[DeTomaso] Dropped floor pans

[Daniel C Jones]

> This is a tube steel member that goes down the length of the car.  Not part
> of the floor pan.

I don't know anything about the particular pans you have but with Kirk's pans,
at the front, you cut across the floor pan fore-and-aft frame rail, cap it off
(with the shaped leading edge part of the new pan) and then weld a pair of
heavy steel u-channels (upside down) to the floor pan.  The outer u-channel
is in line with the old floor pan fore-and-aft frame rail.  It butts up against
the pan on both ends.  You weld it to the pan along both long edges and both
short edges.  It then forms a load path similar to the original fore-and-aft
frame rail.  Be sure to make triangular pieces underneath the car so the rear
rails tie into the pans.  Here's a picture of the first set of pans I installed
in the red Pantera:

 http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery2/v/hidden/dan/dan-cars/album03/Driver_s_Side_Stripped_1.jpg.html

If you look closely, you'll see the pair of rails welded to the floor.  They
are the pieces with the three holes (2 at front, one at rear) in them.  That's
where the seat rails mount.  It's difficult to see but the one at the lower
edge of the picture is right in line with the frame rail that is cut.  You also
cut into a side-to-side channel further aft.  Weld both pans to the
section that
remains to tie them together.

With every seam welded and the pans tied into the original frame stiffeners, it
doesn't look like I've lost much, if anything, in the way of rigidity.  Jacking
the car on one corner will lift it off the ground on 3 corners with no
sag (doors
will open and close fine) so it seems stiff.  I've not noticed any problems
driving either.

One other thing to add.  Use tape to mark the lines you intend to cut.  The
tape helps keep the cut straight.

Dan Jones