floor/interior question

[sirr0bin]

well, ive ripped the interior out of my mustang to put in new carpet (black) and new seats (2000 gt charcoal leathers)

i figured i'd remove some rust while i was at it, and oops... there goes a piece of the floor. the piece that fell out is the middle piece (see pics below) with a rubber seal around it. on the drivers side, its pretty solid still.

the question is, wtf does it do, and can i just put some new metal overtop of it and weld it on? is there a reason for the rubber seal?

help is much appreciated, i wanna get my baby back on the road!!!!

 

[iwashmycar]

Looks almost like a drain plug in case water built up in there. Maybe if that happened one could just push up on it from the bottom and let the water out.

 

[ECU5.0]

where did it go? and im pretty sure thats what it is is for also

 

[89MustangGX]

I might try some RTV or something like sealant and see if it holds -- and don't knock any more of the plugs out!

 

[sirr0bin]

where did it go? and im pretty sure thats what it is is for also

it was completely rusted out and basically disintigrated when i started grinding the rust off of it

will just welding in a new piece of metal have any major effect?

 

[89MustangGX]

it was completely rusted out and basically disintigrated when i started grinding the rust off of it

will just welding in a new piece of metal have any major effect?

You'll be fine -- it's probably there in case of flood or some other disaster.

 

[Boss 351]

I think it's there for when the entire body is dipped in zinc for rust protection at the factory. The substance has to exit the car somewhere? I could be wrong though.

 

[PonyBoy90]

It's nothing more than a useless drain hole. Tack weld a nice piece of stainless steel over it and while you're at it, do the little ones also on both sides. Seeing as you're going to cover the hole with sheet metal, I'd clean up the rest of the hole from any rust and then spray some rust protectant along the edges. Only thing you have to be careful of is that you don't torch the rest of the pan and weaken or warp the floor. That hole is the one located under the seat right?

Something else you should consider is welding a plate underneith the car on the opposite side of the hole. This is so that no water can climb up into the hole and sit in the pocket between the plate you just welded in and the factory sheet metal. Or, weld in the plate and then put the car on a hoist, and weld a seam between the pan hole and the plate to seal the pocket.

After you do that, install subframes cause it looks like you don't have any.

 

[sirr0bin]

thanks a lot for the info guys!

ponyboy90: subframes go in next year, along with upper/lower control arms and new shocks/struts/springs :G :G :G