Guys I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on my floor pan replacement. I lap welded the new pans in and am now wondering how I will be able to hide the welds and seams? I know they are just floors but I really don't want to be able to see any welds even if I have to crawl under the car and stick my head under the frame. I know they are only like 19g steel so there isn't a huge step where they meet but I guess I am a perfectionist and want them to blend into the rest of the floor and be totally undetected. Should I just grind it as smooth as I can and spread some bondo over the ridge and feather it out? or use a thinner strip of metal and weld it along the step to taper it out?
Thats what I would do and have done. did you weld it on the top and bottom? Im guessing thats what you did since you mentioned grinding.
we are talking about putting filler on the underside, arent we? If you mean on the top side, under the carpet, you are the definition of picky
here's my opinion...remember you asked for it. if you lap weld you end up with something that is not so pretty from the backside . if you think that is important ...then you have to do what you need to to make it acceptable . if you want it nice from both sides them you have to butt weld
no..i didn't say that i said lap welds are ugly..so if you want them to look nice from both sides you have to do some grinding , bondo , filling , priming , etc i guess all seams need that
If you decide to pretty up the underside I would use duraglass or some kind of metal to metal type filler instead of bondo since it resists moisture rather then sucking it up like a sponge. Then maybe a good epoxy prime and topcoat. Don't want to give rust a chance to start up again to soon
i agree buttweld when ever posible, but there are certain situations where the lap will apply, heres one i did recently, here was the problem. here was the solution and here was the finished product, yes a little mud was required, i use the Metal2metal stuff by evercoat. if you want it perfect, id suggest grind as well as possible, then run some of that stuff over it, and feather it out. last pic is in primer.
I don't really know how I would butt weld in the entire floor of my cutlass.That is how I originally wanted to do it but it would have taken forever. the pros at Goodmark even lap weld the floors in. Seeing that I realized I was being too picky and decided to just lap weld them in and do the best I could. here is how the first side turned out. Here is the size of weld I am dealing with.
well you could always go back and cut the lap off.IF??????? you have the room to do so. If not then filler it is.But personaly Butt welds ONLY!! Lap joints RUST Out in time. moisture builds up between the lap joints.
Lap welding is best left to the production / bodyshop guys. The lap will always be a source of potential corrosion. If you'll be keeping your car for a very long time unlike most late model cars at the local body shop, then butt welds are the best way to go. It's almost imposable to work a heat warp out of a lap weld. This is a very good video on YouTube. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wntAnn4EowM
Grind the edge and run a bead of seam sealer along it. A week after you put a rug over it you'll forget all about it.
Unless you're goin' for the Riddler, since they're already lap welded, I'd just go under the car and fill any seems and gaps with seem sealer, or a good caulking to keep the water out, or duraglass, and then paint it. Then I'd lower the car so no one can see it. I guess I say this because I've seen so many guys spend so much time on less important things, that they eventually lose interest and never finish.
Your only choice is to buy a can of 3M brushable seam sealer, brush it on heavy, it will look just like the factory seems on all cars, plus it is weather resistant and will seal the lap joint up. There is no point in spreading duraglass or all metal as it will be a pain to sand and finish. Also, if you did not use a weld thru primer expect the lap seam to rot out in a few years.
I tried to keep the overlap of the metal to about 1". Should I trim the back side all the way to the weld?
your overlap is a bit on the "holy shit, why cover good metal" side. when i make a lap weld, i try to keep it to a minimum. good rule of thumb is no more than your heat effected zone, or the width of the blued steel. a good lap weld works just as well as a butt weld. just lap welds are butt ugly
you could do that too. I agree that a butt weld probably would have been a better idea, but since its already done, it will be fine, dont worry about it. Its far from the end of the world. If you trim it back, then you wont have that 1" lapped sandwich area anymore, which could be better because its one less place for rust to start again.
The TIG is nice but it's biggest benefit is a softer weld. The softer weld makes it easer to work the weld and stretch the metal back out. As far as trimming back to the weld....... Like stated above, the lap weld isn't going to ruin you project. It really depends on if you want to go through all the work of trimming that flange. I understand where folks are saying "your done, good enough , move on." Your call. The only thing I was needing to add to my original post is, Butt weld is a preferred choice of panel repair and is just as fast if not faster then lap weld. It is not the only choice though. Take for instance.... if you were panel bonding, I would say a lap joint is OK but still not desirable. After all we aren't talking about late model auto body repair but rather restoration? Right? If you have a choice, try butt welding next time. Just trying to help here.
Well apparently not since everyone thinks I should have butt welded. I plan on double welding the floors. I figure it will be pretty well sealed up is the seam sealer being used here just to hide the weld?
I don't know where you're from, never heard of UTARRGH! but guys keep telling you it will rot out, in who's lifetime? I don't know what kind of car you're building but I doubt you're gonna drive it in the slop. It won't rust through if you use it the way most guys use a car they built.
It's o.k., the panels were spot welded in from the factory,and layered on top of the rockers and seam sealed ...sure the orignal floor was one piece... so my .02$ is to weld it fully where it needs to be along with lots of spot welds on the lap over sections and seam seal the whole area , you can smooth the seamsealer out with a little lacquer thinner on a paper towel, just wipe it gently and let it dry ... do both sides then prime it. Brian.
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