Need to replace my floor pan?!? Suggestions

[klober23]

Started stripping one of my early 911's. There was surface rust on about 40% of the pan. Seems that it cleaned up well. I want some suggestions as I am torn between replacing the floor pan or maybe its ok??? The surface rust is not my main concern....below the drivers seat there are a few holes that I can see day light through. These holes are all about the size of a needle about 3 of them. Obviously its thin in this area although it was not by the surface rust area. I know a guy would have to see it to give me a good suggestion...Sanded down its looks it good condition but just a little thin in areas and kinda brittle in others. Compared to the time and expense of replacing the floor pan, from experience would you suggest a good sand blasting, filling holes, and a fresh layer of under coating and give it a try?....or just bite the bullet and replace the pan? Thanks

[jstobo]

You do not have to replace the whole pan. Just cut out the bad area and weld in new sheet metal. My pedal area was gone but we just replaced that section not the whole floor. Replacing the whole floor is a real pain. The parts are not that expensive but the labor is intense. Hope this helps.

[AZNPLUMBER]

How much did they charge u just to fix the pedal area?

[jstobo]

It was part of my total restoration price. Not broken out separately.

[ed martin]

I purchased a 356 A and it definitely needed a complete floor pan replacement. I found a welder in my area who specialises mainly in VW welding, that is sheet metal welding and floor pan replacements. To save money and because I just wanted the experience of doing it I made a deal with him to cut away the existing pan and cut to size and fit the replacement pan. Let me tell you, the way some people talk about pan replacing on this forum, you get the impression that's it's an easy job. It is labor intensive and dirty work. It is no small job.

I've done some sheet metal weldling in the past and have since come to the understanding that sheet metal is not an easy thing to weld. I see plenty of posts here from guys who proudly display their sheet welding prowness. Based on my experience I would have to say that I am highly skeptical as to whether or not they are quality welds. You may want to find out youirself by practice welding some sheet metal scraps and then put your welds to the test. Especially the spot welding technique with the perforations, those are very hard to get a strong bond with good penetration. (I've concluded that seam welding is much stronger) You may have something that looks pretty but take a large pry bar or screw driver and try prying it apart. You more than likely to your dismay find that a lot of your welds don't have the proper penetration and are going to give way pretty readily. A properly welded floor pan is critical to the structural integrity of the body overall. The original welds from the factory are the best. That's why for my money I would take a factory original floor pan over a replacement pan any day. To make a long story short, in my opinion, if you can patch and salvage the original pan, I think this approach far superior to pan replacement. Sounds to me like you can get away with patching. I've found that the rust treatments to be pretty effective (phosphoric acid, permatex) Mechanically abrading, particularly sand blasting from my experience and research has the effect of taking( and distorting) away too much good metal and that is not good.

As a final note, this welder to whom I paid good money, produced some unsatifactory results. I mean when he was done I could push up a few sections of the pan with my fingers! Keep in mind that this guy is an experienced pro with a good reputation. I ended up spending days going back over his work. Is my floor pan now welded to strength? I think so, I mean I can hit sections with a mallet and it sounds good and nothing is coming apart, but is it as strong as a factory original? I can only suspect that it is a decent job, but I would really be surprised if it is a strong as the factory original.