On with the pans and into the fire?

Steve stopped by again this weekend and we set to work welding in the floor pans.  I started out by drilling 3/16" (.187" Just less than 5mm) diameter holes every 2" (50mm) along the edge to be welded on top of the remaining flange.

 I debured the back sides of the holes to be sure the new pans would lay flat on the flange and then we puddle welded the pans in place. The tunnel flange metal is much thinker than the new pan metal, so I started by building a small pile of weld in the center of the hole with the arc striking on the tunnel flange only.  After a couple of seconds of this "build up", I let the molten puddle "spill" onto the edge of the new pan.  It worked great, the welds are very strong and look pretty good as well.

After welding, we wiped things up a bit and sealed the seams with calking gun style seam sealer purchased from Autozone for $9.00 ish.  Once applied, I smoothed the sealer bead out with my finger (inside a glove!) I almost think a small brush might have worked better in this case, but I was already committed to the finger method.  Overall it came out pretty well.  I need to shoot on a bit more etch primer, give the pan a quick sand and shoot on the paint.  Hopefuly this weekend.

 

After everything was primed, I noticed a small rust hole on the bottom of the tunnel, just behind the  front beam mount.  I made up a quick patch for this spot and welded it in place.  It formed very easily and welded up great.  I ground it down a bit and sprayed on a bit of etch primer, drilled in a drain hole and I think it's ready to paint.