terrorsquad77

pros/cons for bonding vs welding floors?

i've seen bonded seams stay put in cars that are smashed...mercedes and lexus also bond most panels...... any experiance or ideas?

BlackenedBird

iTrader: (5)

In 90 or 91, all the 3rd gens were bonded, so it would be the same as the factory did, as long as you had enough panel overlap.

terrorsquad77

Mine is a very, so I want to be sure I'm not giving up anything by going that route. They bonded the floors post 89 with out welds?

chevydrvr

iTrader: (1)

I'm interested in the answer to this...obviously, welding wuld be better in my opinion, but if that is a good alternative, that would be better for those who can't weld (like me.)

haps

iTrader: (4)

The floor is a very important structural component of a uni-body vehicle. Weld it. All third gens have floors that are spot welded in.

terrorsquad77

What about warping? Can I use any third gen floor pan?,don't the convertibles have different floor supports?

haps

iTrader: (4)

If welded correctly warping will be kept to a minimum. I'm not aware of any major differences between coupe floors over the years. I imagine the converts have additional frame rail supports underneath but I don't believe the floor is different. You'd better confirm before getting the floor out of a donor convertible for a coupe.

loneroad

iTrader: (3)

there is extra bracing along the sides under the car. the floor is the same tho. i replaced my drivers side with a floor out of a 80s ta.

in case you havent considered it, it would be a fantastic time to put sub frame connectors in.

1gary

Any kind of torque/hp use you can not/should not bond floor panels.Can't weld??Relevant term.The gas shielded mig welders easily found used has made welding for the novice easy.Warping issues are handled by alternating the welds.As stated frame ties should be used as well.See it before with people trying to side step the correct method,then complain the doors does close correctly.It gets real,real,expensive then to fix.And some can't be fixed at all.

Thirdgen89GTA

iTrader: (5)

Spot welds + body glue. If I take out the rear plastics I can see where the body glue was smeared at the 1/4 panel to wheel well seams. They just used additional glue on the 91/92s for additional chassis stiffness and NVH reasons.

haps

iTrader: (4)

I think you may be confusing body glue with seam sealer.

camarotucker

iTrader: (2)

I dont know of any factory thirdgen panel bonding. Panel bond is strong enough to tear metal if the pulling force is straight, however is very susceptible to twist force.

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (14)

it would be very hard, if not impossible, to use panel bond to repair the floors. there would be no flat overlap so speak of.

The floors should be welded. end of story.

terrorsquad77

If that's the end of story, then that's it. My drivers floor is currently screwed in, gotta love ******* repairs haha! What about patching other spots, 300 for the drivers floor I can do, but not for a passenger floor pan, I live in Massachusetts, so a donor car is usually worse off. Any places to get them cheap?

loneroad

iTrader: (3)

keep watching the classifieds for peole parting cars out. i got mine out of texas. the pan and shipping was a fraction of what they want foe a new one.

im not a welder by any stretch of the imagination. i bought a lincoln mig welder and pacticed a bit before putting the floor in. i started with flux core until i got more confrtable with it. then i went with gas. Much, much nicer with gas.

some of my welds look like a gorilla welded it. BUT my big azz can jump up and dwn on it with out worry.

if you dont want to buy a welder you could always rent one for a weekend.

98t595

panel bonding is proven stronger than welds if prepped correctly and the correct products used.. i like bonding esp floors u have to have overlap.. press it in and use a acid brusch to spread the excess like seam sealer... beautiful repair... and rust resitant...where u weld is now technically the weak link and rust starts there again. get a quality panel bonder at a auto body products shop. and get a epoy one.. urethane bonders attract moisture and are harder to prep to avoid that. bonder is amazing.. in todays colission repairs i do you must use bonder where it was bonded and weld where welded.. cause... bonder is stronger and can affect the saftey if car was in another collision.

fbodyfixer

Floors are structural. Cannot bond structural components.

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Wrong--a proper weld is the strongest part of two welded pieces of metal.