The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Replacing floorboard 53 Chevy 3/4 ton

I hope to begin cutting out the rested one this week. The right side had collapsed too.
I have the new bolts for that area but won’t know about any framing until I get it out.
I have a new floorboard and a new Tig welder that I will need to learn how to use.
Question, do I need to clean or remove anything on the metal before welding it?
Thank you.

Unless you're using flux core wire in a wire feed machine, the metal needs to be CLEAN.
I would say that most of us use MIG, (I do anyway), but TIG would work well also. If you go that route check HERE. A lot of the info there would apply to TIG as well, especially about metal shrinkage.

I would practice on scrap pieces of metal before trying to weld on your truck.

Spend a lot of time on the YouTube on how to weld automotive sheet metal. It will save you a lot of unnecessary frustration.

I enjoy this guy and he has videos of replacing panels on these trucks. Carter Auto Restyling

TIG will work very well for what you are doing. Unless you are familiar with TIG, it will take you some time and experimentation to learn what works best. As stated, the metal MUST be very clean, and you will need to be in an area when there is not much disruption to the gas. As with anything, practice makes perfect and since no one is perfect--well, you get the idea.

Thank you all for your individual responses. I will be using MIG, no gas. I found a really nice fellow that runs a large machine shop within a few miles of my home. He has lots of thin metal I can get to practice on & use as needed.
I don’t even know what gauge metal pan this is so I’ve requested that information from the seller. It is zink plated,
Big weeken here so maybe I can start next week!

You’ll need to grind the galvanized (zinc) coating back out of the heat affected area, because the fumes from it are deadly. I would advise you to wear a respirator to protect your health. The floor is 18 gauge steel.

It’s pretty thin sheet metal, could I use MEK or other remover instead of sanding? Just curious.
Pictures of what’s under the carpet.
I have the bolts for both bottom floor mounts. Got to figure out what part is sunk in . Rear cab mounts look good.

I know I’m jumping ahead a lot but, I’m thinking instead of removing the brakes & clutch pedal shafts, just cut the floorboard so they can be pried to the point they fit?

A few comments.
1. Most repop sheet metal patch panels are NOT galvanized or zinc plated. That would make them too expensive to buy. What Phil said about welding on galvanized is true, it can be deadly. If you're talking MEK to remove the galvanizing (if they really are galvanized,) that won't work unless the "galvanizing" is spray-on zinc.
2. If you're using MIG, then you should be using a shielding gas. CO2 is okay and cheaper than argon. MIG stands for Metal Inert Gas. Flux core (without gas) uses a different polarity than MIG which tends to make it penetrate deeper, not something you want when welding sheet metal.
3. The clutch and brake pedals unbolt beneath the floor and can be removed so you can line up the holes. I'd suggest you do that part right instead of buggering up the patch panel.

I use a Argon/CO2 mix for welding steel on my machine.
I agree, both are easily removable from beneath the floor.