The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop replacing floor pans

I am going to replace the floor pans on my 50 model both sides are pretty much gone. I think i will get the ones with the toe boards attached. now my question I bought the truck dissasembled. all the parts are there. the cab is currently off the frame with the doors removed. should I reinstall the doors and line them up before I cut out the floor pans? I have heard the cab can shift.

its current condition
[IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a198/ahsum/marks50014.jpg[/IMG]

I'm not very experienced, but I had a question about soldering in general truck talk and was told that pretty much all parts of the floor pans add structural support, so my guess is that you probably should reinstall the doors.

If your sills are not rotted out that's a good thing because they are heavy structural components and will hold go a long way to holding the cab in alignment.

If you want to be on the extra safe side, temporarily weld two pieces of angle iron in the shape of an X inside the door opening on the side you are replacing. Do one side at a time. Tack your parts in, remove the braces and hang your door to check. If everything checks out finish welding with the door on and latched. Do not just start welding at one end and run a continuos bead. Run beads about an inch long skipping at opposite sides. Welding exerts stresses on metal that will surprise you. Take your time.

The weight of the door puts stress on the opening. Leave it off until you get your panel in and tacked down very well.

I wish mine looked as good as yours.

50adrod, you think that is gone? You should see my truck's floor.

from some of the responses maybe they are not that bad, should I just patch them? the truck will be carpeted and have the side panels upholstered anyway. so nothing will show

I guess it depends if the metal is weak or not. If it's strong, than it would be ok, but if it's weak and you can push you're finger through it, then replace it.

if you can jab a screwdriver thu replace it. suggest hanging doors to check gaps - if doors need work do them first. i use all thread rod & turn buckle in middle & tack welded to inside of cab. can adjust door frame to get right gaps. then i do floor work. u can buy panels or make urself from flat sheetmetal. not doing total restoration doesn't matter as long as it is strucurally strong. looks like cab is on dolly i would mount it to frame to make sure everything is lined up - bolts snug in frame mount holes before welding anything up.

EXCELLENT ADVICE! The biggest thing you have to concern yourself with is making sure you do not distort the body, which will happen if you're not very careful. Trust me, checking, double checking, dry fitting, etc may sound like a PITA, but it's nothing compared to the nightmare you could face when you try to put all that stuff back together and it doesn't fit together properly.

50adrod,

I think you will find the ones with the toeboards attached much easier to use and you eliminate a tough joint to fit and weld.
I would recommend only working one side at a time with the cab on or off as they do move some. You will want to reinstall the door before you fit the outer cowl panel so you get the spacing correct. One additional note of caution none of the panels are exact fits they all require trimming and careful fitting to make them work. Here is my album if you want to see how mine is coming. My other panels are in the mail for the R.S. so I will be updating soon.
http://community.webshots.com/user/RugerWSM?vhost=community

I checked your album nice job
luckily my outer panels are still good