Can i make floor pans and truckn pans out of sheet metal with out bending in all the factory ridges and bends? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
You can, but they'll "oil can" once they're welded in. It's way more annoying than you think, and not nearly as strong. If you don't have a bead roller, you can add the ribs using a dead blow hammer and a couple pieces of round rod, there's a really good tech article about how to do it, I did for some pans I made, turned out great and all I had to buy was a $4 dead blow hammer from HF. It's well worth the extra effort. I can dig up the link to the article if you can't find it.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=435411 Cheap homemade floor patches. The guy that wrote is an idiot though.......
Nothing is hard about fabricating floor pans,,just use some poster board for patterns. A Big hammer and a piece of rod will give you some stiffness and prevent the dreaded oil canning. As much as most of us don't care for harbor freight they offer a inexpensive bead roller that does a fairly decent job. I over size the metal because when you roll beads the metal tends to contract,,then trim to fit. HRP
Sounds good. Im finding out just how bad of a fabercator i am! Lol! Practice make...itll work! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Floors are the place to practice on, materials are the same as whet the fenders and such are made of and floors are more difficult to weld in. For the most part no one will see the floors so any mistakes or ugliness is out of sight and by the time you get to doing fenders/outer body panels you have a pretty good idea on what your doing.
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