Getting started on my floor pans and torque boxes
- Thread starter Vtx531
- Start date
OP
One coat of bondo is on. Not really sure when to call the first coat good. The middle of the rocker is pretty flat. The ends are not flat but the panel started out wavy to begin with (probably due to earlier days when I bolted angle iron rocker guards on). I feathered the edges but not going to worry about making the ends totally flat. Fender flares cover up some of it.
I need to do another coat to fill in some pits and gouges.
Easy to see why a lot of people put rocker covers on top but I like the look without them and I thought I should at least make an attempt. I can always cover them up later if I need to.
I need to do another coat to fill in some pits and gouges.
Easy to see why a lot of people put rocker covers on top but I like the look without them and I thought I should at least make an attempt. I can always cover them up later if I need to.
OP
Finished for now. Ready for fender, seat, console, roll bar. Going to leave the carpet out until whenever I get around to doing the passenger side.
I need to get some new oval floor plugs.
I need to get some new oval floor plugs.
OP
I was able to take it for a drive today for the first time since this all started. I’m not completely done (obviously) but it felt great to drive the Jeep again.
I’d like to do the passenger side over this winter and exterior paint next spring or summer when the weather warms up again. Never ending project!
I’d like to do the passenger side over this winter and exterior paint next spring or summer when the weather warms up again. Never ending project!
You are correctomondo!
I have been getting rid of bedliner from inside, and slowly digging into the area around roll bar, for what ever reason there is way more seam sealer on left side than right. I cut roughly an inch worth of it from the edges before i got to clean metal, rest was rusted under it.
Looks like you are slowly but surely getting somewhere with yours. I know the feeling of feeling great driving the Jeep, i dont get to see my for 3 to 5 month out of the year, and when i do get finally behind it, smile to the ears
OP
I started on the other side and I didn't break any bolts (that were needed). Even a little experience helps.
Love this thread! Read with total anticipation and was heartbroken when you were considering throwing in the towel. Glad to see you didn’t, I wish I had 1/4 of your ability. Never touched a welder in my life.
I absolutely love threads like this. Keep it up and let me continue to live vicariously through you in this thread.
I absolutely love threads like this. Keep it up and let me continue to live vicariously through you in this thread.
OP
Thanks, means a lot! You made my night.
I got into the nitty gritty part of the job again. Man, I forgot how not fun this part is. Rust everywhere and it really feels like I am causing destruction and making things worse but I know it can be done!
OP
OP
I made friends with my cutoff wheel again! Some good progress today. I tried a new technique at the front lip and side rocker panel using cutoff wheels to grind the spot welds and it seemed to work nicely.
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OP
Worked on it a couple hours today
Here is my overlap instead of buttjoint. Precision measured it by the width of a prybar haha.
Pan mostly fits. I had to cut the flange off the top left of the pan and will lap joint it to the existing good flange. Had to cut sort of a relief pie cut in my tub at the bottom right corner.
Started on the rear. Best technique is to just start cutting! It gets easier as you go and more gets cut out. BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT THROUGH THE SUPPORT STRUCTURE near the trans tunnel and seat mounting hole. Notice the shape I did my initial cut to avoid that area.
Panel removed and ready to go further.
Lots of rust inside the torque box!
This photo shows the support structure spot welds cut out and I started carefully cutting off the floor pan without cutting into the structure.
To be continued...
Here is my overlap instead of buttjoint. Precision measured it by the width of a prybar haha.
Pan mostly fits. I had to cut the flange off the top left of the pan and will lap joint it to the existing good flange. Had to cut sort of a relief pie cut in my tub at the bottom right corner.
Started on the rear. Best technique is to just start cutting! It gets easier as you go and more gets cut out. BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT THROUGH THE SUPPORT STRUCTURE near the trans tunnel and seat mounting hole. Notice the shape I did my initial cut to avoid that area.
Panel removed and ready to go further.
Lots of rust inside the torque box!
This photo shows the support structure spot welds cut out and I started carefully cutting off the floor pan without cutting into the structure.
To be continued...
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OP
I meant to reply specifically to this earlier but thank you! You are absolutely right - tedious and not fun. Worst of all, the results will never be as you imagine in your head. I greatly appreciate the encouragement and it means a lot.
On a funny side note, my wife's BMW convertible is outside in a snow storm right now and has been since I started the Jeep rust repair project. So she is a good supporter too.
N
No problem we all get a little burned out sometimes. My wife is a good supporter too but I think if I had been making her park outside since September she would be getting a little annoyed with me by now.
OP
Couple more hours spent-
I got the remainder of the torque box removed. Got more of the back floor pan removed. Cut off the remaining old body mounts.
Mess of rusty metal removed at the rear. My old repair is holding up pretty well at the rear corner. It was totally rusted out after removing rocker guards a long time ago so I flux core welded in a patch. Bad job shaping the piece but it is covered by the flare and held up nicely.
I wanted to try and save this panel between the floor pans but it looks pretty bad and is time consuming to cut off the torque box flanges while trying to save the metal underneath.
Probably will be easier to just cut it out and I have enough of a panel leftover from the driver side that I had fabbed up for that spot.
Also, I was using a crowbar to pry apart panels and it slipped. Lucky I had safety glasses on! The sharp chisel edge bounced off the safety glasses and cut my cheek bone area. I normally don't wear safety glasses when using hand tools but it might have saved my eye today. So lucky I had them on due to using the cutting wheel previously!
I got the remainder of the torque box removed. Got more of the back floor pan removed. Cut off the remaining old body mounts.
Mess of rusty metal removed at the rear. My old repair is holding up pretty well at the rear corner. It was totally rusted out after removing rocker guards a long time ago so I flux core welded in a patch. Bad job shaping the piece but it is covered by the flare and held up nicely.
I wanted to try and save this panel between the floor pans but it looks pretty bad and is time consuming to cut off the torque box flanges while trying to save the metal underneath.
Probably will be easier to just cut it out and I have enough of a panel leftover from the driver side that I had fabbed up for that spot.
Also, I was using a crowbar to pry apart panels and it slipped. Lucky I had safety glasses on! The sharp chisel edge bounced off the safety glasses and cut my cheek bone area. I normally don't wear safety glasses when using hand tools but it might have saved my eye today. So lucky I had them on due to using the cutting wheel previously!
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OP
Now we are getting somewhere!
I cleaned up (cut out rusted metal) in the rear wheel well area. Must have been some spot welds there but it was a mess of rust and I couldn't discern what was what so I just cut it off. I didn't have that problem on the driver side because it was completely gone from being rusted out so much worse.
I drilled out the spot welds along the rear flange. My spot weld cutters were not working very good for some reason so I resorted to using a step drill bit. (still need a damn rotobroach mikeH) I had intended to go up from the bottom so as not to have visible holes in the flange but I ended up going from the top to make it much easier and save a lot of time.
I removed what was left of the floor pan at that rear flange and cut out a closer outline of where the final cut will be all around - enough to get the new pan loosely into place. I had to notch the new floor pan at the back inside corner to get it to fit with the existing pieces back there (same as I had to do on the driver side).
Time spent today: 2h15m
I cleaned up (cut out rusted metal) in the rear wheel well area. Must have been some spot welds there but it was a mess of rust and I couldn't discern what was what so I just cut it off. I didn't have that problem on the driver side because it was completely gone from being rusted out so much worse.
I drilled out the spot welds along the rear flange. My spot weld cutters were not working very good for some reason so I resorted to using a step drill bit. (still need a damn rotobroach mikeH) I had intended to go up from the bottom so as not to have visible holes in the flange but I ended up going from the top to make it much easier and save a lot of time.
I removed what was left of the floor pan at that rear flange and cut out a closer outline of where the final cut will be all around - enough to get the new pan loosely into place. I had to notch the new floor pan at the back inside corner to get it to fit with the existing pieces back there (same as I had to do on the driver side).
Time spent today: 2h15m
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OP
Three more hours today. I decided to keep the original center part between the pans so I spent some time cutting and grinding off the remainder of the torque box that was attached to it. Ground down and smoothed out all the spotweld cutoffs that were protruding there and elsewhere. "cleaned up" a bunch of other areas. Hammer/dollied some flanges to get them back to flat. Did some pie-cuts at the corners of the flange on the tub at the rear floor pan.
Did a test fit with fasteners and the torque box fitup.
Getting there...
Did a test fit with fasteners and the torque box fitup.
Getting there...
OP
Appreciate it guys! Yoda - hope this thread helps. There are many ways to skin this cat so I look forward to seeing how you do it.
I ground down more of the protruding spotweld cutouts. Think I got them all done. Used an air needle scaler everywhere I could that needed it on the frame, body mounts, support piece under rear pan, roll bar mount, front oem spot welds on the firewall (works great to "fix" the ones where rust is bubbling on top).
Who says you can't use a needle scaler on the body sheet metal. It worked pretty damn good to find the bad spots.
Used grinder with wire wheel to remove all my former bondo repairs. Not sure what to do about the rust. Obviously where there are holes it needs to be patched. Maybe I can get by with sand blasting the areas that aren't rusted through. Sortof what I did on the driver side because there was no rust through.
My old patch on the left was holding up pretty well and other areas where I had filled 1/2" bolt holes from rocker guards a long time ago also held up well, no rust. Can't hardly see the bolt hole repairs in this pic.
Next step is get metal, make patch panels, cut out old, weld in new. Garage is a white powdery dusty mess now again from grinding the body filler.