I have an area that I need to patch on the floor of my 51. I have a couple questions. 1. Some say weld, some say rivet, some say glue the panel in. Whats best? 2. one of the seams is going to be directly over the frame rail. Does that effect anything on how I do this?
Overlap, spot weld and seam seal both sides. Rivets normally work their way loose and they just scream "hack job". Glue is great when it works but it's still an imperfect product. The trucking company where I work took delivery of a whole series of trucks with wind fairings glued to the top of the cabs. Every one of them had to be brought in and reglued. Most of them you could tear off with your bare hands without hurting anything.
in my footwells i screwed them in to get a tight fit then welded in 1" at a time rotating sides, and floorbraces. Left some screws in the hard to get to spots.
Welded w/ a lip around the area your patching...seal weld both sides. That's the best way to do it. I guess you could spot in a piece the exact size, but it depends on how sturdy your supporting steel is.
You can "strip" weld it in...using a flange on the outside of your patch. When I say "strip" weld it...I mean, every 1" there is a weld, w/ a 1" air gap, or rather rosette it in...use seam sealer to seal it off. Almost the same as spot welded factory floors.
Over lap 3/4" drill 5/16 holes thru patch every 1&1/2" in the middle of the overlap, plug weld thru holes with MIG. Use a light coat of weld thru primer in between the panels on the overlap. Dress welds, epoxy prime then seam seal.
I may not be able to seam seal the bottom above the frame. I know thats bad; whats another option for that 1 seam?
I would have to cut an extra 4 or so inches of good steal out. But maybe thats better. I still couldnt seal it where it goes over the frame....
If you are asking for the best way to patch a floor hole you should cut the bad area out, carefully make a new patch that fits nicely in the hole and butt weld it in place. I would gas weld it but mig or tig would also work but not as easy to butt weld sheet metal as gas welding. This way you have no ugly overlap that could be a future moisture trap. Overlapping is quicker and easier, it all depends on the project, I've done it both ways.
A lot of new cars are riveted and glued together, but they use different glue and rivets. (some can be $10 a rivet). So your best bet is to weld it in. But do like the others have said and use weld through primer, seam sealer, and epoxy both sides other the weld otherwise it will rust again and you will be back to where you started.
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