How do you massage a full floorpan?

[Belgium Cuda]

trying to fit the floorpans and have 2 issues. At the front middle I have a gap of 1" compared to the corners, is it only to push hard enough from the back of the pan?
There's also a gap between the floorpan and the crossmember at the middle, do I need to deform the floorpan to be able to weld it or can it be left unwelded? The fit between the straight part of the crossmember and the floorpan is perfect.

Per

[JonS]

I had all the exact same fitment 'issues'.  You need to start working the metal.

To bring down the hump, have a "large" friend stand on it while you screw it down.  You can also work the center to the firewall with a bunch of vise grips.  If you don't own a bunch of those already then start buying them now because you will use them.

Jon

[Belgium Cuda]

I had all the exact same fitment 'issues'.  You need to start working the metal.

To bring down the hump, have a "large" friend stand on it while you screw it down.  You can also work the center to the firewall with a bunch of vise grips.  If you don't own a bunch of those already then start buying them now because you will use them.

Jon

OK, so you kind of screw it in place before welding to make room for adjustments?

Per

[ksierens]

Yes, screws are great because you still can move it if you need to, and the holes are easy to weld up.

[jimynick]

I'm not trying to be contrary, but, I wouldn't screw anything down until I got it fitted together, first. Otherwise you limit the amount of movement the panel can make and that may make the fitting more difficult than it needs to be. Like the man said, buy yourself 8-10 pairs of the 2 fingered visegrips and starting at the ends try to work the two together. If you absolutely can't, you'll have to reset the flange on either the floor or firewall at the ends to allow the panels to come together. Since it's loose, the floor would likely be the easiest one to redo. A hammer and straight edge dolly and 1/2hrs work if you go that way, just make sure that doing so doesn't pull the panel ahead to where you have grief at the rear seam joint. 

[JonS]

Don't take what I did as gospel because I'm a straight amateur, however, I had a big guy stand at the center of the pan over the trans crossmember.  I screwed it down there first and worked out.  After I had a few screws into the crossmember we worked on the firewall / floor pan seam.  Then we did the sides and then the rear footwells last.  That worked well for me but it seemed like starting from the middle and working out was the best approach for me.

Jon

[rhamson]

At first glance I agreed with wages but I went out and looked at my floorpan which is currently on the rottiserie and it is the opposite.  The rear floor section overlaps the front.  Mine is a factory floor. You can see in the picture that the seat belt bolt holes are on the rear section and that that piece overlaps the other.  I don't have any advise as to how to get the seam up front to come together any better than to make sure it is not hung up on something and then get some vise grips to pull it together. screws will certainly help keep everything in alignment along the process.

[Belgium Cuda]

Ok guys, here's how mine was welded and it sure was factory pans although I don't know if the factory welded them or if they were replaced some years after with NOS pans but I doubt it looking at all rustholes. Please advice how it should be before I start to cut and weld.
It also gives more strength to the rear floor to have those pans overlaping the front according to me.

Per

[Belgium Cuda]

In that pic the front is on top. As it should be. Look at your first pic vs. That last one.

No it isn't, to the left on the picture is the rearseat supposed to be, firewallside to the right.
Most pics I checked in the restothreads have it rear pan over front pan.

Per

[rhamson]

  I agree that the rear pan sits on top of the front pan as pictured originally.  My original Challenger has it that way as I tried to show in the picture I sent.

Getting the thing to bend and fit will take some effort as I have found the repo parts are very close but the warping and bends in the panels is just the memory of the metal after it comes out of the press.

[Belgium Cuda]

Can we conclude that the rear floorpans overlap the front pan as seen in the pics?

Per

[JonS]

That's how mine was. 

Rear seat set.  Front pan set.  Rear foot wells dropped on top of both.

[E-Body Products]

I simply use vise grips to clamp it into place with the firewall first.  It took some effort, but I didn't have to reform any of the flanges. This assures that the pan is all of the way forward where it is supposed to be.  I then screwed the pan down to the frame using self tapping sheetmetal screws working my way back as I went.  I also did the flange to the rocker simultaneously.  There will be some inconsistancy on the rockers, but when you weld and can easily shape the hot metal with a dolly hammer as you go.  I also had measurements for the floor tunnel height off the original floor in the back so I could jack it up to the correct height for welding in the footwell pans to assure proper tunnel alignment.  Didn't want my drive shaft to be hitting the floor tunnel.  Looking now, the drive shaft really isn't close anyway.  The footwell does sit on top of the front floor pan.  I copied the original weld pattern off my original floor as close as I could.  I pre-drilled plug weld holes prior to installing or clamping and screwing it into place.  Overall, the fit was very nice and most people that see it can't tell the difference from original.

I hope this helps your out Per...

[Belgium Cuda]

Thanks for your input Daniel.

Per