Boot floor replacement (aluminium)

[Mr Alford]

right as im sure u are all aware the discovery 1 is renown for rotten boot floors and mine is no exception
i am cutting the old floor out tmrw along with all the rust that has spread and today i purchased a 1600m x 1400m 5mm thick aluminium sheet
this will make the crossmembers redundant but they are rusted so will be removed anyway but as ive gone overkill with 5mm sheet ill be fine
ill start posting pictures up tmrw wish me luck


this is what it looked like last week

[J B]

having very recently done this job on mine, id suggest you replace the two crossmembers, as they take all the load across the span on the floor panel width, and even 5mm ali will bend over that distance

just trying to help, ta jon

[Mr Alford]

ok chap what ill prob do as the normal crossmembers are 8mm lower then the floor i will be having ill have to fabricate my own crossmember well se how i get on tmrw

if i get time ill do one tday if not sunday either way im excited no one turns down the chance to get the angle grinder out

[Mr Alford]

tdays antics

so far ive got best part of the boot floor out and my angle grinder blew up on me and plumed out smoke everywhbere





and my smoked up angle grinder, tip of the day dont buy a £20 from b&q ive had it 3 months and this is the first time ive properly tested it and..........rubbish

[redhand]

Yes but at least you can take it back and get another one hassle free. I've got one of those but only use it as a grinder For cutting I use a 9" grinder. It has a much bigger motor and cuts much faster than the PP 4" one from Bust&Quit

[J B]

yep, this all looks very familuar

http://www.mud-club.com/forum/index.php/topic,50192.0.html

[Mr Alford]

tdays progress pics rain stopped play 30 mins ago due to a trenchal downpour

oh and i went and bought a 9 inch grinder thanks for the advice what a difference and so much more fun





and finally how i finished today with the boot door lip in and the edges strengthened and my new crossmember fitted worked wonderfully

[mentalmoshio sophs V8i]

i was just wonder how where gonna fix the alloy floor to the steel body shell.  :-k dont all of them have to be welded in and not bolted i remember  reading some where on one post :?

[J B]

nope, my boot panel is rivited 

[Mr Alford]

i was just wonder how where gonna fix the alloy floor to the steel body shell.  :-k dont all of them have to be welded in and not bolted i remember  reading some where on one post :?

ill be doing alot of pop riveting and using sealant

[4 landies]

 Taken a few out of old vehicles and they have been riveted in and past MOT's that way so dont think there are any legal complications with it.

[stageonesimmo]

Shouldn't be a drama - the vehicle isn't a monocoque where the floor pan is the load bearing structure - that's what the chassis is for.  Only problem I could see with it is the seat belt anchorages..........

[Mr Alford]

Shouldn't be a drama - the vehicle isn't a monocoque where the floor pan is the load bearing structure - that's what the chassis is for.  Only problem I could see with it is the seat belt anchorages..........

i have removed the back seats and welded over the seatbelt pins in the wheel well

[stageonesimmo]

Shouldn't be a drama - the vehicle isn't a monocoque where the floor pan is the load bearing structure - that's what the chassis is for.  Only problem I could see with it is the seat belt anchorages..........

i have removed the back seats and welded over the seatbelt pins in the wheel well

Best not be worrying too much about the seat-belts then eh?   :lol:

[Mr Alford]

nope floor arrived tday and oh my god its solid, the aluminium i have is not the chequer plated stuff its the strengthened ion stuff dont know much about it but the guy said its alot stronger than chequer and i cant cut it with a jigsaw will have to be circular saw im pretty excited

[stageonesimmo]

Sounds like 'Duralamin', a trade name for some pretty heavy duty ally we use at work - comes in chequer plate form as well.......

[Mr Alford]

sounds right well se when i fit it

[Mr Alford]

little progress update will take pics of the finished product tmrw

[omara04]

Looks [edit: naughty] excellent. Well done james!

You can do mine next :)

[Mr Alford]

ivw finally finished it got all the rivets in and sealed it so the rear of the car is now water tight, done a little welding on the rear footwells as they were a water trap and was a tad rotten, ive now ripped out the passenger and driver footwells to find them sodden with water and rust bubbling through so will get to work on them this week sometime, hopefully chequer plate the whole lot so when wading time comes i can just hose it all out if i get mud in there

[Mr Alford]

tadaa the finished product, gonna clean up the sealant once its set properly needs a week to do that so ill do it then but its not gonna be on show so i may not well see so here ya go gonna repaint the interior again to make it look clean

[mobi]

might do mine IF it starts to rust.

[J B]

might do mine IF it starts to rust.

by the look of that, youll have a long wait, lucky begger  :lol:

[Mr Alford]

just for everyone elses benefit today i went to an mot cen tre and not to my suprise they said that what i have done will not effect my mot and it would fly straight through

[Evilgoat]

Sounds like 'Duralamin', a trade name for some pretty heavy duty ally we use at work - comes in chequer plate form as well.......

Used to use it for 'pyrotechnics' as nothing else would withstand the punishment. We managed to blow a normal ally bar up. Fathers tools paid the price though :)

[solihull-mick]

Have you pop riveted all that ally in place?

[Mr Alford]

Have you pop riveted all that ally in place?

yes with near on 100 of the tthings