1/6/2008: Floor Repair, Part 2
In preparation for the new floor panel, I had to repair a rusty area of the crossmember the floor attaches to:
I cut out the bottom few inches, and then flanged the edge with a flanging tool.
I punched holes in the new patch I made, then clamped it in place.
I then tacked and then both plug welded and welded the seam, to make sure this thing is good and strong.
Well, to be honest, I did it twice. The first time I welded this on, I screwed up and it ended up crooked, and the plug welds weren’t as strong as I wanted. I cut it off and re-did the welds, with larger holes and a hotter welder setting. Worked a lot better this time- you can see that the plug welds got good penetration through the panel underneath:
I ground down the welds, and it’s pretty invisible now. Not that it matters much, since this is all covered by both a rubber mat and the front seat.
I’ll re-drill the hole for the seat adjuster once I have the seat rails in place, for positioning reference.
I also need to seam seal and paint the inside of the cross member before closing it up with the new floor panel.