Floor Boards - Please give me your opinions!

[Brooks240z]

Good evening. I just took a few photos of the floor boards in my '71 240z. Wanted to run it past you guys and see what you feel needs to be done. If it is patchable, a tearout, or anything you recommend.

There is a decent size hole on the passengers side floor board, but looks like it is limited to that one area. I can tell you that the frame rail below is shot, but doesn't look like the whole floor board is.

Also what do you think of the drivers side? There is surface rust, but not able to find any holes.

Look over the photos and give me your thoughts, suggestions, advice etc etc.

I am fairly new to this site and have found it a great resource.

Thank you for your replies!

Regards,

Brooks

[xray]

They look like mine did, maybe a little worse at the seat brackets...If you think it's "not bad" just wait till you peel up the undercoating. Sad to say, but that asphalt stuff traps moisture very well. The rust near the drain holes is the tip of the iceberg, I fear....

You could try grinding it off, blasting it etc to see what's left, but I think you'll be spending a lot of time (and money) getting no further along than if you just replaced them. Non-galvanized, poorly primed metal can be a PITA, can't it? I'd like to say it affects only Zs, but all cars of this era (unless they are aluminum or fiberglass) suffer the same problem...

...Go to Zedd Findings and get one of Charlie Osborne's replacement sets. Find a good welder and have him/her install it, or DIY if you're able. Easily one of the best purchases I made for my Z.

Good luck,

Steve

[lonetreesteve]

Brooks,

Check out this thread, it has some good info & pics regarding floor pans:

http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25227

[xray]

http://picasaweb.google.com/srcartermd/FloorpanRepair

That's a link to pics of my car prior to and following floorpan repair. Once the bodyman/welder looked at it after some grinding he said there was no way to save the original sheet metal.

BTW, they are in chronological order...I had to sand off the first layer of primer prior to coating it with POR-15, then reprimered before final prime and paint.

Steve

[EScanlon]

Brooks:

Sorry to bear bad news, but if the metal (now rust) that's visible is ANY indication of what is under the remainder of the tar mat that you have yet to remove, as Steve pointed out....those floors are gone.

Finish removing the tar mat. Then just go ahead and check into buying a set of floor pans from Charlie Osborne. The passenger side is already showing way too much rust to just patch. Add in that the frame rail below is also gone and you have major problems. Patching is simply out of the question.

The driver's side is probably just as bad.

The only good side to this is that you came here where many of us have been through that pain and can help you out with the details.

E

[Nissanman]

Well, I think so far the concensus is to replace:nervous:

Don't let that worry you.

Take it from me, if that parent metal isn't perforated, it is probably very thin and trying to do any welding or patching to it will be an absolute PAIN:tapemouth

I use a sharp pointed metal scribe to poke and prod at such areas.

You will soon find out what the integrity of the panel is.

Then it is surgically removed with your favourite angle grinder:devious::devious:

Try and get the replacement floor panels before you remove the old ones though, then you can cut the old to suit.

Use all of the new panel, it is not worth trying to salvage little bits of the old when you have a brand spankers new.

If it turns out that you have to cut out extra, then that just means a strip or patch will need to be inserted to make up the shortfall.

Just a big jigsaw really:eek::eek:

[ncz]

Brooks, all good advice above. Save yourself some time with the passenger floorboard and don't try to get the tar mat off. Its toast. Just cut the whole board out. If you think the drivers side is salvagable then start peeling the tar mat out, lots of fun. Also follow the passenger side pan support rail forward and check it out. Usually the rust starts under the battery tray area and the cancer spreads down through the pan support and floor pan. If you're going to replace some of it, you might as well get it all. Have fun, find some heat and get a big bottle of wine or vodka

[JimmyZ]

You'll still have to remove some tar around the tranny tunnel. I used a propane torch and 1" metal scraper to get it off. If you warm.. not melt.. the stuff with the torch it scrapes of readily. Remove all flammable stuff such as jute/insulation from tunnel before starting of course.

A sharp air chisel is a great aid in removing the rail side of the old pan which is held by spot welds. This should really be used after the spot welds have been drilled a bit. They make spot weld drills which are sold at paint and body suppliers. You can use a regular drill and remove only the thickness need to liberate the spot weld. (Not through drilling)

I put in a set of pans for another member. They were stamped and may have been from Charlie O. They were very nice and the frame rail extensions were a plus. The only problem is that they didn't quite conform to the rear seat mount brackets which I was able to salvage and clean up. They needed to be modified a bit. This was my only complaint with the prefab pans.

2c

Jim

[barth4567]

Brooks: Excellent advice from everyone. My passenger side is worse than that. I am going to replace with two completes from Charlie Osborne/ Zedd Findings. A whole lot better,faster. and easier solution in my opinion. Just curious. Did you happen to purchase that car in Hillsboro? It looks indentical to one I saw on Craigs List. John

[Brooks240z]

John,

Yes in fact I did purchase the car in Hillsboro a few months back. It does have some rust issues that I didn't notice when I bought the car but most Z's this age do. It was really hard to find a Z that price that is in somewhat decent shape. I am definitely considering getting floor pans from Charlie Osborne. I am not a professional welder so that is my next step to find someone here in the Medford Oregon area.

If anyone knows a welder in Oregon that is reasonable and does good work please let me know!

Regards,

Brooks

[Brooks240z]

I will be purchasing a passengers side floorboard from Charlie Osborne as I have heard many great things about his product. The drivers side floorboard is surprisingly in very good shape. I removed the tar mat(fun 2 hr job! and to my surprise the floor is in good shape. I am planning on putting down POR-15. What is the best or preferred way to strip down the paint to get to the bare metal for POR-15? Orbital grider? Sand paper with elbow greese? Options please.

After I used POR-15 is there anything else I should use on top of POR-15 or is it alright to leave it alone?

Thank you!

[fuzze]

Evening all , I'm curious as to the purchase cost of floor pans from Charlie , I believe he is in Canada isn't he ? As well what should one expect a professional welder to charge for such services ? I see as well that por-15 has a product advertised in their catalog called power mesh reinforcing fabric that they advertise to repair holes for 7.25 a sq yd , or a complete kit for floor pan repair , including many of their products to do your own home repair , Part #fptrk for 138.50 . Has anybody used this kit and are you happy with the results ? .Also doe's anyone Know of a retailer In Washington State That stocks the Por-15 line ? Many questions tonight .

Thanxz

Chris