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Patching Floor Pans - Weld, Rivet, Screw, Glue?


YellowLark

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My 1983 Riviera convertible has several quarter-sized rust holes in the floor pans. Three of the four sections of the floor are affected, with a total of six holes.

I have a parts car, and have cut the floor pans from it and sandblasted those pieces, expected to cut them further into 5 X 7" (or smaller) patch panels.

There is also rust damage to two of the front seat support stud sections, but for those I am simply overlaying the replacement pieces and using sheet metal screws.

The questions I have are about what form of fastening to use on the floor patch panels, which have exterior exposure.

I have a MIG welder, but have problems with burn-through on my practice attempts with scrap pieces. Also, welding the over-laid edges of the pieces doesn't impress me as a strong bond, and I don't have the expertise to attempt to butt-weld the pieces.

I have used sheet metal screws and pop rivets on previous cars, but thought the finished work was kind of amatuer-ish.

There are all sorts of adhesives out there, and I really don't know how appropriate they are for this purpose.

I am thinking of using machine screws with nylock nuts underneath. Probably have to use a pipe to extend a wrench to hold the nuts while tightening.

Not sure what to use for sealing the repair, there are lots of choices.

Any and all opinions on floor repair are welcome.

Edited by YellowLark (see edit history)
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Guest REX STALLION

Get a flanging tool from Eastwood , they flange the edge of the patch panel so it lays flush. They also punch a hole so you can do a rosette weld that will look like the factory spot weld ,cover the seams with seam sealer ( inside and outside of the car) Go to the Eastwood website and you can get the seam sealer or a good auto supply store should have qt, cans of the stuff. Hope this helps.

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Guest REX STALLION

There are adhesives for body panels SEM makes a panel adhesive requires a special gun that mixes the the two components together. I have used a product called Plexus (methacrylate) for bonding metal to metal, composites, plastics. I`m sure 3M makes a similar product.

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Well, realistically let's just rule out the screws or rivets, that's the type of thing future owners of the car will curse up a storm about. The panel adhesivies they make are incredibly strong, I've seen pictures of a wrecked car that had a quarter previously "glued" on and the adhesive didn't fail, and it was that quarter that was crushed. Having said that, you have a MIG so why not learn how to use it, if you're burning through you have it set to high or you're holding the trigger too long, it's a series of spot welds, not a continous seam. If you're not ready to butt weld, just plunk the patch down and lap weld it. Flanging tools work well to make the weld flush on the top but just like a regular lap weld there's an open area all the way around underneath where water will get in. You can use seam sealer on that or weld it if you feel like the extra challenge :D

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