[nicolas]

Hi,
New member to this great site.

When a replacement floorpan is not available, what does one do. Spot repair for mine is not an option as there's no real metal left that I can weld to.
Can anyone give any practical ideas on how to fab a floorpan with its ribs etc. I was thinking of tacking a length of 3/4 inch pipe, slit in half lengthwize to the bench as a mandrel, and start to beat the floorpan over it.
Should I heat the areas first to make it easier/faster?
Or should I just use the sand/leather bag as a back support and "freehand" it?

anyway, would appreciate any advice/weblinks...

nicolas

 

[OneMoreTime]

couple of ideas

one is to go to www.metalmeet.com as there is a wealth of info there on metla work..

Also you could look int a copy of 'Racers guide to fabricating shop equipment as there is a sheet metal brake in the book..

hope this helps a bit..

 

[[email protected]]

Assuming you want to do a good job, the proper method of rolling floorboard beads is with a bead rolling machine like this. Pretty expensive for doing a single beading job but you can buy/make rollers for a bunch of sheet metal operations like cutting, flanging, several sizes of beads, etc. Call around to see if there is a metal shop in your town that has one of these.

 

[MRGM]

Assuming you want to do a good job, the proper method of rolling floorboard beads is with a bead rolling machine like this. Pretty expensive for doing a single beading job but you can buy/make rollers for a bunch of sheet metal operations like cutting, flanging, several sizes of beads, etc. Call around to see if there is a metal shop in your town that has one of these.

A bud of mine got a 20" deep roller with two bead depth attachments for about 400 bucks. i think thats a good deal. thanks for the link

 

[OneMoreTime]

Another thought

A fellow can get the replacement sections for pickup truck beds and these are "pre=ribbed" that could be a thought as they just need to be cut to fit the floor area fo the car...Might work if one wishes to go that way..

 

[Ranchero_65]

Right now that Tool is on sale for 99.00 til 12/6 . Just thought I'd pass that along.:thumbup:

 

[MRGM]

Right now that Tool is on sale for 99.00 til 12/6 . Just thought I'd pass that along.:thumbup:

hell ya....does that mean i can get two

 

[nicolas]

thanx alot..

Thanx for all the replies guys. I figure I will first try to see if there's a commercial ductwork firm here that could "roll my beads" (ouch)..
If not, I think I'll take a bit of time and make a roller similar to the Harborfreight link above.
A coupe of q's though, or maybe I should start another post.

regards,

nicolas

 

[astroracer]

Nicholas,
What are you working on? It would help to know...

Some people may think this idea is stupid but one direction to take would be to buy a replacement pan for another similar sized vehicle. It would be a lot easier to make an existing pan work (even if it's not the same manufacturer) then trying to make one from scratch when you don't have the tools and expertise at your disposal. All of the ribs and contouring would be there so all you'd have to do is cut and fit it and weld it in...
Just an idea...
Mark

 

[nicolas]

Peugeot 304

Thanx Mark,

I tried once in the past to find floorpans from similar cars, but where I live there's only one replacement body panel house and they simply order by PN or model number. My car is too old for them, and they dont have a "picture" catalogue that I can browse.

Additionally, there's no junkyards here as we know them, where I can search through cars to see what fits etc...

Regarding expertise, I've done things like this in the past, using a combination of "dimping" a flat pan and welding a couple of ribs. This time though I have an excuse to do it better (it' my own car)...

I guess I should make another thread asking for names/url's of major aftermarket panels esp. for imports..

regards,

nick

 

[pzatchok]

What kind of car are we talking about here?
Instead of going to all the trouble of hand making a floor to fit maybe some knows of one that will fit.

 

[nicolas]

Car is a Peugeot 304

Car is 1975 Peugeot 304

regards,

nick

 

[MRGM]

thought id post a pic

1975 Peugeot 304 Cabriolet

 

[nicolas]

Cool...

Nice pic,

Wish mine was as cherry.
Mine is a sedan. These cars are kinda interesting in that they have the all aluminum motor and tranny share the same oil. The tranny is bolted directly under the engine, and has equal length halfshafts, e.g minimal torque steer for a front wheel drive car.
Cars were also factory hot dipped/galvanized, resulting in good corrosion resistance (maybe except floors;-?)

Car is dead quite inside, and incredibly nice riding.

SOHC w/ double chain roller, runs forever

Bad points; The engine is wimpy, 1300 cc.
I've put a 1500 cc in mine for a noticeable improvement.

Difficault to swap other motors in fwd systems. I can get a newer, Mi16, 16v, DOHC engine good for ~160 hp, but everything is too tight a squeeze..

Cam is SOHC, with "finger" followers/rockers riding the cam that tend to wear with time. If you grind and polish them, you effectively grindout the case hardening..
Anyone know of a cheap/diy way of hardening rocker faces, or a way around this?

Wheel with only 3 bolts; minimal aftermarket wheels., but I guess rotors/drums can be re-drilled.

Probably the biggest minus is a lack of a fifth gear (100 km/hr @ 3000 rpm), and the integral engine/tranny make a tranny swap nearly impossible..

anyway, enough ranting...more fabbing,

regards,

nick