Technical Tech! Floor patches without special tools! Added more!

[Da Tinman]

OKey Dokey,, The wife and I have been working on her falcon,,, seen here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=432137

Editteddd: More pics and tips..

As it is typical Ill-annoys car the floors were shot. I tried to get her some patches before xmas but that fell thru so I decided to make them instead.

About this time I was told by local expert that if it werent for my "shop full of special tools" I wouldnt know where to begin. (BTW I dont have a shop full of special tools.)

I took it as a challenge and this is the result.

Since the car is a unibody and the floors were shot all the way to seat brace I tacked a brace between the rockers and tacked the framerails to it. The brace also make a good shim holder too.



As I dont ususally make patterns I didnt have proper pattern materials so I grabbed a newspaper and used it. Its a bit flimsy but it has some benefits as you can throw drop light under the area you are workin on and see the framerails and braces through the pattern.



For the rounded corner I folded, wrinkled, pleated the paper and taped into place. At this point you can also mark the pattern for any folds or breaks that are needed, like where it rises to meet seat mount.

(edit) Make sure you mark the flow of the brakes too. Instead of one brake in the corner sometimes it will fit better if you use 2 or 3 smaller brakes to get around the corner.

Also mark the framerail and any braces on the pattern.



In order to accuratly layout the patch the pattern needs to be flat so cut the gather/taped areas and layout the pattern on the sheeting. I cut the pattern in 3 places to get it flat, BUT when cutting the patch you should only cut one pie slice!!! (edit) The reason you leave the other 2 pie slices uncircumised is to give you an overlap to make clamping easier.




I used 20 guage for the patches, I like it for floors it welds sorta ok and is plenty easy to work. With a decent welding job its very strong.

After transfering the pattern to the sheet you should end up with something like this. Marking the location of braces and framerails is so that you know where to NOT bead the floor. The areas that are welded to braces etc dont need any stiffening, and beading these areas may make it a pain in the ass to get patch to lay flat.

You should also avoid putting beads in the places where the floor is to be bent, these places are plenty strong and putting a bead acroos them will only make it harder to control the bend and the beads will end up flattened anywho.


This is the point where I pull out my bead roller and have some fun, but since I cant use it,, part of the challenge ya know....

I used a piece of 3/16" solid round stock bent in the middle to make the beads. Making sure to avoid the frame and brace areas tack the rod to the patch.



Find a nice flat spot on the concrete and turn the patch so that the rod is on the bottom. Mark your start and stop points for the beads on the side you can see.



Grab your favorite deadblow and have at it!!



Cut the rod loose and flip it over and retack.




set it back on floor and whack away again,, should end up with something like this:



As an alternative to the round stock I tried this out too,,




I did not prestretch nor did I spend a lot of time making nice whacks at it, so there are some hammer marks and some warping. I wasnt all that worried about appearence as its gonna get undercoated and painted on the bottom and carpeted on the top....

You are now ready for the some bending, but how to know how much bend??? Easy, make another pattern. Take a piece of scrap and trim it so that one end matches the angle of the toeboard and framerails,



cut the other end to match the rise onto the tunnel,,



if you havent cut the pie for the corner get it done as we are ready to use the fancy new flintstone brake,,,



When you bend the patch you can use the angle pattern to make sure you got the right bend.


I welded the pie closed before welding the patch in so it would be easier to control the angle as the weld shrinks.



(edit) When you are setting the angles off your new protractor its a lot easier to control the angles if the panels overlap, and dont worry about how to cut the overlap out for a tight fitting buttweld, I have a trick.

The trick is to plan your overlaps before tacking, so that they corespond with your favorite snips. Mine are the reds on the pic. With a good pair of snips you can cut along the edge of one side using it as a guide. This gets you a VERY tight seam that only gets tighter as you weld. (try to get pic of how it works tomorrow.)



Be sure to check you work against the angle patterns as you weld as it will move.

If everything went according to plan,, it should drop right in!



I was able to turn pattern over and reuse it for the drivers side.



Total time for both patches,, 1 1/2 hour, cost,, 20 bucks.



Both sides done and welded, not perfect mind you but plenty strong and lots better than this:



Hope this helps!!!

[Rob Paul]

well done.

[Topless Ford]

Simple and effective. Great job.

[NoSurf]

Very nice!

[XxStrait-EdgexX]

How did you get away with only spending $20??? A sheet like that up here costs $55.... Anywho, nicely done.. this woll definitely help me do my floors.

[Lone Star Mopar]

Good clean work and a small budget nice job !!

[hudsoncustom]

Nice work...with little to no tools.

I have the same sheet metal brake you do. ha ha!

[VegasBruce]

Thanks, I'm always looking for different ways to do sheetmetal work.

[Aaron51chevy]

I love it, great tips, I really dig the low buck tech's the most. If I have all the expensive stuff, I probably would already know how to do it! This kind of tech anyone can do.
And since I've got a Model A with no floors I now know how I'm going to put the beads in!

[40FORDPU]

Thank you for sharing-nice,simple and effective.

[low lead lady]

Nice. Great post, thanks. I have a nice break on sheet metal and I like the bead trick. Might test it out this winter

[henry29]

What gauge sheet metal did you use?

[Hotrod1932]

That's using your head. Good job. Thinking outside the box.

[Gigantor]

Sweet tech! Thanks for sharing.

[Zerk]

You've really got me thinking with this post. It's great to give props to outstanding craftsmanship and polished show-quality work, but this is just as interesting to me, and a lot more doable. Nice going, and thanks!

[1950ChevySuburban]

Excellent post! I just learned how to bead-roll at home today, well done!

Man, I love Tech Week!

[Gahrajmahal]

I don't know if anybody still installs sunroofs anymore, but I got the cutouts for free from the shops installing them. That is what I make my patch panels from.

[Ruiner]

Jay, you absolutely ruled that challenge...it just proves that just because someone doesn't have $30k worth of fancy shop equipment, it doesn't mean their work has to look like shit or be flimsy...great job man...

[Deadbird]

Cool post. I've even got all those fancy tools. Let's see, newspaper, tape, pencil, deadblow hammer, c-clamps, concrete floor. Yep, got all that! Thanks Jay. Ya gotta love low tech over high dollar.

[231ramona]

Great Job! I had the same issue with my Falcon and made my own patches. I think yours are nicer. They are fun little cars.