Today is a big day for Pile House. It has probably been 20 years or more since this truck has had a solid floor. Since I decided to choose a less-than-common truck, there isn’t much for replacement panels, and since it is a bit of a “mutt” anyways, I opted to just fabricate my own floors with some sheet metal from our friendly local metal shop.
The floor from first glance didn’t look that bad, I mean most of it was still there, which is pretty commendable for how this truck sat for 20+ years. But what you can’t see well in a picture, is how thin the metal left was. So thin it would start to tear if you put any weight on the floor. Because the cab mounts are tied into the front floors, I choose to weld some new pans in. I made sure to tie it into the parts of the truck that are solid, like the firewall and B-pillar.
After some work with the Angle Grinder and the Versa Cut Plasma Cutter I had the old floor out, and I was fabricating the replacement floor.
After cutting out the metal to fit around the transmission and the back of the engine, I got it all welded in place with help from the Eastwood MIG 175. Now that it is tied into the cab mount plates I made, and the firewall, the floor is much, much stronger than before. Once the final drivetrain is in place I’ll be making covers for the openings in the floor and firewall.
Next I will be burning out the holes in the cab mount plates in the floor and in the cab mount towers so that I can bolt the cab on and off of the chassis, then make bolt-on mounts for the front end. Stay tuned!
What sheet metal thickness did you use for the floor project?
looks good would have been great if you would have had a bead roller and put some ribs in the metal for strength