Is there a such thing as an inexpensive floor pan for our cars like the second gens? I just ordered my new seat covers the other day Im ordering my new carpet tomarrow and I need a drivers floor pan but with what I am spending for the interior I cant afford $300 for one floor pan. Any ideas?

 

Nope.. As far as I know there's only one place stamping out the third gen floors and they're the large expensive ones. If you can find a decent one to cut out of a junkyard car it'll be cheaper.

 

If your pan is not completely gone you can weldin sections on metal. When I did mine the drivers side was gone so I had to replace that side. The right side I just cut and patched. Either way its a lot of work. The floor pan fix really stiffens up the car. Hope your seat rails are good. The drivers side on mine was just about gone. I had to make new ones. It took me 2 weeks just to get them right. Take your time don't take shortcuts and you will be happy in the end.

 

Oooh someone else in that boat, please PM me the info on what you made the new seat brackets out of, how you made them, and how you attached them, my driverside front seat bracket is pretty much gone, what little is left of it, is rust.

And for some reason unfathomable to me, the repo pans don't come with a new seat bracket welded on, cause hey if the floorpan is so rusted out it needs replaced, why would the bracket that's essentially part of it need replaced.

 

I dont know how bad my seat brackets are yet because the front studs and nuts that holds the drivers seat are clumps of rust .I do need a drivers seat track my seat is so hard to move.

 

Sorry, there's no such thing as a cheap floor pan for our cars. They are going to hit you hard as they are expensive, and, they Know that you need it so it won't be cheap.

There are some cheaper alternative though. Buy some sheet metal, 18-22 guage, street signs, even old license plates have been used in a pinch. ( Yeah, the last two aere " Ghetto " fixes, but I've done that before with surprisingly good results all things considered ).

But really, the sheet metal is your cheapest way out and it will be a good fix once welded in properly. Just don't try to weld it all in one continuous bead or you will warp the floor. Spot weld in different areas like an inch or so, then move on to another spot on the opposite side as far away from the first weld as you can get. Continue doing this until you eventually have the whole area completely covered, and then just fill in the areas that you need to do to make the completed weld all around. Take out all the carpet, middle console, clean the area really good, down to bare metal at least a couple of inches more than
you need to around the area so that there's no rust or paint, ( which the weld won't stick to ), have a fire estinquisher handy, and make sure that you have disconnected the battery before you start doing any welding, ( you DON'T Want to fry your electrrical connections or wiring since the car's body will be completely grounded when you start welding. NO need to add problems to what you already have to face right? ).

I too need to address my driver's side floor as the previous owner of the man I brought my 87 Iroc-Z from used rivits on the floor, so that needs to be re-done and done right so I'm in the same boat as you. I'm just passing on some of the things I've read as I'm getting ready to tackle that job too. ( then my new seats and carpet can go in ).

Best wishes on your repairs. Let us know how you make out.

Camaro-454

 

I'm in the middle of doing mine. I had mine cut out from a donor car from a JY. I have an extensive amount of time in removing the existing undercoating, hammer/dollying the pinch welds back into place, etc. Next time I do this I'll spend the extra $100 for the new one. (the pan and the labor to remove from the donor car was $200)

 

Has anyone had the area just at the front of the rear frame rails (by the rear seatbelt mount area) rust out? I've got a good 4" square hole there (since I cut out the rust hole itself) and can't find a decent patch... Anyone have any tips for forming this section that has like 4 different bends in it? This section doesn't come in the pre-stamped pans (which I don't need anyways, just a small hole here and there from the "t-tops that didn't leak" ).

 

My best advice is use small pieces tack to the body then hammer and tack again. Then do it again with another piece after just weld them shut. It will take a bit but I find it is easier to work with smaller pieces than making one big one. That is what I did with my weird places like the spare tire well. it worked out.

 

I bought some 3 sided box channel cut small pieces, leaving long tabs on sides. I fitted the pieces together tac welded them together. When I was happy with shape and fit I welded them together on inside. I then took sheet metal and formed it over the finished piece with a wing on the bottom to weld to floor. I punched holes in wings to weld inside flap and welded the flap to floor. I welded a long bolt to floor for seat mount drilled hole in new frame
droped frame in place (check to see seat mounts lines up). I put frame in place taced it in. Put big washer over bolt and welded everything in place. Mine came out about 1/8 inch higher than stock, if you are redoing all 4 mounts no problem. If not just shim other mounts with washers to level seat. I sprayed all metal with weld through prime on inside first. I finished off with fiberglass matting over everything, nice and clean finish.

 

Spare tire well was easy. One big piece from the donor car, put in with body panel adhesive (because the outer panel is currently removed). This is proving to be a PITA. I don't have any pieces of the donor quarter (cut the whole corner of the car off just for the outer panel) that are remotely close to the shape. And I still need to find a way to get my welder going...

 

Today I got alot done. I got a floor pan out a junk yard car took the guy 2 hours with a plasma cutter. he was lost and had no idea what he was doing. It would have been alot easier if I got a new one but this cost me $54 instead of $309. I got a quote for $300 to weld it into the car and I am wondering if I could save that and do it myself. I got my crossover pipe for the exhaust made and installed what a difference that makes on sound and performance.

 

Well I am putting a new floor wall to wall in my 92. Found a real good donor car. Needed the rocker rails first as they were rotted on my car. This is major surgery. I had the entire floor sand blasted to find any possible future rust because even the donor floor was made 25 years ago. When done it will be like a new car and will never see snow, salt or rain. Using this as a great time to instal subframes and stainless steel brake, trans and fuel lines. Also pulled the engine and doing the bay too. The gas tank is out as well as the trans so the floor is getting a nice coat of rust prehivative and paint. The down side is I won't drive my car until sometime next year because I am not rushing through the job.

 

I am in the same boat, not as bad as a new floor but I do need to patch a few spots. Did everyone check their firewall behind the distributor? that is a know place for these cars to rust, right along that seam. I pulled the motor tranny and dash and interior out to redo the entire car (convertible) I like the idea of replacing all the lines while it is all out. good luck guys.