should just have the two rusty flanges left. Use the 3" air cutting disc to sort of grind out each spot weld. If you get something in there to pry up as you go, one by one, that will help you know where the spot welds are. Try to grind them out just through the torque box layer of metal and leave the floor metal intact.

Just to clarify, all the old parts come out easier in smaller pieces. No point in trying to pull out the torque box or floor pan in one big piece. Cut it up as much as you need to get access and remove a little bit at a time.
 
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JMT said:
@PCO6 and @Vtx531 how do you get to the spot welds along the red line? I’m sending this for @KJT. He’s out in the garage working on it.

Also, how in the heck do you find some of the spot welds? He can't see them at all. He wire-wheeled some of it to get the rust off in hopes of finding them, but the torque box still seems rather sturdy, so there must be several more.

View attachment 484303
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I don't recall having a problem with the welds in that area. I only replaced the driver's side torque box and part of the footwell floor. I'm pretty sure I drilled out the spot welds in the area you show in your pic from the under side. I agree with @Vtx531. I cut out the old torque box in pieces and actually left small parts of the original in place where there was no need to replace it.

I think your pic is of the right rear floor board. This is what I did for the front left side. Everything else was OK on mine.

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PCO6 said:
I don't recall having a problem with the welds in that area. I only replaced the driver's side torque box and part of the footwell floor. I'm pretty sure I drilled out the spot welds in the area you show in your pic from the under side. I agree with @Vtx531. I cut out the old torque box in pieces and actually left small parts of the original in place where there was no need to replace it.

I think your pic is of the right rear floor board. This is what I did for the front left side. Everything else was OK on mine.

View attachment 484367
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Vtx531 said:
I would toss the spot weld cutter and use a 3" air cutting disc 90degree die grinder from underneath. Bonus- then the floors don't get any holes in them if you are saving them.

Might have to actually cut the box/channel part of the torque box off to get back behind that specific spot. Cut it off with an angle grinder- big long slit front to back as much as you need. Maybe one slit on the side, one slit on the bottom to remove that half of the channel, then one on the inside side to remove the other half. Then you should just have the two rusty flanges left. Use the 3" air cutting disc to sort of grind out each spot weld. If you get something in there to pry up as you go, one by one, that will help you know where the spot welds are. Try to grind them out just through the torque box layer of metal and leave the floor metal intact.

Just to clarify, all the old parts come out easier in smaller pieces. No point in trying to pull out the torque box or floor pan in one big piece. Cut it up as much as you need to get access and remove a little bit at a time.
Click to expand...

Very helpful! Thank you!
 
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KJT said:
Great information! I ended up getting those last couple of spot welds under the seat mount bracket with a long bit, then it was pry and play finding the ones l missed. Hopefully drivers side goes easier with my knowing where to drill and cutting the box into smaller pieces. Thanks so much!

View attachment 484439
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That one doesn’t look terrible. Good luck on the replacement
 
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