rear floor board

I'm in the process of restoring a 59 and the one area i'm having problems with is the rear floor board. It is very bowed between the cross members and I'm not sure of the correct way to fix this. The metal is still in very good shape. When I try and bend it it goes back to its original shape. Should I heat it first or what? Thanks for the input.

 

Thanks Glen, yeah the body is off of it. I'll try and attach a pic of it in a while.

 

to get metal to hold a bend, one must bend it farther then needed.

 

Is it possable to shink it buy heating then cold water on it i heard of that some where

 

If it's bowed because of loading heavy objects in the back, I'd leave it.

 

When you say "crossmembers", do you men the reinforcing crossmembers that are spot-welded to the underside of the floor? Which way is it bowed, up or down? Was it like that while still on the jeep? Is there any distortion (bend) in the crossmembers?

If it was bowed before it come off the frame it would seem to me that the body (or frame or both) had taken some great stress to cause a bow there. That is a pretty stiff part of the body with the crossmembers there.

A picture is worth at least as many words as I have typed so far. Can you give us one?

 

JC Whitney indoor/outdoor carpet kit will fix it

 

here's a pic, not the best but it will have to do.

 

Looks like there has been some serious weight in there.

I don't think there is much to be done except replacing the floor or putting something over it. The metal seems to be fatigued to me - it is as much stretched as it is bent. I believe if you tried to knock it out from the bottom it would just pop-up and go back down when you put weight on it again.

You might be able to put another brace under the sagged section to hold it up. My floor was so rusted out that I replaced and started over.

 

The PO of my '59 must have seen the same thing. When I got it, there was a solid 1/8 sheet welded over the original floor board. I decided that it was best to keep the heavy-duty fix and drop the old floor. The shape is decidedly like yours. From this pic - you can see the bow in the rear. You can also make out the impression of the diagonal supports. I have tried to salvage the two hat sections (well one at least...).

 

A word to the wise...if you decide to heat treat the metal, DON"T use water as your rapid cool agent. Water will cause the steel molecules to polarize and result in the steel losing (in varying degrees) its elasticity. Larger brittle areas can create opportunities for cracking, over time. Thin oils function much better as rapid cool agents.

 

What harry said.