How to make and replace Floor Pans in a vehicle
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- I weld in a new hand formed floor pan in my 1978 Ford F150 truck.
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Fitting and welding in new floor pans.
I guesstimate it took me 20 minutes longer to make this panel vs fitting a flimsy Chinese floor pan. I used 18 gauge steel.
To see more detailed photos/descriptions of projects check out Facebook
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You Sir, are a golden TH-camr. Not only a great video tutorial, but man, you get the biggest gold star for having been thoughtful to mute the sound when bashing out the panel beads. Brilliant.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
The high beam switch on the floor makes for a great theft deterrent when wired into the ignition (preferably the distributor so it still turns over) . Wire one up a little higher and out of sight and a quick, small push from your foot can disable the vehicle that most watching you wouldn't know you did it.
I love the way you think. I just made a similar comment to others just an hour ago.
I put random kill switch button all over the place but they are all hooked to the horn great theft deterrent
Yep I got one for people I had a 1982 Chevy k20 Silverado 6.2 litre diesel and had two floor mount dimmer switches 4 headlight 24volt truck,, and you would be amazed at the amount of people looking for the dimmer switch on the turn signal stalk arm lol, and would get out check out the light setup on the front pop the hood see both batteries trace the passenger side leads to the Dr side, and go to get back in the truck and a few are just like I don't need headlights it's daytime outside lol,,,
High beam/low beam switch, when the guy coming at you with his high beams on, you would stomp on the button flashing your lights. If he continued with the high beam you continued to angrily stomp on the button until he lowered his high beams, then in and act of continued immaturity, you stomped on the button just as the other driver passed blinding him. Hey I'm 80 and remember the good ole days....snicker, chortle chuckle....:-) ....
Haha. I've done that on a few occasions. These days it seems that a lot of new cars with the fancy headlights have brights on all the time, even though they don't.
Kenneth Bartlett
Sir, I'm laughing so hard I can't see. I have truly done exactly what you said. Thanks for the memory!
If they don’t quit Brighting me I just turn on the high beams and my light bar that usually teaches em
We had an a-ho sheriff who would leave his on and pull you over if you raised yours in retaliation. Someone killed him during a stop like that.
That's exactly right.
That button on the floor turns on a blue light on the gauge cluster.
I like that.... That's funny.
It's a high beam switch for your headlights
Good tip on making the rigidity grooves. I wish that I had thought of that 35 years ago when I redid my '73 K10.
Thanks. Do you still have the 73?
The button on the floor works just like an oven. It's the self cleaning feature. You use after mudding. Nice truck....way to go keeping er alive. A true survivor due to you.
Great place to get some nice sheet metal. Also people throw away water heaters and that had some really nice sheetmetal too. Great fix looks great
I had to beg the scrapper guy to let me have it. A 4x8 sheet of 18g is just under $100 new and he was going to scrap it for maybe a few dollars. I tore apart a water heater for fun a few years back; what a mess.
sixtyfiveford. Yeah totally agree big mess. I'll only do that again if i have too lol
Nice video. Was ready to turn down the sound when you started hammering but you took care of that for me! Great tutorial.
Hahahah me too lol
Every time I see your truck, I miss my 76 F250 hiboy. Had the mighty 390 and a NP manual with creeper first. Nice floorpan fab. I let my nephew search for the inside hood release on my 63 Fairlane for about 5 minutes before I opened the hood from the outside. Thanks for posting Moe.
I really wish this truck had an FE motor and stick like my 65.
I had a 1962 Chevrolet pickup with the same kind of floor headlight dimmer switch. Mechanical things and life in general was much more simple back in the day. You always put out very good videos with the working man in mind. May God bless you and your family. Thank you for posting...
Thanks Marc. -Moe
Simple, real world work. Great use of I beam
The floor looked like the interior of the truck I learned to dive in on my grandfather’s farm. Always got your boots cleaned crossing the stream. I know that button, high beam. Thanks for another good video.
Thanks.
Love the fact you are not afraid to fix it better than a part made by the millions with no quality control considerations. Well done
Thanks Rodney. -Moe
sixtyfiveford yes sir
I had one of those floor buttons on my '70 Monte Carlo SS.
That was the self-destruct mechanism.
That's a good one!
I know have Hope. Lol. I made a patch panel, mig welder it into place, on one edge. First time welder... lol. Weld was Ugly. Just Ugly. Took a grinder and removed the panel. Now I am going to revisit the bracing below the floor pan, and build up another panel. Found my dad’s old sheet metal shears, rewired his old body grinder, got a new Lincoln Handy Mig welder.. the metal I made first panel from came on the truck floor. Lmao, took away the hunk of sheet metal to see a huge hole in the floor pan. Oh well. It is a project vehicle... enjoying learning to weld. Enjoyed the Hope your video has given me and perhaps countless others. Sure, a local body shop in walking distance, could easily fix the floor pan and rocker panel. However, I firmly believe I would learn nothing by letting someone else do all of the work. Thanks for the video. I played it on the wide screen tv This morning while slurping down some Coffee. Lee , Norway Maine. Yes Norway, there is also a Sweden Maine, a Mexico Maine.
I like your thought process. We all need to learn somehow vs paying someone to do it.
Good fix, Moe. Who would have thought that such a common thing could end up as a piece of history that no one remembers. I had to repair/replace a lot of those back in the day, as well as repairing the floor around them.
It seems so obvious once you know what it is/driven a pre 80's vehicle. I'm just surprised how many people have asked me over the years. I rebuilt this one a number of years back.
Very clever use of the I-beam!! Well done Bud!!☺
Thanks, it's my go to mobile anvil.
I remember getting a joke fax in the 80s about how car manufacturers were moving that switch back to the floor because too many blondes were getting their feet caught in the steering wheel. :p
That's funny, I havn't heard a blond joke in a long time.
Good one!
Oh my goodness! Maybe it's just me, but I laughed way too hard at that! That's good. I thought I heard every blonde joke out there. Maybe now I have! Hahahaha Thanks for the chuckle. I needed it today!
🤣🤣🤣
Great job on the floor panel. Thanks for sharing bro. I love how u hand made the floor. Anyone can buy a panel. It takes a true craftsman to build a panel by hand. 👍😀🇺🇸
Thanks, I think it turned out nicely.
Good job, Not having a bead roller I've never really bothered trying to form the grooves very much. But that I beam anvil seemed to really do the trick. Great idea! I've had a couple people ask what the button on the floor is for, funniest tho was one guy looked at the ebrake pedal and asked why the clutch pedal so small! haha
Hahahh, that's a good one.
It's an electric clutch ;)
Wow, blast from the past with the floor button. I've owned several vehicles that had them-- obviously, quite a few years ago. Great project!
Thanks. The truck will go another 40 years now.
I get the same reaction to my rotary wall phone in my garage. Nice floor repair!
I had to show my kids a rotary phone a year back or so. They were bewildered.
My sister 10 year old grandson ask me last week why my 95 Isuzu pickup has a small drawer beneath the stereo, I told him that is an ashtray and ask me what's an ashtray. Lol
Really. That's funny!
Best best cheap way to put a floor in a Ford truck love your idea about the beams never thought of it thank you
Hey thanks
Hi Mo,
The floor button is the high beam button. I had a '56 Ford that also had a rubber bulb above that switch that you stomped on to squirt washer fluid on the windshield.
Yeah, those didn't last much past the early 60's. Simplicity is amazing.
I once owned a 1963 Plymouth Sports Fury with two floor buttons. One was for the windshield washers and the other one did the same function as the one in your truck. Love the dog!
One of those rubber bulbs or an electric switch?
It was a rubber bulb.
that is the "FLUX CAPACITOR!" i still own some trucks with the floor mounted dimmer switch.
I just have to get her up to 88mph!
Where's the button that works as an ignition key release
I have a 77 El Camino and I need to replace the passenger and the drivers side. Not as bad as your truck but I've been googling and I'm pretty confident I got this. THANK YOU!!! I just had a body shop tell me they needed my car for 6 weeks and the cost to repair EACH SIDE was going to be 1,275.00 CRAZY!!! The devil is real..
Dang, that's expensive.
Whats cool about newer vehicles is that floor location is available for the high/low beam switch which of course is used for aftermarket lights, nice job on the floorpan.
That's a good idea.
Dog steals the show as usual. Just had to do those to wagoner this winter. Wish I had seen this first.
The Dog has to get in her screen time. New floor pans are a nice piece of mind.
You gotta love our kids. I traded in a Honda Civic 5-speed on a Honda Accord and the 22 year old salesman couldn't move the Civic to the back lot because he didn't know how to drive a standard. :>) Thanks Moe for another demonstration of your amazing skills. If there's anything I learn from you, it's "you can't do that" doesn't exist in your world and shouldn't exist in anyone else's either.
Thanks for the support. It won't be too many years before kids ask what the clutch pedal/gear shift is or even how you start a car without a button/ with a key.
Well everyone knows that is the turbo boost button! LOL
That's what I'm going to tell the next person who asks!
I watch your video for about 2 or 3 years so funny too find you in the comment section here
Once again your creativity amazes.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
In the UK the old cars I learned to drive in or could afford to buy, back on the early 1970s , had the headlamp dip switch on the floor.
Cars back then were rust-buckets at 10 years old. My Triumph Herrald had a nice view of the road through the passenger side floor pan.
Times change. My 24 year old Toyota Corolla has little rust at all.
Very true. I think they treat metal better(galvanize), so it last longer these days.
My first car in UK had the light main beam on floor. But also had a rubber dome for the washer jets as well. My feet used to dance around like I was playing a piano 😂
That's one way to look at it. Thanks, for the insight. -Moe
You're a Genius, Mr 65F - just not the usual genius. Which is the best sort of Genius.
Hey. This is a cool car. Plenty people have cars with sunroofs, but I bet not many people have sun floors.
High beam/low beam floor switch, of course. I was amazed when my dad got a '67 VW beetle in 1970 and the high/low switch was in the turn signal stalk. I'd never seen anything like that before. Nice job with floor. A plenty "good enough" repair.
Those beetles were a lot of fun. The new floor pan means it will last another 40years.
I miss those floor mounted...I won't give it up. Not a bad fix at all. Functional it is.
I really enjoy the floor mounted Hi/Low beam. I know they changed it up with all the small cars and lack or foot room, but wish some stuff still had it.
You sir gave me hope to my truck floors! And for that I thank you
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
Its funny how quick you remember just how to work those floor mounted dimmer switches. I hadn't driven a vehicle with one for several years then flew home on leave and my best friend picked me up late at night. He needed to get some sleep to work the next day so I drove home, took about two seconds to figure it out the first time I met a car with its bright lights on.
It seems so natural.
LOL! I grew up using those before they "switched" over to the stalk on the steering column...
Great video and skillful floor pan fabrication!
Thanks Robert. It seems so obvious once you know what it is/driven a pre 80's vehicle. I'm just surprised how many people have asked me over the years.
That mystery switch on the floor, I got one in my 79 Winnebago, we have never driven it at night but as far as I know it’s the highbeam switch.
That has to be a fun motorhome. I was going to buy a Winnebago of this era before I ended up with me mini Toyota one.
sixtyfiveford it is, it's got a 440 with headers and true dual exhaust.
There's a few of those small Toyota motorhomes for sale in my area we were thinking about trading in the Winnebago but we don't know yet.
Thanks for the inspiration. I need floors for my 69 Datsun pickup. I'll be getting the panel hammer out. The dimmer switch reminds me of the starter pedal on my old 46 chevy truck I drove in high school. Don't see those anymore.
That button was developed during the prohibition years, for the whisky runners. What it does is activate an oil pump that dumps oil on the road in the event that authorities were in pursuit of the driver. The chasing vehicle would slip on the oil and the runner could get away ;-)
The switch was obsolete in your truck, you could pour oil right through the giant hole in the floor.
Haha.
Dimmer switch of course. Love it and love your brute force poor-man’s metal brake hammer style!
Nice work, that's how they make patch panels in Cuba, grab some sheet metal and keep hammering til it resembles a fender.
I've watched the same videos on Cuba. Amazing how they make a quarter panel from scrap.
My old 65 Delta 88 Oldsmobile had it it’s illuminating when you find out what it is
Those are great looking cars. Thanks Mitchell. -Moe.
When I was a kid I used street signs for floor pans and hockey pucks to hold the body up, when money was an issue. many of my cars came out of the 50’s and 60’s. Cars today run and last longer than they did in the past they just don’t look as cool.
Well said. But cars these days suffer from sudden death unlike the cars of old that you could limp for a decade.
Nicely done. That button on the floor is to count a'holes on the road, everybody knows that.
Haha, that's a good one to tell passengers.
lmao
Now you need to make one for the other side :)
I took my friends son for a ride in my 66 Bronco and he could not figure out where the button was to roll down the window lol.
That's funny!
I have a 1962 Rover P4 over here in the UK, it has a switch on the floor just like your truck, it's for the head light high low beam.
That's a car we never got over here in the States. It's a good looking car.
That floor button is the high beam switch 👍🏾
Brilliant. Considering making floor pans for my old Triumph. This video was helpful.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
Great repair job on the door and henges.
Slowly but surely it'll be all new metal.
Good video i like the reuse of the AC unit. Try coroseal rust reformer. Good product not expensive we use it on the tug boats.
Thanks for the tip on Coroseal. If it works around salt water it'll work on a land vehicle.
Can't believe people don't know the button is for injecting the blinker fluid into the blinkers.
Exactly!
Headlight dimmer switch...Great video. One small item-the volume level on this one is all over the place.
Wow.... I thought my '69 Wagoneer floor pans were rough. That's nuts how bad they were. And I've got the floor mounted hi/low switch as well of course like most old American cars have. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, she was rusted out for sure. Thanks for watching.
Headlight - High/Low beam switch. We had them in Australia when I was a kid.
Thanks. It seems so obvious once you know what it is/driven a pre 80's vehicle. I'm just surprised how many people have asked me over the years. Since you drive on the opposite side, was the switch towards the door/right foot or off to the left? Just curious.
sixtyfiveford It was on the left of the clutch peddle same as your truck.
Great work....you are funny... for us old guys, we know that its the dim dim switch. I learned to drive in a 1964 unibody F100.
I wish they never did away with the floor mounted switch.
Headlight high beam switch...
Had an old '62 Volkswagen Beetle once that had a 6 volt battery and gas heater in it, Just for those that don't know, that doesn't mean that it heated the gasoline for the engine, it burned gasoline in a little box with a glow plug to heat the interior of the car.
I did not know this. Volkswagens have never been known for have a good heater. Growing up we had a early 70's VW bus and I recall bundling up because there was little to no heat.
Google early 60's Volkswagen gas heaters...They were a charm LOL Just don't rear end anyone or you might have a really bad day.. They also had a steel dashboard (ouch), no seatbelts, a rear mounted air cooled engine (most of which you already know) and really narrow tires, great in snow. Oh, and you and a buddy could rip the engine out of that sucker in heartbeat without an engine hoist and rebuild it on a picnic table with about 6 tools LOL.
I just watched a few videos on it. Very neat and it looks like it would work far superior to the later models that just took heat off the engine.
Yes that's a dip switch, but some older Ford vans here in the UK also had a floor mounted switch/pump for the windscreen wash wiper, it was just a rubber bulb set up that manually pumped water, and a switch that set the wipers going for three or four passes. :)
The manually pumping windscreen fluid pumps are a pretty neat idea. Simplicity at it's finest.
That's a dimmer switch. 79 f150 owner 💪
You should tell them it's a passenger eject button
That would be entertaining!
Oh man that was going to be my answer
my Dad had one on his 66 Ambassador DPL....it's a hi beam/lo beam switch
he also had a little floor pedal that operated the windshield washer fluid
The floor washer fluid is simplicity at its finest.
Lord knows my Datsun needs this done. Great video. Keep it up.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
It's the high beam switch for the head lights. I like your truck.
It seems so obvious once you know what it is/driven a pre 80's vehicle. I'm just surprised how many people have asked me over the years.
Love the Heeler and water ending
She's non-stop when the hose comes on.
We had a couple Blue Heelers that loved frisbees, water and the Ocean.... we had an Aussie Sheppard that had her own plastic pool for the summer she laid in.
I like having a button to the right of the accelerator too. Between it and a manual transmission less than 1% of the population could steal a vehicle even if the keys are in it.
Sorry to give it away, but that floor button to the right of the accelerator is the starter switch. I had one in a '49 Wiily's Overland and in a '61.
It would be a great theft device to hook the starter relay switch through the dimmer switch. This way it would only start if the hi beams were on.
That;s a really good idea! You could put a lock-out switch in the floor of any car I suppose.
Jim Kodysz It is doable. Might be a pain if you are not use to it. You can end up with bad jokes like the blonde trying to reach the dimmer switch on the turn signal lever with her foot.
its the magic windshield washer button LOL!
Also on the dimmer switch..... my '63 Ford Falcon headlights weren't very bright.... my dad helped me to rewire it to where both elements in the bulbs lit up on high.
That's a good idea. I just drive around with the brights on all the time to compete with all the new fancy headlights that blind you on Low Beam.
I hate those lights that should be in a lighthouse and NOT on the road ! Wouldn't be so bad if they aimed them in the right direction.
That's some real panel beating.
Amazing. I would never think I could fix that myself.
Hey thanks.
My son and I are doing the same thing to my 1986 dodge right now my floor got so bad my door actually popped open going down the road no more putting it off for me. But ya we are making all are floor pans are self's and I might put a hocky puck lift kit in it because I got some bigger tires for free and it would give them a little more Clarence. Love the vid👍😎👍
Awesome.
That floor button is for going to high beam. All the best from Canada bud.
It seems so obvious once you know what it is/driven a pre 80's vehicle. I'm just surprised how many people have asked me over the years.
I'm in b.c Canada and I've got a 77 firebird and it has that hi and low beam switch lol love you diy videos thanks
Thanks. It seems so obvious once you know what it is/driven a pre 80's vehicle. I'm just surprised how many people have asked me over the years.
sixtyfiveford so true I get a ton of people that ask me that same question
I'm glad I'm not the only one.
The button on the floor is a foot high beam switch. My uncle has an 1987 Ford F-150 with that switch.
I had to Google it and I guess Ford stopped using them in around 1990 in the trucks.
Another well done and educational video. Only a mechanical engineer could measure and draw it on the metal. I would have to use a cardboard template.
My first car had that--toggles high beams on and off. My first car was an American Motors Rambler Classic, with three on the tree and manual everything.
Three on the tree is a fun vehicle to drive.
The switch on the floor is the license plate revolver switch so you can make a get away with an incorrect plate and once you've gotten away and are in the clear, you hit it again and it goes back to the correct plates for that roadblock ahead...
That's a good one!
Great job. That is a flux capacitor switch on the floor oh I mean high beams.
Tell them the switch is an Ejector Seat Switch and then start stomping on it repeatedly keep looking over at them and mumble why doesn't it work any more
That'll teach them to ask! I'm going to say that the next time someone asks.
Yup, mine's wired to the passenger seat, but it quit workin' and muh wifes still sittin' thar.
It probably ejects downwards.
Ejecto seato 'cuz
😂 that would be great!
i love those switches i don't know why they stopped using those for the lights
I like them over the newer style.
That turned out well. Thanks for sharing your hard work.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
great advice, problem fixed,and driving
Thanks 👍
one day you have to make a video of all your dog and hose video clips,LOL
I would watch until the end.
I have been debating a short dog only video as many people have asked.
The button on the floor is to switch your headlights from highbeam to lowbeam and back.
I miss that switch sooo bad
It seams so practical. I understand why they took it away in small cars with little to no foot room, but not trucks, suvs and vans.
For your High beams, once your lites are on you can use this floor button when driving through dense fog where it thins out hit it again so you don't blind on coming traffic now going around a corner dense fog again hit it oh I can see where I'm going a little
I patched the floor of my old K5 using sunroof cutouts, roofing tar and sheetmetal screws. This was long ago when I was in high school, didn't have access to a welder so I made due with what I had.
That button changes the channel on your 8 track tape player. Baahh!
That'll just baffle them further. I like it!
Doing the same in my 79 camaro. Had a 77 ford short wheel base when I was in high school
Also, true story... a guy we knew as teenagers, couple sandwiches short of a picnic, one guy told him he needed to have the air changed in his Bridgestone tires, on his Jeep. They were English tires and were porous and were prone to having water getting in them. He actually did it. I saw the work order.
That's funny!
Nice repair. Thumbs up.
It clearly a rust maker switch. I have one I'm my Jeep and my truck.
I keep leaving it in the on position so it never stops making rust.
I have one on my Studebaker,and it works very well!
My 1956 Olds Holiday 98 actually had two of those buttons on the floor the second of which changed the channel on the radio!
Those are great looking cars.
sixtyfiveford yup, wish I still had it.
Nice repair.
button opens the glove compartment
That would be neat!
Wow looks very very similar to my 2000 Chevy c2500.