Fsher21

Before I head outside to cut away a bit of rusted metal from the xj, I want to know what I am getting myself into. So far the rust has eaten most of the rockers off, and the floor pans are rusted out next to the rockers. That pinch seam or whatever it is called, is completely missing in some spots. The rust doesn't go up to that foot plate under the door and it is solid there, but everything else is shot.

I plan to cut away what I can today and get some rust inhibiting spray paint to stop the rust from progressing. What problems should I expect to run into since the rust is not contained to individual panels?

What can I throw over my subframe in front of the drivers seat to support my carpet since there is no floor? I do not have the material to replace what will be cut away quite yet. I was thinking a fuel efficient flintstones method could be implemented but I think I will hold off on that.

bighouts5591

If that pinch seam is gone you may be out of luck....may be best to get another XJ and swap all the good parts off your current one and then scrap it. That's the downfall of unibodies unless you wanna do a lot of fab work. Sorry, best of luck

Radi

I haven't had a pinch seam in years. I welded in new floorpans, then custom-bent some new rockers out of sheetmetal that stretch back underneath far enough to contact the pans. Then welded the whole mess solid. It's held together just fine...nothing twists or sags, even with a floor jack at one corner.
If you were missing the pinch seams AND had compromised frame rails, that could end badly.

XJ Stryker

Been 4 years since i had to redo my floor on a super tight budget. Still waiting on it to fold lol. Check out my build in my sig for pics and ideas.

bighouts5591

my mistake, I had it in my head that if the pinch seam was gone then it was done for. I'm about to get some 2x6 steel welded in for my new rockers/sliders, then I need to figure out my floors

Fsher21

Yeah Lucky for me the rails are in good condition. Just everything above and next to them have turned to giant chunks of rust. The foam in the floor got soaked at some point a long time ago and just held the moisture to it. Rockers then had water get into them from whatever a previous owner did. Looks like tried to rig up an old cell phone and the job was done bad.

I cut out one of the rockers and cleaned up under the doors, just need to figure out what order to do things. Buying a new rocker just wont work since there is nothing for it to grab onto underneath. All the 2x6x3/16 rectangle looks really nice, should I use 20g sheet for the floor and work from there?

bighouts5591

I'm honestly not sure, I don't have the welding skills, just know people who do. Any sturdy sheet metal should be good for the floors, just dont weld galvanized haha, I do know that much.

XJ Stryker

Guess you didnt like how i did my floor.

Beerguyatx

So my rockers are shot I ordered new ones, pinch seam is missing in some places. So here is my plan, tell me if I'm crazy... Cut all the rotten metal out, then hit it with a wire wheel, well what I can get too. I'm thinking por-15 the tar out of them. Rivet the new ones over the top, don't think I should seal them with anything. Then figure out the pinch seam maybe angle iron, we will se if it works. Rivet to the remaining pinch seam and angle. I know it's kinda half azzed but that's the best I got. Just my idea. Got the rockers off amazon, they where out of stock on passenger 4 door so I'm going to try and modify them to fit.

Radi

It would be were it not for the frame rails. True "unibody" vehicles don't have those, rotted rockers/pinches/floors would make the vehicle extremely unsafe.
XJ is more of a hybrid, unibody with a partial frame. The pinch seams have some backup.

Radi

Nice job! You did basically the same thing I did, only I had my kid run some welds instead of using rivets. If I hadn't had his help, I would've riveted and not given it a second thought. IMHO it's fine either way. The thing was still plenty stiff with no floors at all.