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What gage sheet metal for floor pan

S

scottd29

NAXJA Forum User
Location
woodbury, nj
I am getting ready to repair a badly rusted floor pan in a 95 XJ. I have read (through searching posts) that the factory floor pan was 18 gage, others I have spoke to say it is 22 gage. Does anybody have a definitive answer as to what size it really is? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott
 
scottd29 said:
I am getting ready to repair a badly rusted floor pan in a 95 XJ. I have read (through searching posts) that the factory floor pan was 18 gage, others I have spoke to say it is 22 gage. Does anybody have a definitive answer as to what size it really is? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott
Click to expand...
Any reason why you would not just use 18ga?
 
The guy who is going to be doing the welding thinks that the 18 gage will be a little diffucult to work with. I would also like to keep everything similiar, just in case I do decide to sell it down the road.
 
scottd29 said:
The guy who is going to be doing the welding thinks that the 18 gage will be a little diffucult to work with. I would also like to keep everything similiar, just in case I do decide to sell it down the road.
Click to expand...
You can by new floor pans, there just trim and weld, then no one would know it was repaired.
 
scottd29 said:
The guy who is going to be doing the welding thinks that the 18 gage will be a little diffucult to work with. I would also like to keep everything similiar, just in case I do decide to sell it down the road.
Click to expand...
And he thinks 22 gauge will be easier? He must be one helluva welder. When I replaced the floor in my '88 MJ, a friend who is a professional welder (specializing in fancy ornamental stuff like boat railings) did the work. We considered 20 gauge and 16 gauge, since that's what Lowe's sells as patch panel stock and they had a size that was perfect. He said to get the 16 gauge, because 20 gauge would be too likely to burn through.

I haven't miked a stock floor panel, but I'd be very surprised if it's as thin as 22 gauge.
 
I used 18 and am very happy with it, not too difficult to bend and fairly easy to weld. I know for a fact that on my 89 the stock floor was not 18, it was either 20 or 22. Hope that helps

Katarn
 
A buddy of mine has a 1987 xj. The passenger side rear floor is rotting out. Bad part is it is where the leaf spring(front end) attaches. Has anyone used the previously mentioned floorpan repair panels? Do they go back that far? I am thinking they don't. Any ideas on how to repair this area? To help clairify the location: It's where the rear floor comes up at the front of the rear seat.

Any input would be great.

Thanks
 
Mudweiserjeep said:
anyone? Has anyone had rust in this area?....how did you fix it? I will try to get pictures.
Click to expand...
The floor pans are just the floor, the part your asking about must be fabricated from some light weight channel. A place to find something like that is a place that repairs box trucks and trailers, they have sources for box channel and U-channel.
You can try Slenick Iron and Metal in Canton, ask for Mike.
 
Thanks for the help. I ended up using 18 Ga sheetmetal, the stock floor pans are very thin, probably 22 Ga ( no wonder they rusted ). I have another question though, I was told by the guy who welded the patches in that I should use seam sealer for both sides of the patches. The patches are above the exhaust system, the largest being directly above the muffler. Does anyone know of a high temperature seam sealer? Driving around with the hole above the muffler I know it really cranks out some heat, I am really paranoid about the sealer catching fire. The muffler will be maybe a 1/2" away from the sealer. Any input would be appreciated.

PS - I saw the link to the replacement floor pans after the fact. I saved it to my favorites for future use.

Thank you,
Scott
 
By caliper measure, the chrysler replacement pan is 22 ga.

I just bought what may be the last of the full floor pans for a '96 XJ from a jeep dealer out in CA (I'm in FL). Paid 174 for it, plus freight. Searched high and low for it, and that was the only one I could find. My local dealers all said the pans weren't being made any longer, so i was glad to see a new source for the floors.

I am a bit suspect of the partial pans, though, due to their ending where they do along the transfer case and just above the exhaust on the pass. side. The high heat and stress at that point may cause issues later, is seems to me. As time goes by, please everyone post outcomes from these new pans.

Just FYI- My original pan got rotted out from the inside: A/C condensation leaking for years without me knowing about it. Source was the seal at the firewall for the A/C drain. Fixed the leak with 3M 5200 and a PVC elbow...
 
FWIW, a friend of mine who has replaced his floor pans said that his brother in law (who owns a body shop) says that they don't weld anymore but use adhesives instead. Welds are prone to oxidation and rust wheras adhesives are not. I can't coroborate this information,... just passing it on.
 
yardape said:
FWIW, a friend of mine who has replaced his floor pans said that his brother in law (who owns a body shop) says that they don't weld anymore but use adhesives instead. Welds are prone to oxidation and rust wheras adhesives are not. I can't coroborate this information,... just passing it on.
Click to expand...
. Exterior body panels are glued in place and that’s ok. But the floor pans in uni-body construction do much more than keep your feet off the dirt. They don’t weld that much anymore because it’s hard to find a “good” welder that will work for body shop wages.
Floor pans are a structural part of the uni-body system and should never be glued in place.
 
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