El Camino Central Forum banner

Anyone ever do their own custom floor pans?????

5K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  mydnightrider 
#1 ·
my floors are about gone!...no way im gonna afford new floor pans....car is basicly a street stripper so im thinking about just cutting out the offending rot and fabbing my own custom floor pans... to mout my new racing seats to. i have a guy who can get me sheets of 14ga steel cheap...is that to heavy for this job?....i consider myself a good fabricator and think this will save me a budle and prob look good if i do it right....THIS IS WHARE YALL COME IN AND TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW! LOL....also thinking of tossing the dash and making one out of the same steel....i know you purist are cringing but IF IT DONT MAKE IT GO FAST I DONT WANT IT ON MY CAR!

JUST TRYING TO GET SOME IDEAS AND TRY TO HAVE A DISSUSION WITH YOU GUYS THAT HAVE DONE IT BEFORE.
 
#3 ·
i'm kinda new, but couldn't you also get a lighter metal and apply rhino liner to strenthen it. I wouldn't dare recommend it for a show car, but if your just racing it.

anyway i'm probably so far wrong, but hey never would have had electricity if noone flew a kite in a thunderstorm :)
 
#8 ·
i'm kinda new, but couldn't you also get a lighter metal and apply rhino liner to strengthen it. I wouldn't dare recommend it for a show car, but if your just racing it.

anyway i'm probably so far wrong, but hey never would have had electricity if noone flew a kite in a thunderstorm :)
The rhino liner wont really strengthen the metal it will still have its original strength but it will protect the metal. I wouldn't put rhino in if i was racing it does add some weight and sometimes if your a pound lighter it can make the difference in your race. you can go with a light steel sheet just remember its gatta hold your weight. You can just ask your metal supplier he should be able to tell you how thin you can go on your car floor and be ok. Oh and if you want cheap metal you can just find a metal sign somewhere :secret: and use that for your floor, if your lucky you can get one for free.:nanawrench:
 
#4 ·
i want to keep weight at a minimum...being it will be drag raced quite often...the thinist stuff my buddy can get is the 14ga....i was thinking 18ga would be just fine but not sure what i can get it for...
 
#5 ·
18ga would be fine for patches but if you are talking about a whole new floor from rocker to rocker using flat sheet, then I say 14ga would actually be the minimum. Anything thinner wouldn't be strong enough unless it was stamped/beaded and you fabbed up a cross brace for the seat mounting location...and in that case you might as well have just ordered new pans.

Definitely stick with the 14ga.
 
#7 · (Edited)
my floors are about gone!.
What's your definition of "about gone" If indeed they are about gone, you would probably be better off replacing the entire floor with prefabbed floor pans. Inspect the entire floor to see if it is thin and about to rust through...if not homemade patch panels could work. Don't think I'd use Rhino Liner as a coating once it's done...(however I've seen Stacy of "Trucks" do this on his Jeep project and it turned out really nice...but it's a 4x4 and was done more to protect the underside from debris hitting the bottom while off roading). I'd go with POR15 or a similar product. And yes I used homemade patches on the floor...on a 62 Chevy II thirty something years ago...when that's all that was available to use.

__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote
 
#9 ·
ok well i sure aint going with any rino liner because of weight issues...want to keep her light...i figure on just using a off the shelf undercoating and just a coat of high temp black inside for header heat...and when i say gone i mean if it were not for the carpet and the seat braceing you would not be able to sit in it....i just picked up a set of summit racing seats and 5 point harnesses....the plan is to use the 14ga sheet steel...im going to pretty much remove all of the floors from just behind the firewall back to the smugglers box....while retaining the stock floor braces.....they are in good shape and if i have to maybe add another brace made of a piece of the same 14ga steel under the seat.....i am pretty good with forming sheet metal and have done a few sketches of what i want to achive....i plan to start out with the tunnel and once i have that done i will make my own pannels...one thing i am going to be doing is cutting out those wells behind the seat and raising them about3 inches...this should help me gain some space underneath for bigger pipes....all the pans will have straight angles or be broke at slight angles....hope to get some better sketches done so i can give you a better idea of what im going for....think pro stock dragster floor.....i plan to take as many pics as possible and maybe do a write up for others who might want to try it....i plan on doing it all myself with the help of my brother over a weekend,and hope to bring the project in under 100 bucks!
 
#10 ·
repairing floor

hello people i am going to repair the floor in my 1981 ss witch isn,t to bad i have a 1983 4dr cutlass supreame i am cuttig the floor out of, it. measures up very close the 4dr floor is in exelent shape a floor like this shoudn,t cost much at your local salvage yard :beer: mydnighrider
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top