Rust Repair

[86chev]

in the coming up weeks i will be replacing the floor pans, full outer rockers, cab corners, backing plates, and cab mounts on my 79 chevy. The floor is gone, cab corners are half there, rockers are there for the most part, and cab mounts are half there. As of now i only have the floor pan repair panels. my question is, is there any specific order in which i should replace these panels? I dont want to have my cab fold in half because i did something wrong. thanks much.

 

[robert8096]

If you are worried about the cab folding up then get you some square tubing and weld it across the door opening on both sides and then weld some across to the ones you welded to the door frames. This will keep the cab square while cutting out the floor. I would start with the cab supports and work my way outward.

 

[Old77]

^^^^good ideas there. I also used a system with wood "beams" to keep mine square just cuz that's what I had available.

 

[kleedus]

use braces to keep the cab straight

i use self tapping screws to hold the rockers and repair pannels in place before welding like the screws that hold the wheel well trim on you can buy them at hardware stores


you can see how i used the screws in the pics i circled them in red
you can just remove them after welding then weld the holes up.

the screws help hold things together to make sure its lined up before welding and to hold it in place for welding

 

[Swims350]

IMO weld in braces for sure, cut it ALL out.

Then start from the bottom up, cab floor supports/braces from the frame upwards and then outwards, like floor bracket/brace, then inner rocker, inner cab corner if needed, then outer cab corners, rockers and floors.

I would do the outer rocker and cab corners first up on the outside since they are seen and need to be right. I forget which of them comes first, look at the ends one goes behind the other on the flange area, I want to say it's rocker first then cab corner over it.

Watch as you remove them if you can and you'll see how they fit with each other.

 

[robert8096]

use braces to keep the cab straight

i use self tapping screws to hold the rockers and repair pannels in place before welding like the screws that hold the wheel well trim on you can buy them at hardware stores


you can see how i used the screws in the pics i circled them in red
you can just remove them after welding then weld the holes up.

the screws help hold things together to make sure its lined up before welding and to hold it in place for welding

The screws are a great idea if you are over lapping the metal being welded but if you want to butt weld in the panels then you are going to need butt weld clamps.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/350458498873?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

I would overlap the floor pan patches but butt weld the outer rockers and cab corners. This will give you less area to have to use filler on. Make sure you use some weld thru primer and seam sealer on the overlap welds to help fight corrosion.

 

[Old77]

The screws are a great idea if you are over lapping the metal being welded but if you want to butt weld in the panels then you are going to need butt weld clamps.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/350458498873?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

I would overlap the floor pan patches but butt weld the outer rockers and cab corners. This will give you less area to have to use filler on. Make sure you use some weld thru primer and seam sealer on the overlap welds to help fight corrosion.

^^^this....