Wife's 48

[8man]

Thanks Jim.

[8man]

Ok, I posted a pic of the new floor. Well, I've been working on getting it in the truck.
The first thing was to build a support brace that will make it solid. With the thicker steel in the floor itself, I think a 1 x 2 tube should be plenty of support. Also, since there is an angle to the cab about 20" in front of the back brace, I used some 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 tube on the sides and then cut the cross member to fit.
IMG_0521 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr
The idea is to turn the truck up on it's back, and stitch weld the floor to the cross member.

Of course I needed to tie the two supports in front where the body bolts hold the cab down to the new support crossmember, so I had some old bed rails laying around, and...
IMG_0523 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr
I cut them a little long, cut the front so I could bend it down to match the originals. Then I used a 4" plate and some 2 x 2 thick wall tube to clamp everything true and straight, measured everything over and over and had to cut 1/2" off of one and 5/8" off the other, but when welded it up, all the measurements were good.

Then back to the floor. The original has a relief for the head of the body bolt, so it will recess into the floor a little. I built a buck, used a bolt to hold it all together while I persuaded it to get into position and...
IMG_0520 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

So I test fit the floor.
IMG_0522 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr
It is very solid! The back lip will weld up to the rear cross support, you can see the clamps back there. There is a lip of old floor in front of that, and from the bottom I'll weld that to the new floor to seal the cab. The bolts fell right into the holes for the body mounts. I had to do a little trimming on the sides, and will have to work them up against the side of the truck, they are about 1/4" too wide. I've worked it back and forth and have about 1/8" on each side, and think if I heat and hammer and heat and hammer and heat and hammer the floor at the 90 on the sides, I can get it to lie flat against the side of the truck so I can plug weld it.

With the floor held in with the front bolts and the clamps in the rear, simulating where it will sit, I test fit the firewall. NO JOY! I was concerned about the fit of the floor and I had it cut a little long. About 3/4" long. So now I have to work on that. After putting that bulky, heavy piece of steel in that truck too many times to count, I quit for the day. That thing is a workout!

[Tempest67]

looking good

[oldman3]

Nice work...Jim

[Tinbasher]

Looks great 8man! its probably not a bad time to figure out what seat and how you are going to mount it before you weld the new floor in? If you like you can pm me your email address and i can send you a few pics of how i am doing mine.

[joedoh]

haha necessity may be the mother of invention but indignation about high cost and inferior parts is the daddy.

nice work man!

[8man]

Thanks guys for the kind words. I got to admit, it felt good when the bolts dropped right in.

[OutlawDrifter]

Robert, way to work through a solid solution!

It's been fun watching all this come together, you're doing a great job!

[8man]

Thanks Outlaw. I'm still going slow as I have to think everything through since this is all so new.

[mongocanfly]

Floor turned out good Robert..

[8man]

Thanks Greg.

I just got some pictures from Tinbasher showing how he did his floor replacement, very nice work.

[Fountain]

Great build and great ideas

[8man]

Thanks Fountain.

[8man]

I got the patch panel made and welded in to cover the cowl vent. Made the first pass welding dots until I had a bead all the way around, ground it down and then made more spot welds until it was good.

IMG_0524 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

It'll take a little filler so smooth it out to suit.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 8man

I got the patch panel made and welded in to cover the cowl vent. Made the first pass welding dots until I had a bead all the way around, ground it down and then made more spot welds until it was good.

Looks great, is that the proper way to do it, I am on the fence whether to grind down that first pass and remove some of the meat we just added, or leave it and run a bead over it? follow me?

[8man]

I believe the correct way is to spot weld all the way around, then let it cool, then grind it down, then repeat until done. I just don't have the patience! I try, but I just get going and don't want to stop.

Truthfully, it was easier to grind down the individual spots the last time around where I just spotted the pinholes. I'll try to do better.

[Gregski]

Since you have the "advantage" of having two trucks to where I only have one, how about a challenge to see who drives their first? LoL

[8man]

While I like a good challenge, that is a stretch. The '48 is first, and I'm hoping for a car show in October. So if you spot me 6 months...

[Tempest67]

never 'run a bead' when installing a patch panel as the heat will warp the sheet metal.

as 8man said, just add 'dots' every 4-6 inches until it is completely filled in, and be sure to let it cool between each pass. (cool to the touch)

[8man]

Thanks Tempest, I did just run dots all the way around until I filled it in. Ground that down with a 36 grit roloc and then spotted the areas that looked like I might have missed. Ground down with 60 grit roloc and finished with 120 grit flap disc on my grinder.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Tempest67

never 'run a bead' when installing a patch panel as the heat will warp the sheet metal.

as 8man said, just add 'dots' every 4-6 inches until it is completely filled in, and be sure to let it cool between each pass. (cool to the touch)

I don't mean to Hijack Robet's thread I just wanted to say thank you, really appreciate the advice. I knew, he knew what he was doing, ha ha

[Tempest67]

looks great 8man............. you are "eating this elephant, 1 piece at a time"

keep it going

[8man]

Thanks Tempest.

The folks on this site have made me believe I can do it, so now I have to.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 8man

While I like a good challenge, that is a stretch. The '48 is first, and I'm hoping for a car show in October. So if you spot me 6 months...

You're on!

[Tempest67]

be careful with Deadlines.......... it can transform a fun hobby, into a stressful job