What Should I seal this floorpan with?

[joesregalproject]

I don't want to break your heart but if you weld, you're still gonna want to prime and put either seam sealer or a smear of fiberglass around the welds.

For the fiberglass, I buy it by the gallon but you can get quarts for $30-35.

You might try something like this for epoxy so you don't have to buy an entire quart, reducer and activator for one job.

Eastwood 2K AeroSpray™ Spray Paint Epoxy Primer Gray

Performance and Durability of a Two Component Coating without the Paint Gun

www.eastwood.com

 

[Supercharged111]

I don't want to break your heart but if you weld, you're still gonna want to prime and put either seam sealer or a smear of fiberglass around the welds.

For the fiberglass, I buy it by the gallon but you can get quarts for $30-35.

You might try something like this for epoxy so you don't have to buy an entire quart, reducer and activator for one job.

Eastwood 2K AeroSpray™ Spray Paint Epoxy Primer Gray

Performance and Durability of a Two Component Coating without the Paint Gun

www.eastwood.com

Tracking the need for those products not going away, but they'd be going on fresh metal. So I'd be throwing about the same money at something better was my thinking.

 

[Ugly1]

This will be the plow truck/winter beater. It is going to be the one that gets exposed to salt and I will probably battle with the rust to prolong its life. I expect I'll be an old fart by the time it's not usable, that or I'll get bored and replace it with something else before that time comes. But there is a hole in it if you look closely, it's in the center raised rib.

For after all is said and done oil coating may help prolong its life from underneath. In the fall and let it soak in. I only wash the paint of the body about a week after and leave the frame and under alone for the winter. There are other things other than oil you can use but it works. Doors, rockers, and such where the normal problem spots are.

 

[Supercharged111]

I think while the body lift is still on I'll clean and paint the exterior of the frame as I'll be able to get to the top of the rail as well. The inside will be easier to just soak in oil/wax. Last weekend I was unable to secure the battery grinder but this weekend I got a pan.

The Wilkie buttons are still intact with their magical GM goo, I'll be sure to include them. This is more than I need so I'll just trim to size. There was a mention of a butt weld being preferred, but I would feel more confident with flanging the thing to have more meat to hold the heat. Something I wasn't aware of is that .030" wire will drop the heat compared to .035" wire. I figured the mass of the wire would have a cooling effect, apparently that's not the case. It takes less juice to nuke the smaller wire, therefore less heat. I think I'll practice on old floor board scraps before committing one way or the other, but here's a question: if I fully weld the flange on both sides, does that preclude the elements from getting in between and causing problems? Remember this is a plow truck and a winter beater, not a show queen, but I am making it nice enough to not feel guilty about loading up the family and going for a rip. That's the whole point of the crew cab and me suffering through this fixer upper.

 

[Supercharged111]

Or do I even bother to flange it? I could just cut a hole out, lay this on top, weld it on both ends, prime/paint, done?

 

[Supercharged111]

So is it a terrible idea to overlap the panel and fully weld both sides? About the equivalent of flanging it and welding both sides I imagine. Any special considerations I should take with this method aside from primer and paint? Would the seam sealer go on after the primer or before? Is it there to keep the carpet from wearing through to the weld? Any treatment for the void between the welds?

 

[Ugly1]

So is it a terrible idea to overlap the panel and fully weld both sides? About the equivalent of flanging it and welding both sides I imagine. Any special considerations I should take with this method aside from primer and paint? Would the seam sealer go on after the primer or before? Is it there to keep the carpet from wearing through to the weld? Any treatment for the void between the welds?

As long as it’s sealed from moisture it will be good. I seam sealed before priming. But I am not a body man so…

 

[joesregalproject]

So is it a terrible idea to overlap the panel and fully weld both sides? About the equivalent of flanging it and welding both sides I imagine. Any special considerations I should take with this method aside from primer and paint? Would the seam sealer go on after the primer or before? Is it there to keep the carpet from wearing through to the weld? Any treatment for the void between the welds?

I wouldn't bother to flange it. It always winds up being counterproductive and makes the panel fit worse. You can weld from both sides. Just keep in mind it is a lot harder to weld underneath. I put primer down first then seam seal, but there are direct-to-metal seam sealers. Not sure if there are any advantages or disadvantages to them. You should seam seal from both sides for sure.

Use a weld through primer, that would be the only treatment for the overlap areas between the welds.

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

The whole backseat seam for my Floorplan is lapped. I just left the lap joint as short as possible, like 1-2".
Welded it completely shut, both sides IIRC, using a hammer to beat it flat and self tappers to get the panels tight.
You could weld like 1-2" beads every 6" or so and be good.
After welding, I brushed on epoxy primer. Then used 1k seam sealer smeared flat. After drying I sprayed the whole floor without epoxy primer.
As for the void, just seal it off from the outside world both sides with epoxy and seam sealer.
You could use weld thru primer but in my experience it doesn't resist rust at all. I really don't get why it's used.

 

[Supercharged111]

Just a jillion more little spot welds to go. . .