Ever Heard of Riveting Floorpans???

[5.0StangRacer]

Sorry, may be a foolish question, but I'm a youngin and dont know much about bodywork and stuff like that but I know a guy who has a 70 Nova SS and instead of welding in his new floorpans hes riveting them in? i wouldnt imagine thats nearly as strong...is he crazy

 

[A67StangMaster]

well even thought welding is way better for your car you can also revit it too but it takes too long and it costs way more then just welding it.
it may as well be as stonger too but why spend the time doing it, when there is a better way of doing it.

 

[302 coupe]

rivets are the cheap and fast way to do it. Welding is the only right way to do it.

 

[Dr. Bigblock]

Well . . . . . .

rivets are the cheap and fast way to do it. Welding is the only right way to do it.

It depends. For a steel floorpan welding is the better way to do it but if you have aluminum floorpans then rivets are the only way to go.

Greg

 

[krash kendall]

Just remember, we're talking unibody cars here. Not all car structures are created equal.

 

[302 coupe]

The only place that I ever see aluminum floorpans is on a race car that has a fabbed interior. They are usually held together with a combination of rivets and Dzus fasteners. They also have full tube frames and roll cages for structure. On a unibody vehicle, such as a mustang, the floor pans are an integral part of the structure, rivets/sheetmetal screws/duct tape/bubble gum, etc just don't cut it. welding is the ONLY way to put floorpans in a mustang.

 

[limey66]

If you rivet the floor of a unibody vehicle in the UK it will fail it's annual inspection - surely you must have a similar ruling in the US?

 

[thehueypilot]

The only place that I ever see aluminum floorpans is on a race car that has a fabbed interior. They are usually held together with a combination of rivets and Dzus fasteners. They also have full tube frames and roll cages for structure. On a unibody vehicle, such as a mustang, the floor pans are an integral part of the structure, rivets/sheetmetal screws/duct tape/bubble gum, etc just don't cut it. welding is the ONLY way to put floorpans in a mustang.

303 Coupe is 100% correct and let me add that "Pop" Rivets are not meant to be used in a structural enviroment either.

 

[reenmachine]

Sorry, may be a foolish question, but I'm a youngin and dont know much about bodywork and stuff like that but I know a guy who has a 70 Nova SS and instead of welding in his new floorpans hes riveting them in? i wouldnt imagine thats nearly as strong...is he crazy

Totally ghetto on a unibody car with steel floorpans. Welding, and duplicating the factory installation, is the only way to go, both structurally and for the future value of your car.

 

[jadesville]

I read this post, and it made me go out and take some pictures of my car. This is how I bought it, this has to be the most absoluetly wrong way to repair a floorpan. They used a torch to cut out the rusty area, then riveted a peice of sheetmetal over, overlapping it. Even better, the front floorpan is reinforced with a peice of angle iron. This is ghetto.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Not that this topic needs more reinforcement (pun intended), but “Pop-Rivets” will loosen over time. Body flex will cause shear stresses that typical Pop-Rivets aren’t designed to handle.

 

[rbohm]

while there are structural rivits available, you find them in aircraft of all sorts and not the hammer in kind but the pop type rivit, most pop rivits are as stated NOT structural in nature, and thus require about 3 times the number of rivits to maintain structural integrity. using a structural rivit on the other hand is nearly as strong as spot welding, which is the way most floor pans are installed. best however for auto use is welding.

 

[A67StangMaster]

dam dude you should go kick that guys ass for doing that to his car.

geezzz.

 

[reenmachine]

I read this post, and it made me go out and take some pictures of my car. This is how I bought it, this has to be the most absoluetly wrong way to repair a floorpan. They used a torch to cut out the rusty area, then riveted a peice of sheetmetal over, overlapping it. Even better, the front floorpan is reinforced with a peice of angle iron. This is ghetto.

That's awesome. The funny thing is that your torque box, frame rail extension, and the rest of the stuff you can see looks pretty cherry. Must have been a leaky heater core or something...

No lie, I once saw a similar floor pan repair to yours that had been done with one of those sheet metal "FOR SALE" signs. I about crapped my pants laughing when I looked under the car.

 

[unluckyengineer]

Haha I will see your for sale sign and raise you a no trespassing sign... That is what was in my car when I got everything off. Riveted in there by the way.. Oh yeah and it had been shot by a shotgun or like three million bb's.. haha that was a pretty classy floorpan if you ask me..

 

[A67StangMaster]

Haha I will see your for sale sign and raise you a no trespassing sign... That is what was in my car when I got everything off. Riveted in there by the way.. Oh yeah and it had been shot by a shotgun or like three million bb's.. haha that was a pretty classy floorpan if you ask me..

Dam I am glad that i got mine all rusted out then.

HAHAHAHAHA

 

[Stang2Man]

the thing you all need to remember is the translation for Nova from Spanish to English is NO GO so the guy probably won't have a problem with riveted floor pans

 

[10secgoal]

303 Coupe is 100% correct and let me add that "Pop" Rivets are not meant to be used in a structural enviroment either.

Guess that means I have to take the subframes back and weld them eh ?
Yes, the only time I have ever seen rivets is with an aluminum pan in a full blown race car. One that doesn't see pots holes, speed bumps or daily abuse.

 

[jadesville]

That's awesome. The funny thing is that your torque box, frame rail extension, and the rest of the stuff you can see looks pretty cherry. Must have been a leaky heater core or something...

No lie, I once saw a similar floor pan repair to yours that had been done with one of those sheet metal "FOR SALE" signs. I about crapped my pants laughing when I looked under the car.

It's pretty funny I guess. What I found intresting is that this was a midwest car from an area with frequent snow, and theres only two floor boards replaced, and minor rust on the driver side floorboard.

The things people do to these cars

 

[Hack]

If you rivet the floor of a unibody vehicle in the UK it will fail it's annual inspection - surely you must have a similar ruling in the US?

We don't have vehicle inspections here. Some states have emission inspections, but no structural/mechanical inspections.

It's interesting to me that you need a permit and an inspection to do projects on your house, but you can drive around on public streets after making modifications to your car and no one lifts a finger. It's certainly more likely that someone could get hurt if faulty modifications are made to a car, compared to a house. At least if you mess up your house, you may get hurt but not any innocent bystanders.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the permitting process for houses is way too cumbersome. Even pros skip it. However I agree with the theory of the government taking care of the public safety.