Terry Antony

Hi everyonePulled the carpet out today and the floor is rusted to the seat mount( half of the seat mount). Planning on welding new pan next week. Total new to all of these. Need to buy a welder as well. Any help in advice isappreciated in prepping, welding, or even any alternative to welding.

caged

clean and prep is key. you can't weld rust, so grind or cut out all the rust. mine, the rust went half way up the tunnel, so i had to make all the panels from hand.
as for a welder, buy what you want/can afford. i would usually say pick the one you want, and buy the next one up. a cheap welder is just that, cheap. at least get one that has a gas hookup. flex core is messy, mig is much cleaner and better weld. less to grind clean when done.
metal warps real easy. so tack weld is what you want to do. start at one corner, then go to opposite corner, make your way around the pan. use compressed air to cool down your welds after each and every tack. go around till you have about half to quarter inch between tacks, cooling as you go.

and don't forget the seam sealer. seal all seams, and undercoat the underside. make sure to cover 100% of all bare metal. last thing you want is your new panel to rust out by next year, to do it all over again.