Welding floor panels sealed with Por 15?

[EricB]

Not knowing how to weld or knowing anyone local who does, would you all care to hazard a guess at what I should expect to pay when bringing my Z in for new floors and rails provided I bring my own (Zeddfindings)...

I mean how intensive is it to cut out the old ones, prep, weld in the new ones.

Are we talking 8hrs work per side? 12hr work per side? etc?

I could cut the old ones out myself but then I'd have to tow the Z to whatever shop I go to... No point in that. I could however do the POR myself once the new metal's in.

If someone can give me a clue then I can better budget for this which is going to be a necessity in the near future for my 73... There's a couple 1.5"x4" rust holes where the tar paper is the only thing keeping the elements out on my passenger side...

-e

[Fun_in_my_z]

Weld first or your work will be burned away

[beandip]

The cost of welding is a hard one. The more you can do your self the better. Certainly you can remove the floor on the passenger side and install the new floor ready for welding. this is what I did . Dont cut any thing out untill you have the new floor in hand. This way you will know how much or how little to take out. You may need to do a little bending and tweaking to fit the new pannels in place. I left an overlap of about an inch and a half. Clean all the crud and wype down with thinner or grease/wax remover on the top side and under side then fit the new floor. I used self tapping sheet metal screws to hold every thing in place and draw things up tight . Started with them about 12'' apart , then went back and added more in between. When the welder goes down the line sealing the seam he can remove the screws and fill the holes as he goes. This cuts down on his time spent and will impact the cost. My Certified Welder charged me $400. for the one side and that included some patches on the driver side and a little by the battery . He worked on it in his spair time and had the car about 2 weeks. I used Zedd Findings floors, there the best . I have some pictures send be a PM with your email address and I will send them. Gary

[beandip]

I had a bid for $1300. to just drive in and have it done by another welder. He was bidding on doing all the cutting and fitting and welding. Which was just about right in cost for the amount of work involved. I have more time than money , and this is a project for me . Gary

[Bambikiller240]

I have some pictures send be a PM with your email address and I will send them. Gary

Gary;

Would you mind sending the pictures to me also? I believe that you have my email.

Thanks.

[hls30.com]

Me too!

Will

[bob m]

EricB

Replacing the floors is not a weekend job, at least for me. I have the Zedfinding floors and cut out both sides with a Sawzall about an inch from the edges. Then I used a spot weld remover bit to drill out the spot welds. Then I could remove the rest of the floor. I left the front seat support in place, and left about 4 inches of the floor support. This took a week of night and weekend work. I put the floor pans in place and marked them, you need to trim the rear and tunnel sides. I left the tunnel sides long and used the Sawzall to cut through both pieces so I could have a butt weld. The driver side was easy, on my 72z, I had to bend the floor to match the tunnel using a 1.5 in pipe as a form on the passenger side. The tunnel is not straight like the drivers side. Per beandip, Carl and EScalon, I followed their suggestions and screwed the floors in place. You need to do this to get them to fit tight. I am going to use the POR products to prep the floors and panels this weekend. A friend is going to come to my house and mig weld the floors but I could drive the car with the floors screwed in place.( I removed the exhaust pipe for clerance) After everything is welded in place, then the POR 15 can be applied, then the sound proofing and final paint. I know a professional can do this much faster than me but there are alot of things to do that take time so it would save quite a bit of cost if you could do the install yourself. You need a good assortment of tools ie, grinder, sawzall, drill, sheetmetal shears,floor jack (the car must be in the air).

Bob M

[LanceM]

Just my $.02, clean metal welds best so I would POR after the job is done but I would coat all of the welding areas with a weld through primer (high zinc content) to help prevent rust starting at the weld points. This is a standard requirement for panel replacement and if isn't done more than likely rust through from the backside out. BTW, tests have shown no difference in results between spray on or brush on weld through primer so go with the rattle can as it is easier and quicker to use.

[beandip]

Just my $.02, clean metal welds best so I would POR after the job is done but I would coat all of the welding areas with a weld through primer (high zinc content) to help prevent rust starting at the weld points. This is a standard requirement for panel replacement and if isn't done more than likely rust through from the backside out. BTW, tests have shown no difference in results between spray on or brush on weld through primer so go with the rattle can as it is easier and quicker to use.

Sorry Lance but I must differ with you on the rattle can paint. The POR is so superior that it is not even funny to compair. Surface preperation is a must with POR but if it is done correctly NOTHING will faze it other than heat once it is cured , you can burn it off. It is important , not to apply POR any where you dont want it to stay , including your skin. wear rubber gloves and have thinner available just incase. :rambo:

[LanceM]

Sorry Lance but I must differ with you on the rattle can paint. The POR is so superior that it is not even funny to compair. Surface preperation is a must with POR but if it is done correctly NOTHING will faze it other than heat once it is cured , you can burn it off. It is important , not to apply POR any where you dont want it to stay , including your skin. wear rubber gloves and have thinner available just incase. :rambo:

Ah a perfect time for this, thanks Carl

"I know you think you understand what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I said!"

In this case read not said

The rattle can paint I ment was weld through primer, not the stuff you get at auto zone, you can't weld or at least shouldn't weld through POR or any paint for that matter. It contaminates the weld, weld through primer is meant to be welded through and has a high zinc content to both protect the metal at the weld point and conduct electricty to allow you to weld. No certified panel repair man would weld a panel on without using weld through primer, not unless he wants the job to come back because of rust through from the back side, insurance repairs, at least around here typically require it.

Besides if the panel is fully coated with POR how are you going to weld it, no metal is showing? If you start your weld on the frame member which isn't coated and drag the puddle on to the floorboard you are hoping the heat will burn off the POR as you drag the puddle, loading the weld with POR slag and making a mess of the whole works weld wise, that's if you don't just burn through because you are going so slow trying to clean the metal with the weld heat.

Again just my $.02, spray the weld area with weld through primer, then when done welding POR.

[Bambikiller240]

Again just my $.02, spray the weld area with weld through primer, then when done welding POR.

Lance:

I'm not a welder (unfortunately), so maybe this is a dumb question.......but since POR must be in contact with seasoned (rusty) metal. or metal treated with "Metal Ready" (phosphoric acid), wouldn't the "weld through primer" be a problem, since it would/might/could (?) prevent the POR from contacting the metal that it must contact in order to do it's job properly?

Just asking.

Carl

[LanceM]

Carl,

I'm not familiar with POR other than what I have read here and on other boards so it looks like two edged sword time. Weld through primer may inhibit the bonding action of POR, POR will inhibit proper welding. Considering that the floor pans must add quite a bit to the structure of the car welding would be my foremost concern. A floor pan that is subject to rust in the future but securely integrated into the structure of the car would be more important to me than one that will never rust but has welds that may break over time because a weld contamination.

Probably the best case would be to primer only the hidden weld area then after welding remove any visible excess primer, treat the metal and then POR. Where the welding is done on the visible side will need to be treated and POR applied after welding anyway since any POR at the weld site would be burned off and the welds themselves exposed. The primer in the hidden area should act as a quality rust preventive considering that these areas should be fairly well sealed "inside" the car.

Using any method, my main concern would be that the structure integrity is not compromised, body flex will only cause problems whether it be in handling or paint cracking, with bad/weak welds flex will only increase as the poor welds break, causing more flex and more breaks. Considering that I'm sitting on that floor pan I'd like to be pretty sure it isn't going to fall off the bottom of the car one day