cutting out boot floor

[Bubba]

well, hopefully end of the week my project kicks off. i wasnt to remove my spare wheel well and have a flat bed in the pickup bit. problem is the bootlid comes down where the rear bench would be. how hard would it be to cut the boot floor out and the bit where the back seats were and weld in some rather thick sheet? would make it LOADS easier to weld in the bootlid.

i was thinking about cutting about 2 inches from the edges then making a floor that would overlap 0.5-1inch overlap, weld it from underneath and from the top.


i expect mr burgo would be the best for this.

[shed-on-wheels]

aslong as your welding is good i cant see a problem bud but what aboe fuel tank then? whats that going to mount to

[Bubba]

thats the kind of things i wanted to know about lol. its that dark where it is at the moment i cant see properly under it. i can make up brackets and bits for stuff like the tank straps n what not

[Southie]

The boot floor is only a flat sheet with a wheel well in so if you cut along the existing seems and can get hold of a correct thickness of metal then you should be okay, use the old boot floor as a template to make the new shape from.

[Bubba]

yea but i also want to go halfway across where the rear bench would be too. since thats where the astra tailgate comes down and i need it flat to weld too. ill do some drawings lol

[Southie]

If you can weld and you can do the drawings then crack on and show us your progress then lol

[Bubba]

technical drawings ahoy!

top one is what i want the cross section to look like

bottome one is how it sits atm

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/408462_10150554593327845_717137844_11136601_194364 9485_n.jpg

i can weld, the sheet that ive got that i was going to do the floor with is the top scrap sheet of the aerospace steel we supply :D most expensive part of the car now lol

[Southie]

Is it structural then? If not then its all about welding tbh.

[Bubba]

i dont know lol although the fact ive cut the roof off, and the whole thing does flex quite a bit means it needs some strengthening. welding the back doors up will help a lot i think, and getting the tailgate welded in...ah if i screw it up ill buy another one and try again

[Southie]

More doors, more welding lol

[Jack]

If you cut the top off, the bottom will flex a fair bit I'd have thought.

I hope by 'flat plate' you've got some form of grooving or pattern on it to stop it distorting? Otherwise its going to need some braces crossing it to stop it from bending and the car doing this down the road http://www.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/images/whatsnew/emoji_crab.gif

[mowgli]

can't you get some box tubing & make a skeleton frame to beef up the chassis, then cut a floor out of a larger van/pickup & cut n shut it to suit, as van floors are heavier gauge steel. then remember to fit drain holes, as the front end is always low on a pickup

[Bubba]

its 0.1" 4130 sheet. can weld some sort for X brace or something on the underside.

yea drainage is one of my major points. i dont want a redneck swimming pool lol. ive got some box section which i was going to use to strengthen the whole car.

[bazil]

To be honest, you'll only be able to cut out between the chassis legs, which ain't much, it would be easier to fabricate ontop of what's there, here's a page from my "how to" thread that shows the rear legs and how they fit under the floor,

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread.php?153919-*HOW-TO*-remove-inner-wings&p=1821777&viewfull=1#post1821777

[Bubba]

have some rep good sir :D that helps.

[mowgli]

what are you doing to mount a spare? the mk1 clio or 205 have a fairly tidy bracket for underneath.... or is it more like the touran mpv, can of jollop & small fag lighter compressor?

[bazil]

The 206 still uses the same set up mowgli and there are loads of those about in breakers yards