slisdexia

I've been bouncing ideas off the folks here on yotatech, and never been disappointed so i'm going pose this one as well. Just bought an 83 p/u 160k on the body, which really isn't too bad as far as rust goes. Now for the fun part- the floor resembles a wet sponge around the front cab mounts. The frame itself is in fine shape but the floor to the cab is too far gone. does anyone make replacement floors/body panels for these trucks? any advice as to the easiest way to get under there? I hope I don't have to try to take the cab off, that's probably be a multiple month project in my situation but I'd rather do it right once. NOW WHAT?

wbritt

I fiberglassed my 82 and put in a metel plate to attach the body to the mount. Then sprayed bed liner coating over it. It has worked for 2 yrs...

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

My driver's side floor looks like this:

went to the bone yard, about 1/2 hour or so using these things and $15:

Netted me this hunk of junk and


I think your best bet would be to put in some metal. I thought about going the fiberglass route too. I emailed Corey: AKA-'slacker' that runs toyotafiberglass.com thinking since he is the resident guru of fiberglass he would have some pointers. He said bad idea. it might last a little while but eventually the repair will fail...

even if you can't get a replacement floor panel, forming some sheet metal to fit with a BFH should do the trick if it gets welded in..

wbritt

I agree metal is best. But since I don't have a welder readily availible the patch has worked so far... I'm sure it will eventually fail, but so does every thing else.

slacker

iTrader: (1)

I just cut out a box floor on a good used piece .. it has the floor ribs in it , thats why I like it ..

I havent attempted to fit it yet .. but I think a BFH and some time , I can make a good replacement ...

slisdexia

so how would you guys go about picking up the cab in order to get to the floorboard? or would you just hack it apart from the inside? I'm getting awful tired of all the crap that has gone with my cars so I'm thinking something that's as easy as I can get without being a piece of crap. Never lifted a cab off the frame before so I tread lightly...

wbritt

you should be able to get it from the inside/out side minus the tire. Mine was easy clean it really good and start adding layers of glass clithe and resin. wrapped a piece of sheet with galss cloth and added it to the rest. I tried to upload pics but i'm obviously just an idiot. It took me about 3 hours and 25bucks to do both floor boards. Like I said it has held together for 2+ years so far. Not too bad. No cutting just grinding and wire brushing.

wbritt

driver's side


Drivers side2



Passenger's side

Both sides were completely rotted out around the body mount

NorCrawler

dang rust is a sob. glad i live in california.

Lysmachia

Is that POR you used? Yeah I am grinding underneath TC's truck right now and holy crap. I need a face shield!!!

wbritt

I'm trying to figure out POR?.? Bondo brand Resin and cloth from Wally World. Then sprayed with bedliner in a can...

slisdexia

hmm 3 hours, 25 bucks... sign me up. what did you use, just regular fiberglass?

wbritt

Yep. Cleaned the area very well, removed body mount bolt. you caneither cover the hole with foil or leave the bolt loose or put a different bolt in to protect the threads.

Lay the cloth out and cut it to cover the opening. I put resin around the hole so the cloth would stick. Gently brush the resin on the cloth and repeat.

The resin will drip through the cloth so yo might want to put something under the truck to keep it off the ground.

The more cloth the stronger it will be. So that might adjust you cost.. Once it cures spray on the bedliner in a can. It took one can to do both side 2-3 coats. Call if you have questions 205-447-0093

slisdexia

does anyone know where I can get a replacement floorpan for this truck? 83 yoter p/u I like the idea of fiberglass, just trying to do some research and I can't for the life of me remember what the name of that huge distributer of that stuff. national parts depot?

4banginRunner

nobody makes um
gotta make ur own

CJM

Getting the sheetmetal formed to fit the floor isnt the hard part, its putting the ribs in which give it strength. Honestly if you can get a decent floor pan or take a trip to a yard its possible. Make sure you cut out extra metal..

Then do this:

Cut out supports, using this glue stuff (I cant recall the name but bodymen use it alot, its strong as welding!), create supports with pieces of the metal, then glue them in then glue the pan in. It works, I repaired a rotted out bed with this method, and although it dont look pretty unless you do it slowly and prep and finish well it will hold up.

slisdexia

crap... I dunno if this is going to work. I have a crap load going on between school, work, motorcycle repair on the side and some other stuff I"m not going to put on the internet. Anyone want an 83 p/u? solid axles, 5 spd motor has under 50k since rebuild, little rust, the floor is the worst by far, spots over rear wheel wells, everything works except the radio $3000?

Rusker

No one sells floorpans for the 77 do they? I have smaller but similar rust spots as well.

4banginRunner

nope

a peice of sheet metal, cutting tool of your choice and a bead roller are your best friend in building your own

lil_mule

I notice there is no body mount visible in your pic, what did you do to address that? Mine is rotted out in the same spot you replaced, and the mount to the frame is shot(but the frame is good) n I was thinking of just running a brace all the way across the floor between the fram for support....