Cutting out floors before towing?

[mdbrandy]

Ok, looking for some thoughts. I'm going to be doing at least some of the floor pans and frame on my 240Z. (see http://www.csar.uiuc.edu/~mdbrandy/240Z/240ZRust.htm for some of the worst of the rust). I've been talking with Charlie Osborne and will be getting some stuff from Zedd Findings to do the worst of it. So, I'm going to do as much of the teardown as I can, and get a pro to do the welding, since I've never welded before. My question is, how much of the floors can I safely remove myself (if any) before having it towed to a shop? I have plenty of air and power tools to cut about anything I want. If I removed pretty much the entire drivers side floor pan before towing, would that compromise the structure of the car too much and risk having the frame bend from just towing (flat bed, of course)? By the time I had it towed, the car will pretty much just be a shell - no interior or engine, so it's weight will be minimal. Some of the frame on the passenger side is also gone, and I'd remove most of the stuff that isn't doing much good right now anyway. Just looking to do whatever I can to minimize cost, while letting the pros do the important work.

Thanks for any discussion on this.

[2ManyZs]

If it's just a fairly bare shell, and you don't remove the seat risers, it should be strong enough for a ride on a roll-back.

I would at least leave the seat mounts as they will keep the tunnel tied into the rocker panel area and keep it from twisting.

You might want to check and see how much extra it would cost for them to remove the floors before they weld the new ones in, no sense in taking any chances if the cost is minimal.

[Rob]

Probably better to let them do anyway, so they can trim it to exactly the dimensions they want, as sometines you want the rust repair panels to overlap (extra strength), and sometimes you want a butt-join (extra prettiness).

If you cut too much you could turn a good shell into scrap.

[mdbrandy]

I wouldn't cut anything until I had the floor, but you're right about the lap versus butt joints, and without any welding savy, I wouldn't know which was best. OK then, hopefully the cutting isn't the costly part anyway.

[2ManyZs]

Mark, cutting the floors probably will be a simple job if they have a plasma cutter.

The main thing is to get all the tar mat off the floor and up the tunnel about 3 inches or so and get all the old undercoating off the underside. This is what will cost the most if you have someone else do the job, it's a tedious and time consuming task, and when you are paying them by the hour, they won't hurry....:cross-eye

[mdbrandy]

Right - it's a given that I'll do that work, and I'm already well along. Just more elbow grease and sweat. Luckily, there isn't much thick sticky undercoating underneath. Only a little. Most of the bottom is coated with a very thin grey 'something' that looks like a thick paint (although not very thick). Most of it is in tough shape and flaking off. It's not sticky at all - it feels like old paint. It may actually be the original undercoating - I don't know what was there originally. I've never had a Z that was original enough to care :classic:

[2ManyZs]

Not sure, but I think that is the factory primer... mine has the same thing under a very, very light coat of body color.

[beandip]

I just cut out the pan on the passanger side and removed the seat supports also . that was harder than the pan. I cut the spot welds and ground the extra metal off later. The car is a rolling shell with the engine and trans out. I did reinstall the trans support to maintain the tunnel shape when fitting in the Zed Findings floor. I screwed in the floor and bent the floor pan to fit. I had good help in fitting things. The fit is close as we could make it so the welder just needs to do his thing. Tomarrow I will remove the screws and the pan , trim the little extea old floor and grind away the rust and paint so there is clean metal for the welder to work with. then I will reinstall the pan . I talked with my welder and he is enthoused with the project , and the way that I have gotten it ready . I did all my cutting with a saws all and it went easy except to save the seat supports , that was time consuming. I will post pictures as soon as they are developed. No digital camera. I found the pans from Zedd to be first rate. If I can help in any way let me know . Gary to answer the queston of stability. If you screw in the new pan to the rail an tunnel and so forth it should be plenty strong for a rolling shell . Install the trans support . I am going to trailer the Z about 35miles to the welder's house and I see no problem.