Howza Bruthas, Onward I go with this crazy project of mine and the learning is great! My latest questions involve making floorboards for the roadster. What gauge of metal would work? And if we decide to channell the thing-which we just might-how should we do the floorboards then? Damn I feel really un-ed-you-mah-kate-ed at times. But hey, this is a learning experience and I am counting on you the GAWD OF COOL to lead me down the path of All Righteousness.
I am using 20 GA on mine but it has alot of support beams and I will also be putting in some bead rolls. Most people just use right angle bends to make it back to the original floor level but I am doing a radius for a smoother apperance. Shawn
You have already heard about using 20ga. but I'm sure you should consider 18ga or even 16ga if this is going to be subjected to a lot of use (daily driver). My experience has been that 20ga. will stretch or "OILCAN" on you over a period of time. I know that the lighter mat'l is easier to work with but for floors I think you ought to consider something more substantial. Frank
i like 18ga. i also like how FASTCAT did the rolled edges. NICE detail!! roll beads in it or have lots of cross braces underneath to give it strength and make it feel "SOLID" and not flimsy. if you do the braces under the floor a neat trick is to drill 1/8 holes in the sheetmetal every so many inches (6-8) just above your braces and spot weld the sheetmetal to your braces. don't forget your "weld through" primer where the metal will be sittin on metal. then if you want to be REAL***** (like me ) you can get under it when it's done, prime the entire underside with etching primer then seam seal ALL edges where the sheet metal sits on the braces. over kill maybe but it should last a lifetime.
I attached the center hump how kustombuilder says to drill and spot weld. you can see in in the photo as well. The thicker ga would be good if you don't have as many cross brackes running under the floor.
Looks good fastcat. How deep is the channel? Seam sealer and weld thru isn't overkill KB. It's corrosion protection. I use Duramix on everything. Then Morton catalized bed liner. Spendy, but it'll be there long after I'm gone Have you made any more progress on your car? Got pics?
It's actually channeled on an angle about 6" in the front 7" in the rear. It is an later model frame with a different front uspension and I airbagged it so I set the body where I wanted it when parked(as low as I could get it and level) and started building the new floor.
no progress yet. just got laid off and i need to get some cash rollin in from side jobs to make sure the bills get paid on time. two weeks before i see an unemployment check it it ain't quite enough to cover it all. soon i will be workin on it every sunday though. takin a class at the comunity college that an old time hot rodder (and now good friend) Paul Beck is teachin on the weekends. i figure it gives me one whole day where i can work on MY car and i have one of the best body guys EVER to guide me. i've been doin body work for years (since i was 15 so about 14 years) but Paul has been doin it longer than i've been breathing and he knows ALL the tricks. hell he prolly made up some of em . so yeah, i will be workin on it again very soon, at least on sundays. right now i got Donzie's 50 Chev to chop and do a few tricks to (mostly trades on this one and not much cash), a 2000-somethin Ford F150 to finish (cash job), a 75 Dodge truck to HAMMER on the ground (cash job) and a 2002 Chevy i may be doin some work on (another cash job) and then one of these weekends REAL soon i'm gonna help Levis Classic channel the A sedan i sold him (beer and pizza). oh yeah, and a 56 Chevy i've been putting off way too long (cash job but mostly paid for long ago). lots to do.. sorry to take over this post. OOOPS!
The Jalopy Journal
