FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

The body looks fine but the floor has holes...
I've worked my way around the body of my FC sedan, replacing the rust with real steel using an oxy welder and patience.  I now have to deal with the holes in the rear floor pans. My plan is to purchase replacements from Rare Spares and weld them in. Any advice from those who have done similar?

Thanks,
Trevor B

The way I do it is to cut the R/S replacement to the size required to replace rusty metal only, no point in replacing good metal.
Place the new floor over the old and scribe heavily to mark a cutting line.  Use a 1mm blade on a small grinder & this will give you a good gap to oxy weld a butt joint.
If panel tends to overlap, a quick run with the grinder will fix.
Some like to mig weld with an overlap, and this is OK, but then you have to go round the bottom completely again to weld the other half of the overlap.
The oxy method allows you to simply grind the bottom to finish and then either fill and smooth for a really hidden weld or just spray with deadener.
Ken

I haven't actually tried this, maybe someone could comment.

What about cutting the panel to size as suggested, then using TEK screws to "bolt" the new panel to the old floor then cut using the angle grinder or a reciprocating saw for curved cuts. Undo the TEKS and it should be a perfect fit, with a few holes to fill in.

I have just finished replacing my rear floor. The whole Rare spares panel was used,(left side only) we cut the old floor around the new panel, drilled out any spot welds for under floor brackets, tacked the new panel in place. When we were happy we welded it in place. We had to make up filler pieces where the new panel didn't cover. The ribs in the new panel are a different profile which has to be allowed for also. Spend some time cleaning up the welding and some body deadener, it's hard to pick at first glance.
Colin.