02-23-2014, 02:32 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-23-2014, 02:38 PM by broncosbybart.)
Making progress, even if it means tearing it further apart...
My 2 cents on the floor pan:
I like to cut the original floor pans further up than where you are thinking. I like to leave about 3/4" of material below the horizontal bend adjoining the engine firewall. Basically I cut it horizontally about where the 'ribs' end on the angled portion of the floor pan, right above the hole for the clutch pedal. This leaves enough of a seam there to spot weld the floor pan in to orginal metal. No, there wasn't a seam there from the factory but if you do it well it looks very good. And yes, you will need to trim the new floor pan some to fit into place in about every area. For the area we are discussing here, I cut the floor pan to end along that bend where it meets the upper firewall. I think having a seam in the middle of a panel looks sloppy. Just my opinion.
I use a hole saw to cut a new hole for the clutch pedal rod. I can't remember the hole saw size. I use the same hole saw to cut a hole for the parking brake cable as well. Remove the old parking brake cable doohickey from the old floor pan. It is spot welded on each corner. Spot weld it to the new floor pan, but do it once everything is in place. You want to make sure the cable is aligned nicely with the parking brake pedal assembly. I like to cut the old floor pan out cleanly and overlay it on the new floor pan to mark the hole locations. I've never cut one wrong doing it that way.
One other thing I wish they did was bend the flap of the floor pan where it meets the kick panel down instead of up. From the factory, that flap was bent down. You can do it however you want to. I always use my mini-brake to bend it back down, like the original was.
Let me know if any of this doesn't make sense.
Oh, I started a thread on this, but my computer died somewhere during the process. There is a pic in this on how much I cut out. On my next floor pan job, I'll be sure to take plenty of pics and add info.
http://www.cb4x4.com/forums/showthread.p...eplacement
My 2 cents on the floor pan:
I like to cut the original floor pans further up than where you are thinking. I like to leave about 3/4" of material below the horizontal bend adjoining the engine firewall. Basically I cut it horizontally about where the 'ribs' end on the angled portion of the floor pan, right above the hole for the clutch pedal. This leaves enough of a seam there to spot weld the floor pan in to orginal metal. No, there wasn't a seam there from the factory but if you do it well it looks very good. And yes, you will need to trim the new floor pan some to fit into place in about every area. For the area we are discussing here, I cut the floor pan to end along that bend where it meets the upper firewall. I think having a seam in the middle of a panel looks sloppy. Just my opinion.
I use a hole saw to cut a new hole for the clutch pedal rod. I can't remember the hole saw size. I use the same hole saw to cut a hole for the parking brake cable as well. Remove the old parking brake cable doohickey from the old floor pan. It is spot welded on each corner. Spot weld it to the new floor pan, but do it once everything is in place. You want to make sure the cable is aligned nicely with the parking brake pedal assembly. I like to cut the old floor pan out cleanly and overlay it on the new floor pan to mark the hole locations. I've never cut one wrong doing it that way.
One other thing I wish they did was bend the flap of the floor pan where it meets the kick panel down instead of up. From the factory, that flap was bent down. You can do it however you want to. I always use my mini-brake to bend it back down, like the original was.
Let me know if any of this doesn't make sense.
Oh, I started a thread on this, but my computer died somewhere during the process. There is a pic in this on how much I cut out. On my next floor pan job, I'll be sure to take plenty of pics and add info.
http://www.cb4x4.com/forums/showthread.p...eplacement