'64 Floor questions . . . .

The availability I am interested in is a used piece that bolts in as stock. I know I can weld up pieces if I must. I wasn't interested in a complete floor, not willing to spend that money on this project; I own 18 vehicles
Anyway, if I cannot find a good used piece, I'll fix mine. But again, if anyone knows where to look for a used one, let me know. I'm not a Jeep guy, this is all new.

I do have some updated photos. Rule #3 in the restoration business is that you need solid metal to which you weld a new part. Therefore, I had to fabricate a new outer right side as I had nothing but crap on there as it came to me. I had nothing to weld the new floor, the riser or anything to . . . so here are some picks.








It is obviously just tacked, but it is butt welded, not lapped.Then I made a riser and now have something to attach the riser and the floor panels .
Finally a took a pic of the bracket I made to fix the error in engineering Willys made I just found some scrap metal I could quickly bend and weld into a bracket. Attached a made hat channel and not have another body mount point.

 

That's very cool. I love the ambitious rust repair threads.

I admire your wanting to repair a Jeep body that's that far gone. I guess the main issue I would have with a project like that - these Jeeps are not in the same universe as Mustangs wrt restored value, so it would make more sense for me to seek out and pay more for an example that was not so terribly rusted. But since you do this stuff for a living, repairing flat panels must seem rather straightforward.

How does the NOS military part work for you? The M38A1s had similar floors to the CJ.

 

I am not worried about value on this. I'm going to use it as a farm Jeep ; 3 pt hitch and all. At least I'll know what I have, no more surprises. I bought it knowing it ran well. If it had a good body and didn't run that would have been fine as well, but I wanted one thing good anyway. lol. Most of my frustration with this project has been the cheap panels. I could have just made a flat floor from sheet steel as I did the outside piece. I thought the "ribs" in the panels would be of some help strength wise, so I bought them. I have been through the "cheap" repro parts stuff for years with Mustangs. When Mustang parts first became available they were not correct and just served as a starting point. Massaging was necessary to get good fitment with either bolt on pieces or weld on. Now in the Mustang business decent repro sheetmetal is available. Pieces fit pretty good, a big improvement. These Jeep pieces are just like or maybe even worse than the first Mustang pieces. I think the big problem here is trying to market a floor panel as one size fits all. The floors changed a lot over the years I have found.
As for my ambition, I like reserecting something from nothing. I enjoy that more than the final touches on a restoration. Cutting, welding, forming etc is the most exciting for me . . well maybe right behind painting lol But still, this is fun to do whereas putting in interior trim or adding the new weatherstripping is boring to me. Now on the downside, I spent too much time today working on the Jeep which pays me nothing and my customer car sat most of the day unattended

 

The only two US suppliers that offer really good quality floors are Classic Enterprises in Wisconsin and Midwest Military in Minnesota.

http://www.classicent.com/
Midwest Military Home Page







Classic Enterprises above







Midwest military above

 

Yeah I looked at all the parts before I bought. I knew there was so little left of my floor that nothing would work perfectly. I made my own hat channels from the materials I bought. No way I was paying what those things go for . . . yikes.

 

Will this help ya?

http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?93202-Tunnel-Cover-Panels

 

Thanks . . I have to figure out what I'm looking at first The one I need most is the largest piece. I'm not sure about the others. I'll take pics tomorrow and study the pieces some more. Its all new to me.

 

So today I installed the riser I made. Obviously the riser is the main structure of the floor. Sorta like the beams in a building. Lots of measuring to get it located correctly, then some tack welds.




Next I made some brackets to fit into the riser and create the mount points for the frame. I used some exhaust hanger rubber as my bushing; seems about the same material as original. Once I did this, the body is now sitting on its own, up where it should be sitting. And, most of the floor is still missing

 

Here's some updated pics:

I made the diagonal hat channel



Then added an angle connecting support and finally the right front floor



then decided to start work on the bolt on trans tunnel. I welded the hell out of the right side of this thing. If it looks like something is missing from the left side . . it is., I haven't started that side yet . . .yikes



I'll have the floor done this weekend. I have both rear front floor pieces installed now ( NO PICS ) but still have to make the "hump" material to connect the rear portions and add some metal to the front pans so the bolt on piece work and covers everything. So that is the weekend goal on this vehicle, ( other goals, other vehicles as well ) . . . have the passenger section of the floor completed. Then perhaps next week I can do the rear section

 

Well a lot of work, but as cheaply as it can be done . . I now have an entire floor, with all new hat channels as well. Now I have to rebuild, redesign or whatever the storage compartment.

 

I could of used that tank well.

 

I have a jeep that needs the rear floor replaced. I was thinking of using the floor of a pickup box. Cut it out, bend over the edges and weld in. It would be cool to see you do it and follow your example.

 

I will be building a rear floor soon. First must create a storage area so the seat mount works. I will take a pic of what I'm starting with, basically what I'm starting without. If I was still teaching and had access to the sheetmetal brakes, I'd probably make one from scratch. But I don't have a large brake at my shop, so I will probably try and build one from what I have; lot's of welding