Floor Repair Part 1

Another string of bad decisions by the previous owner...1st bad decision...cutting a big hole in the floor for a fuel cell. 2nd bad decision...throwing away the piece that he cut out 😞. Leading to another time-consuming repair to be made...

I could fix this hole in several different ways:

I could just overlap a panel over the hole and plug weld it into place. Easy, but ugly.
I could just butt weld in a flat panel and forget about the beads in the floors. Fairly easy, but the repair would be very noticeable.
I could duplicate the beads and butt weld in the new panel to make the repair almost invisible. This is what I chose.

I did several test runs to see if I could duplicate the bead shape and bead spacing.

I got the spacing after a few attempts. The bead shape isn't a perfect match, but I'm okay with that - I am limited by the bead roller tools that I have. I'll hammer/dolly the two pieces to match as well as I can.

1st try at the real patch and rough cardboard template:

Finished product - also the 1st attempt. I have lots more steel if I decide that I need to try again.

The factory floor has the two ribs just stopping mid floor. To make it easier, I just wrapped them around on each other. It won't be like factory, but it saved me from trying to hammer form the ends of the two ribs

Factory Floor

It will be fully trimmed and butt-welded flush. It fits pretty good, so far.

Some mismatch is expected - I should be able to work it close enough to be respectable.

Next up...trimming and welding it in place.