I got a photo of the underside of a car I want to purchase. But one of the photo's has me worried as it looks like two pieces of floor pan are just resting over each other.

Not sure how to add the photo here, but I can email out to those who might be able to help.

Opinions needed please!

 

 

sometimes people dont have access to a welder so they cut to overlap 1" all the way around and use 3M Panel bond. its not the best way to do it but it works. youll never step through it. obviously cutting to fit exactly and welding/grinding would be the "correct" way to do it. if the rest of the car is solid I wouldnt let it bother me. its easy enough to remove and replace if you feel like you had to.

 

Thanks heaps Scooch,
As I'm looking at importing to Australia, so my concern was that the structural integrity of the car would be questioned because of the floor.

Is this a common fix then? Would it cause and body weakness?

 

depends on how big the panel is. if its a small patch Id say no. unless you were gonna be racing it with a big engine that would be torqueing and twisting the body I dont think its hurts anything. but like I said, it really depends on the size of the patch. but either way it can be removed and cut to fit and welded.

from looking at the picture it seems to be the drivers side rear floor pan. and it looks like a big panel. probably bigger than I would have gone without welding. can you ask if it was welded in? maybe it was overlaped and welded. in which case it would be strong enough to not worry about.

 

It looks like it goes from the obvious line across the middle of the pan to just infront of where the fuel line turns in.
I guess I'll just have to go ahead with a third party inspection and get him to tell me how bad it is and if it's welded or not. If it turns out not to be welded, I would then question what other short cuts have been taken as well...

Ahh, the joys of trying to find a classic car from the other side of the world.

 

exactly what I was thinking. let us know what you find out.

 

 

So got these photo's from the dealer. He also said he had a colleague look and say this is an original join. I was ready to go pffftt. But I must admit I've seen a join like this before. Either way, I have a third party inspector looking right now...

 

um... no. the floor pan is one piece from the factory. Ive been under my Car alot over the last 5 years and didnt so but I just went and looked to make sure. I have no such seams anywhere... and I doubt mine is special.