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I need to cut out and replace floor pans in my 1977 Ford F250 Camper Special. A local guy gave me a qoute of $1200. It seems awfully high, plus I already had purchased a left and right replacement set of floor pans.
My question is how many hours of work would something like this take? Maybe it is reasonable, just not sure. If I can-not get a better price, I guess I will try to learn to weld on a set of floor pans
Do it yourself.
No time like the present to learn and think of the money you'll save.
Just take your time and fit them.
Should be lots of vids on YouTube for you to check.
If not, a lot of guys here have done it.
Yours truly included.
It's nice to know that you did it and its done right.
Do it yourself.
No time like the present to learn and think of the money you'll save.
X2 with Marc.
I did the ones in my truck not long ago. It wasn't too bad.
I had never done any real sheet metal work until I did them.
You can get a cheapie MIG welder and start practicing. Harbor Freight, Home Depot and Lowe's all have inexpensive MIG welders. Be sure to use a MIG, flux core wire isn't very good for nice looking welds on sheet metal.
Take your time, measure, check, measure again.....and again, just to be sure.
Once you've done the floor pans it'll give you a sense of accomplishment that makes you feel really good.
If you do start practicing, for the shielding gas use 75% argon 25% CO2 mix and also use .024" wire.
When you start, you're going to burn through quite a bit of sheet metal while you practice. Don't get discouraged, you'll improve quickly.
Here's a link to the part of my build thread where I replaced the floor pans. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...l#post12822032
it'll give you a sense of accomplishment that make you feel really good.
Which is my favorite reason for doing it yourself.
This is fun stuff.
Also with the 1200 you're not paying to some guy, you can buy a s--t load of nice new tools.
I just checked YouTube. There are tons of vids.
Mikes thread is very informative too.
Yeah, X3. $1200 is a really nice welder, hell for that much I could buy a welder and get power ran to my garage. And if this is something you think you want to try, the floor pans are the place. It gets covered up so if you do have some warped metal or ugly welds, at least its not on say a quarter panel.
X2 on do it yourself, it a floor pan great time to learn it will be covered by vinyl, carpet or bed liner anyway, right?
Measure 3 times, and then 2 more times and then cut once. Yes get a quality welder, not some cheap stuff, you will thank yourself later. With a 220 welder you can weld thin stuff to bumpers/frames, with a 110 thin stuff only for the most part.
Ck out your state FTE chapter to see if maybe you can get a hand from a fellow member.
Floor pans are the best place to learn,there also easy. I put these pans in a 70 nova,bent up a 10 point chromoly cage that got tig welded about 6 yrs ago, i charged the guy $1800 for the whole job,thats parts and labor so i think the 1200 for just pans in really high.
Thanks Guys. I decided to start working myself on the project. I have most of the passenger side rough cut out. I plan on trying to clean up the cuts tonight and get ready to fit the new pan in.
Couple of questions. I am using an angle grider with a cut off wheel. What is the best way to get a straight cut? I was planning on using a straghtedge clamped to the pan to use as a guide.
Second from what I read butting the new to the old and welding makes the best job, but is more tricky to fit and weld. Is that too much for a beginner, and do you reccomend just doing an overlap/flange?
For butt welds, I was reading some instructions, and one reccomendation was to rough cut the new pan, secure it with screws, and then cut through the new and old plans together with the cut off wheel to get a good fit. Is that do-able, or a bad idea.
What I did was cut out bad area in floor. Lay new pan in place, then crawl under and trace with a black sharpie on bottom of new pan. Cut new pan a little oversize, maybe 1/16 all around, then grind to fit. A small gap is ok for welding. Hold in place with welding clamps or magnets and then tack weld in place, spacing welds a couple inches apart to prevent warpage. Once in place go back a randomly fill in with more tack welds. Just take your time. I did it and had never done it before. I got a nice Miller 211 off craigslist for a lot less than new.
Please make sure you keep fire safety in mind when welding. Have a good fire extinguisher on hand, and double check where you are cutting and where your fuel lines are.
I butt welded mine. It takes a little more time but it makes a much neater looking install. From underneath you can't even tell mine have been replaced. From above you can see the seam. I could've made that one invisible too but it's going to be covered with Dynamat and carpet so I wasn't concerned that the seam would be visible.
I used a right angle die grinder with a 4" X .035" thick cutting disc. The .035" disc is a really good thickness for the proper gap if you're going butt weld. Fit isn't as important if you lap weld though.
If you do butt weld, go to Harbor Freight and get some butt weld clamps. These work great, they clamp the edges in line and space the panels apart at the right gap for welding.
As for straight edges, I use either tape or I use a straight edge and mark a line with a metal marker.
Like I said in an earlier post, this was my first attempt at sheet metal work.
In the fifth picture you can see the butt clamps I was talking about.
