Ouch!

I slid the new floorboard in today just to see the fitment.

On the drivers side there is about a 1/4 inch gap the whole way down. I'm pretty sure my car shifter while I was removing all the old floor.

Am I in serious trouble? Or will I be fine when I start clamping everything together and the gap just goes away?

You're talking the one piece floor, did you brace the inside of the car? If so I would just try clamping it in place to the inner rockers starting front to back working down both sides. Post some pics!

I think it'll be fine, but if someone else out there did a new floor install and had this as a gap and they were fine, it would give me some peace of mind.

http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/100_1434.jpg

http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/100_1436.jpg

It is a solid 3/8" the entire drivers side. The passenger side is SUPER tight.

Would painting the bottom be a good idea before I weld it in? Not to sure on how tough the edp coating is. The interior will be primed and painted. Some spots that have just a little surface rust will be hit with some por 15.

I'm confused.... are you saying that the GAP is 3/8" on one side?? If so -- that is going to be difficult to weld.

I assume that you know you have to grind the EDP off the new piece before welding... I take it off BOTH SIDES... back an inch from the edge.

CLEAN metal welds better and easier. End of story.

There are weld thru primers - but when you're butt welding - you don't use them... that would be for welding an area that you can't get back to.. and even then I scrape the area clean where I intend to weld.

Clean metal can be primed with SELF ETCHING primer after you weld.. and from there - it depends on what you want for a finished product....

I'd start clamping from one end to the other to see if that gap will close. Invest in a pile of welding clamps. I drilled holes every couple of inches in the lip of the floor and plug welded to the inner rocker from underneath. Greg speaks the truth. Bare metal the entire length of the floor lip (both sides) and the inner rocker. Good luck! Ron

What's your dimension from pinch weld to pinch weld between the rockers. If I remember correctly, mine was 47" before removal and it stayed the same the entire length of the rocker. 3/8" is a lot to pull.

Looking at those pics I think the gap will be less than 3/8s if you measure from the bottom where the pinch welds will be located.

Dont be suprised if the new panels dont just drop in and fit like a glove...they never do. They usually take some tweaking, pulling, bending etc.

Are you butt welding them in or lap welding?? I dont see a nice fresh cut edge to butt weld.... Im not familair with the detail of the edges of the full floors....is there a flange or just a sharp edge?

Like Greg said.....before you weld anything, make sure all the surfaces are CLEAN....of any EDP, paint, rust, oil...whatever

Get some clamps on there.....some people use clecos,,, other use self tapping screws.... things need to fit tight before you weld anything. If one side is super tight and the other has a gap, you probably need to pull it to one side, get the gaps alittle more even and then clamp both sides

You will likely have these pieces in and out several times before everything fits and you are ready to actually weld them in.

I only slid this piece in to check fitment. Yesterday I epoxy primed what will be the interior and I sprayed down undercoat on the bottom outside of the panel.
The driveshaft bump stop "bracket" was also holding up the rear of the floor board so I removed that for the time being and, I'm about to go and see how tight the pinch welds are going to be once clamped.
I bought 8 spring clamps from home depot, hope they can do the trick. If not, my buddy works there and I'll just return them. More pics to come later tonight when I get done.

Working alone, and doing something for the first time kind of sucks lol.