fiberglass floor pans

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connerray

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Any one have tips on makeing fiber glass floor pans? Not the trany hump, just the front part under the seats and under your feet. I'm thinking I can get some plastic sheeting 4x8' 1/8" thick sheet lay it on the existing rusty sheet and use a heat gun and slowly form it to the contor of the sheet metal. Then lay my fiber glass sheet and reson and pop rivit and glue it to the good remaining metal. Also run some 1/4" flat stock some how for the seats to bolt to.
 
Chicken Wire
One layer of it under the floor with fiberglass over then another layer of chicken wire over it all then finish with fiberglass
Then respray the undercoating on the car and your done
 
My question is how many layers of fiberglass do you plan on lying. A driver and a seat is a lot of weight to put on a sheet of fiberglass. You'd still need some sort of steel support underneath at least where your seat mounts.
 
Keep in mind that on these unibody cars the floor pan is part of the structure.
 
I'm going to use some flat stock steal on the under side running from passenger side to the driver side under the seat mounting spots. That or some angle iron for extra strength.
 
I'm not doing this for weight reduction, its just a cheaper alternative to replacement pans. My busy has the glass mating, I can get flat stock or angle iron for probly a 12 pack and that leaves me buy the reson
 
I wouldn't replace steel floor pans with fiberglass. As 65BCODA pointed out, Unibody cars utilize the steel floor for structural integrity. Your plan is not safe or wise.
 
a sheet of 18 Gauge metal isn't very expensive, don't cheap out; in the case of an accident the insurance would frown upon it
 
connerray said:
I'm not doing this for weight reduction, its just a cheaper alternative to replacement pans. My busy has the glass mating, I can get flat stock or angle iron for probly a 12 pack and that leaves me buy the reson
Click to expand...

Your idea is not an alternative to replacement pans.

All it would do is hide the rust without restoring the structure of the car. May as well patch it with cardboard, duct tape and undercoating.
 
connerray said:
any one have tips on makeing fiber glass floor pans? Not the trany hump, just the front part under the seats and under your feet. I'm thinking i can get some plastic sheeting 4x8' 1/8" thick sheet lay it on the existing rusty sheet and use a heat gun and slowly form it to the contor of the sheet metal. Then lay my fiber glass sheet and reson and pop rivit and glue it to the good remaining metal. Also run some 1/4" flat stock some how for the seats to bolt to.
Click to expand...


bad idea.
 
Doing the floors either way is gonna be work so do it right the first time. Nothing burns my *** like having to do repairs on my repairs.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
Your idea is not an alternative to replacement pans.

All it would do is hide the rust without restoring the structure of the car. May as well patch it with cardboard, duct tape and undercoating.
Click to expand...

Best answer ^^^^^^^ the man does it for a livin you should listen.
 
That may be the silliest thing I ever heard. Floor pans are cheap, man. Or as someone said, buy some sheet metal and make your own. Or go steal a stop sign like we did when we were kids and weld it in. It makes no sense to do a flimsy, half assed, unsafe repair only to have to do it again later when you have the money to do it right. Assuming you lived through the first repair.
 
Unless it`s a Demo derby car or you are just trying to get thru inspection don`t hack it-do it right! The fiberglass may last a while but the floor will continue to rust around it till the car starts folding up due to lack of structure and you hit the brakes hard and your seat rips out and sends you into the dashboard. If you don`t have access to a welder find some local garage to do it.
 
O sh't I hit the wrong button. Lol. That's why I ask before I jump the gun...
And I wasn't going to leave any rust, I was going to cut the bad spots out and wire wheel the surface rust and spray it with some coating.
I may have dumb ideas but im not stupid :D
 
I used glass years ago for a floor repair. Was a full framed car. Repair outlived the car.....But it was a winter bomber that was my trash can killer in the snow. A buddy & I would go out sliding around on the snow covered roads taking out anything that the rear bumper could reach....
 
connerray said:
O sh't I hit the wrong button. Lol. That's why I ask before I jump the gun...
And I wasn't going to leave any rust, I was going to cut the bad spots out and wire wheel the surface rust and spray it with some coating.
I may have dumb ideas but im not stupid :D
Click to expand...

Now i know you were joking!
Had me going for a little while! :D
 
There should be some good body shops around that could weld in the floor pan for you but you may want to strip the interior out and cut out the bad spots to give them less work too do so it will be cheaper for you.
 
The problem is the $$. $150 a side for replacement pans is out of reach right now.
But looks like I'll start saving and do it right. Thanks every one for your help :D
 
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