New Floor or Repair ?

Once we sort the chassis rust the next step is the giant holes in the footwells.........

Wondering if it would be better to repair or cut in a new floor (would probably depend on availability of a new floor I suppose and or a donor car at a wrecker)

Just wondering if anyone else has had the same issue, what they did and what you would recommend if you had to do it ??

Cheers,
Arthur

I hate welding sheet metal so I'd find a rust-free 4x2 in a colour I like and swap the body.

post some pics up of the rust so we can see where it is.If it is to bad try and get a D22 cab for it.You should be able to get a floor pan for it from somewhere like sss auto parts in Melb.

Not sure how to post in the forum (keep getting error)

The rest of the body is preety straight, just the forward footwell rusted through. I was wondering even though mune is a dual cab if I could just buy the front floor from a 2 door.

Posted photo of the rusty footwell in the D21 Gallery

Link: Rusty Floor - The Navara Forum Gallery

Cheers,
Arthur

A viable - and not too expensive solution - is to cut away ALL of the rust in the floor and weld a new piece of sheet steel into place.

It needs to be migged - apart from being a technical requirement by the road authority, mig-welding sheet metal keeps the sheet straighter than trying to braze it. Once finished AND APPROVED, you can grind off the excess material and give it a good coat of rust-inhibiting paint.

We had to do this with a VW Kombi. RTA had to inspect it before it was painted or ground back so they could be certain it was mig-welded.

We didn't have to show the ticket or work order from the person that did the welding either, the RTA guy only wanted to see the weld. If you know someone that can mig okay, you ought to be able to get this done with little trouble and cost.

Thanks Tony........ We just bought a MIG Welder (car is a project for us to build for Zac to learn to drive and him to use as an appprentice carpenter). Zac has done MIG at school so plan is for him to teach me to MIG also.

Did not know about the Inspection though and wonder if I just take photos of it welded/being welded if that will suffice (car is unregistered but will go over the pits when we are finished). I am in QLD so I might go to the Motor Registry & ask them to be sure.

Cheers,
Arthur

The NSW guys insisted on seeing the raw weld themselves. They gave me a tip, too: they were specifically looking for the little bits of electrode that are often left hanging on a weld.

It's odd. When I had the floor done, the guy left little bits as required (might have been deliberate too). When I mig stuff, I don't have little bits left - everything goes into the weld.

Maybe it's because I was never taught how - I just figured it out for myself. I'm probably stuffing things up badly!

If it is unrego'd just weld it up and put it over the pits when ready.Make sure you get the paint and crap back to bare metal so you get good welds and make sure you set the welder up properly so you don't burn holes threw it.Once welded put rust inhibitor on it and then give it a coat of bitumen.

Good News........ I visited QLD Motor Registry and they said even though it is unregistered I only need a "Safety Certificate".

No need to go over the pits (Yeah!!)

From what I remember of the safety certificate it only refers to general condition of the body so I should be ok with just getting rid of the rust & welding it up.

Cheers,
Chook