Rear floor (larger panel?)

[nishikigoi]

Right, I knew I had to sort the rear floor out when I got the Disco, but never got round to it :roll:

Tax ran out in December......dug out MOT........Hm-mm old paper type :shock:

Ah, expired in October :oops: guess I'd better do the floor :lol:

Absolutely rotten, plus the lip that has the plastic carpet strip and heading off the centre floor onto the sides near the arch etc :shock:  :(

So, instead of messing around with a repair section, can I just get a large panel made up to cover the whole lot? I'm thinking checker plate the whole bloody lot 8)

[Guardian.]

yes you can, but remember it will have to be seam welded all way around.
i am going to do just what you say on the floor in one of mine, cut the whole floor out and just weld in a sheet of steel.
depending on how thick the sheet is you are going to use, i would suggest stitching a couple of bits of angle or box across underneath to stiffen it up.
if your gonna use 10mm plate you will not need to!
i say this as some bods think if summit aint 10 or 12mm plate it aint strong enough, when 3mm is more than enough if used properly,
or is that just some of the ebay brigade

[hobbit]

Floor pans aren't that expensive anyway

I did my mates, it had a sheet of steel in it, but it was all warped and twisted, so yes if you go the sheet way you will need to reinforce them, there are two bars fitted under the floor where it rests on the chassis

This one was the same well shot past the floor pan, so when we cut the replacement floor out of a donor vehicle we took the lot, from the front lip to the rear corners and round up into the wheel arches, and rear cross member as well.

Took a bit of doing, with having to fit the rear crossmember first, but after that was done the rest was faily easy, just trimmed the replacement round to match the remaining good metal round the vehicle, a few right angles metal patches to secure it, and  job done

You can always use seam sealer to seal out the joints cause to get it water proof with just welding is not easy, and then underseal to cut down on the rust from below

If you can weld and use an angle grinder and cut metal its just a matter of time, dont forget the seat belt mountings too

The other thing on using a sheet steel route, make sure you cut out a hole to fit the tank sender access cover

[Budgie]

Just getting round to doing mine.
I got everything from Paddocks, rear floor section, front & rear crossmembers and new rear body crossmember for about £165 delivered.
The floor came in at about £45, the sides (between the floor section and the arches) are about £35 each and the crossmembers were £9 - £17 each.
It was the rear body crossmember that was the expensive part at over £100!!

So it's worth looking at the proper stuff and pricing it up against a sheet of thicker & heavier steel.  

[hobbit]

There's no reason for you not to fit a checker plate floor pan in either, rivetted and sealed, of course you need to have the metal to rivet to

[blackbob]

you dont have to seam weld if it is replacing a spot weld
seam welds are required if you patch a panel not if its a replacement panel

[Niel]

Have a look at my gallery~rusty monster. That needed full patching all around. The chequer plate floor does NOT cover the last 12" under the seat, last thing you need is a sheet of metal cutting rear seat passengers legs if some twunt rams you.

[nishikigoi]

So I went for the big bit of plate 4' x 4'!  :shock:

Need to sort the rear lip to hold the door rubber now, however.......

I have no inspection hole for the sender, can I just drop the tank and then remove it as my empty is off by miles. If not, can a kind sole give me a position so I can cut an hatch (yes very dumb not to have one but I was on super welder mate doing favor with Tig welder, so time was tight).

[redhand]

yes you can, but remember it will have to be seam welded all way around.
i am going to do just what you say on the floor in one of mine, cut the whole floor out and just weld in a sheet of steel.
depending on how thick the sheet is you are going to use, i would suggest stitching a couple of bits of angle or box across underneath to stiffen it up.
if your gonna use 10mm plate you will not need to!
i say this as some bods think if summit aint 10 or 12mm plate it aint strong enough, when 3mm is more than enough if used properly,
or is that just some of the ebay brigade

It is not a structural member and therefore not a part of the mot  and does not have to be welded you can poprivet or even screw it down with self tapping screws if you want. If you rivet / screw it I suggest glazing tape from any good glazing place will have it. It's like nomorenails tape but is designed for glazing it'll seal the panel and is very water resistant.