71-4 floor pan removal issue

[plymouthman72]

I have kind of a dumb question. I am removing the front floor pan on my roadrunner and I can not figure out how to separate the front of the floor pan from the body. I don't think it's hard but I don't know where the welds are at. It's the only thing holding me up at this point. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[flypaper]

what you can do to make it sort of easy is
make a cut across the floor a few inches away from that flange
and remove most of metal in that area to give you better access
then it will make it easier to reach and be able see those welds on that flange.
the only way to get to/see them is laying on the ground looking up at the flange
from underneath.

 

[plymouthman72]

Is it just the two flanges towards the outside or are there more welds I can't see? I have to be very conscience of noise because i'm in an apt garage and my grinder is loud . I'm just having a lot of issues with that blasted lip.

 

[flypaper]

give me a few min
i can show you some pics of that flange separated

- - - Updated - - -

go look at what you got again
you are going to have to get into the eng compartment
and hit that flange with a wire wheel to expose all the welds

this is what that flange looks like when removed intact
this is a original donar floorpan i have

you should be able to see the welds that you need to get to.
if you cut the floor along that flange and remove most of the metal
in that area will give you better access to the welds

 

[sdweatherman]

Yes, there are 3/8" spot welds all along the two lips that come together - a real pain in the buttocks. It took me a solid six hours to drill out all the welds and free the pan. The blair spot weld remover bits are well worth the money on jobs like this. Good luck! Scott.

 

[plymouthman72]

This may be a stupid question. Is this possible without removing the engine? I see now what I couldn't see before. I didn't realize it was welded that way up front as well. Thank you very much for the pictures and advice. It's helped a ton!

 

[flypaper]

i knew the pics would help
as its sort of hard to discribe..
i never tried it but
you might be able to pull it off if you
cut the floor away and attack it from the inside
but i would imagine it would still be real tight in some places with
the motor still in.
it will make it alot harder to do it for sure.

 

[Pistol Pete]

It's probably too late for this suggestion but you can always leave the flange and cut the floor back two or three inches and just butt weld it (assuming the original flange is in good shape). This will save you the hassle of dealing with the spot welds and also make up for any variation in floor length in the aftermarket piece as you get to decide where the seam is as opposed to the Taiwanese.

 

[plymouthman72]

I wish I had thought about that before I started jacking with it. I have fudged it up to much to use it now and I might as well go the distance. I bought a one piece AMD floor pan so I am hoping there isn't to much other than laying it in and minor adjustments. Knowing my luck thus far I am sure it will be for the wrong car. I could have used patches and probably should have but my brother really did some damage to a lot of sections plus the rust. He had the holes for the seats sized way to big so he could fit an a body bench seat in there and he cut the tunnel for an aftermarket shifter. He was 16 years old and it was the only option in 97 haha. That with bug rust spots I felt it best to just start over with a new piece. Stupid me thought it would be easier but truthfully this is better in the long run if I can pull it off. This is my first true sheet metal job. It's hard work for sure but I sure do love doing it.

 

[sdweatherman]

Just take your time and size everything up and measure and re-measure. You could of got away with patches, but a nice non-rusty full pan is much better. Scott.

 

[Pistol Pete]

I've found the AMD floors fit pretty well, so you should be okay. Like Fly said, remove the old floor just shy of the pinch weld and work the remainder off one spot weld at a time.

 

[Ron 73]

I would make sure you have jack stands in the front and behind where your working, I would place a couple on each side of the torsion cross-member as well, Support is best just in case things are not as solid as they appear, extra support doesn't hurt for unseen problems.. if you haven't started the job yet...

 

[plymouthman72]

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. I was able to get the floor pan out with out much trouble and now it's time to start cleaning up and prepping for the installation. I was able to get it out without removing the transmission but it will definitely have to be taken out now. It's not the prettiest but I hope to make it look good again. I wish I could work faster but this is all the space I have and for some reason my upstairs neighbors don't like hearing a cut off wheel and drill. I feel awful about the noise but it's gotta be done thankfully I don't have much more noise to make.