I had my floor board replaced. It has a couple areas on both sides of the transmission tunnel that have 90 degree corners, and run back from the firewall for a distance of about twenty inches. They are about 2-1/2" high at firewall and gradually taper down flat into the floor from there. I know that my floor covering is not going to look good in those areas. I am wondering what could be used to change the angle on those areas to around 30-45 degrees to let the covering lay flatter. Thought about putting some aluminum sheet over them, but really don't want holes in the floor for sheet metal screws. I don't think carpet padding or foam will be firm enough. What have you guys used to fill in and re-contour areas in the floor? Thanks!
Pics help. What kind of car? Who did the floorboards? Are they custom made? Lots of questions will be asked I'm sure!
Thanks, gents: 1946 Studebaker Business Coupe. No floor pics at the moment, sorry. Custom steel floors with 1" square steel tube bracing underneath. Floor has been painted on top and undercoated on bottom. Prefer no welding at this point...should have addressed it earlier. Thinking now maybe shape some aluminum pieces and use pop rivets to attach them?? Just need something to keep them from shifting around...no structural strength needed. Don't like sheet metal screws coming through the floor, but I guess very short ones could be an option.
Shape the pieces but just use panel adhesive to hold them in the corners. I've never used those adhesives, but if they will hold quarter panels on, they should hold your contours in the corner.
If you can get a good match on the floor side, what about bonding the pieces to the floor with the stuff they now use to bond on door skins and quarter panels? If there really is no structure required, I've seen guys silicone (think building supplies stuff in a caulk tube) the sheet metal together that lasts for years. Gene
Thanks to all for the input. Some very good suggestions there. I think I will cut out a couple of small aluminum panels and use adhesive to secure them, which will avoid heat damage to the paint from welding and having holes through the floor for metal screws or rivets. Second choice is the spray foam. Just not sure I can get it in place and final shape without making a big mess.
If you use high density spray foam , mask off the floor exposing only the area you want to shape, then after it sets use a cheese grater file and your good to go...
You could carve the shape out of a block of foam, and then put it in place. Would not be as messy. You could even make it out of wood and glue it in. I wouldn't go crazy on the glue in case you ever had to remove it for some reason. Just a few dabs to hold it in place. The underlay and carpet will help keep it in place as well.
If the only reason for the filler panels is to make the carpet lay better, I'd cut some pieces of wood and use the PL-400 like Greg mentioned above. Doesn't need to be heavy metal to support a lot of weight, just some filler to take up a little space. And don't need to go too crazy with the glue in case it needs to be removed at some time.
Spray foam will hold water / moisture. Agree gluing / bonding in place makes it easy, its not structural anyway. 3M panel bond would be best, you could probably get away with seam sealer, it holds pretty tight when set up.
The Jalopy Journal
