floor pan replacement idea..........

[wideblock]

ok, maybe im being stupid, oversimplifying things, or just purely ignorant due to no experience on this. but heres my idea, shoot holes in it if you must. my pans are worse off then i thought, i guess the past 3 years of ignoring the windshield gasket leak have caught up to me. so im looking at a full replacement on both sides. anyway, im thinking, i got 1-1.5 inches of good metal all the way around, all on the flat part, no rust up the sides or fire wall, just in the dimples of the pan and the cab mounts. so, if i jack the cab up a bit, cut out a nice big almost square and drop the whole floor board out, use these fancy body pliers my buddy has to make the edge dimple up and form a recess, cut the new pan down to fit the recess, winding up with about a 1 inch over lap of the new and old metal, slide in the new pan from the bottom, let the cab back down after everything is lined up, thus having the wieght of the cab holding everything in place, and the cab bolt thru the hole where it goes, then run me a weld all the way around from underneath and another on top winding up with 2 welds one from the top and one from the bottom but about 1 inch apart due to the over lap of old and new metal then i would wind up with a nice solid floor that aint going anywhere for years to come. spray everything with under coat and copy on the pass side. seems real simple, almost too simple. what am i missing here?? or did i figure it out all on my own??? or are you as confused by my discription as i am??? :D :D

[Hobcobble]

Jim Megee and Mark DuVerger both posted pics having to do with
floorboard replacement. Jim's was on Norm's site and Mark's was on his
own site [www.marksmopars.net]. Both gave nice pics. Mark's even
showed you the tools used. I think he butt welded his boards instead of
a recess/lap weld. Both work. Mark butt welded because he's had many
years of experience with body & paint. I saw some of his work in person
when I drove to MA to look at his W200 he had for sale.... he's good....
no doubt.
John

[wideblock]

i saw marks job, he does good work. but me, im not near as experienced in body work as he is, and im am a little weary on my skills to make a strong butt weld. thats why i was thinking of the over lap. seems like it would aid in keeping things from warping, and would be a bit stronger then the butt weld. at least for an amature body man like myself. i aint worried about pretty, since it will be under the floor matt or a thick coat of spray in bed liner. but i do worry about strength since it is a body mount.

[farmhand66css]

Trey, sounds like you got a good weekend project. I would lap the seams like you were planning. My dad has a off set pliers like you describe they work great. He welded two metal plates to a pair of vicegrips bact in the 70's but never patened the idea. off sets the plates so they sit flush.

Matt

[MountainMoparRobin]

Trey you idea is right on the money~

[wideblock]

man, i just got thru looking at some pics ben sent me of the hp426 hes working on. wish he was here to weld my floors up. looks like some fine work on his floors.